Op-Ed: Why Socialists are Threatened by Individuality

Things seemed almost normal on our brief trip to South Dakota recently. My husband and I were practically giddy to escape the gloom and doom of points further south from which we came.

We never felt guilty for dining indoors at a restaurant on our anniversary. We enjoyed strolls through one-of-a-kind stores in Deadwood and Hill City that sell everything from Black Hills Gold to rhubarb wine.

In the freedom-sucking world of socialism, joy is frowned upon and independence is considered to be selfish. The pressure to think collectively and act mindlessly doesn’t just apply to people; it applies to their businesses and everything else they create.

As we watch the next wave of attacks on America in the form of riots which again threaten innocent people of every race and creed, their safety, their businesses and their freedom, it’s not difficult to recognize the same collectivist stereotypes that are continually reinforced by the propaganda media.

The message is that we are all members of a collective, and our guilt or innocence is based on the ethnicity into which we were born or the group to which we belong. That’s a direct attack on the heart and soul of America and the principles on which it was founded.

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Using the excuse of a virus which, even by reportedly inflated statistics from the CDC, has a .4 percent mortality rate, they have imposed preposterous rules and paternalistic restrictions that are direct assaults on our most fundamental liberties.

One moment, they claim this is all for our health and safety and “our own good.” The next, they become apologists for rioters and vandals who are quite lethal to our health and safety. Apparently, they believe that is for our own good as well.

Through the pivoting narratives and the breathtaking contradictions, the only thing that is ever-present is the gray cloud of groupthink.

Our justice system is also under attack, as a fundamental principle on which it is based is the treasured idea that every person is unique, yet we all deserve due process and equal justice under the law. Jurors take an oath to examine the facts and evidence in the specific case with which they are presented. They are constantly admonished to set aside their own preconceived notions and biases.

Our current media echo-chamber promotes precisely the opposite of this. Rioters are applauded not only for ignoring due process for the accused, but for indicting and convicting the innocent for sharing the same skin color as the accused. Democratic governors and unelected bureaucrats hand down one-size-fits-all orders that ignore the unique characteristics of every state, county, municipality or unincorporated area.

Regardless of how contradictory or quickly the facts change, the message is always the same and it is getting ever louder. We must fall in line and believe what they tell us to believe. They march in lockstep and we are expected to do so as well.

Government control is essential for their beloved socialist dream, and they must propagate collectivism and denigrate individualism in order to achieve it.

For example, it is immaterial whether mass mask-wearing in public makes any sense whatsoever. In fact, it may be better for them if it doesn’t, as it allows them to easily distinguish between those who obey and those who do not.

The next step is to isolate and bully those individualists until they can’t dine, travel or get a haircut without submitting to the state. They are on lockdown all over again.

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Freedom of thought and finding one’s own path brings richness, color and greater purpose to life. Otherwise, we are all the same dull shade of gray.

Such individualism used to be highly prized by liberals in the ’60s, but that has been demolished along with our historical monuments and the valuable lessons learned from America’s past.

The labor, faith and personal expressions of free-thinking adults are among the greatest threats to socialists and the tyranny they inexplicably feel entitled to impose upon us.

No wonder small businesses and little souvenir shops in Deadwood, South Dakota, are such a threat.

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