The Obama administration's efforts at addressing the "unemployment" problem have resurrected memories of observations of similar efforts by another Marxist regime that your host had "contact" (read arrested by) with, in January of 1980.
During our transport to Managua to be interrogated by the Sandinista officials as spies, we had conversations with several Sandinista revolutionaries. Being able to converse in the local tongue has many advantages.
One of our guards explained that since the exile of Anastacio Somoza, the problem of "unemployment" had been solved. The Sandinista Revolutionary government had simply inducted all of the unemployed Nicaraguans into the Revolutionary Army and voilá, the problem was solved. The local population including the "Army" were still short of food, clothing and basic necessities, and all private businesses had been seized or closed but the "unemployment problem" was solved. How wonderful.
During our journey to and from Managua we observed the appalling conditions at various towns and villages where there were intersections of the type we know here as the "4 way stop" variety. At these intersections we observed 4 "soldiers" posted at each approach to the intersection. As a vehicle approached the intersection the assigned "soldier" would monitor if the motorist stopped at the marked limit line, and if not, the soldier would force the motorist to back up and come to a stop short of the limit line painted on the roadway.
As you can imagine, this is an extremely inefficient use of human resources but rather ordinary in collectivist societies. Remember this when statistics are trotted out regarding the "creating and saving of jobs" by the messiah's collectivist minions.
2 comments:
Huh... I was born in January of 1980. I sometimes forget about the richness of the experiences that people who were born before me saw. I mean, really, what have I seen in my 29 years?
The fall of the Berlin wall, yes, but I was nine - pretty young to truly understand the implications at the time.
It occurs to me that it is generally a bunch of people from my generation who are the driving force behind this "change" that we are all being forced to believe in, and it occurs to me that like me, they have no freaking idea what they are getting into, simply because they don't have the life experience to understand what it is that they're asking for.
In all modesty, I like to think that I am smarter than the average bear (understanding one's vanity is the first step to properly dealing with it, after all) which means that when I read about Stalin's gulags, or your experiences, Leonidas, I do not attribute them to some fictional cautionary fable, like I think many of my generation subconsciously do. I understand that it actually happened, and believe with all of my being that IT CAN happen here if we aren't careful. I don't know about the other Gen Xers out there, but I have no desire to work a boondoggle created simply to keep me busy. I have no desire to be kept by benevolent government masters. I would rather, mark my words, live within an absolute anarchy than have a government run my life for me, even considering all of the things that anarchy might entail (including the sole responsibilty of protecting my family from the evil amongst us and even doling out justice as is needed.)
But that woudn't fix the unemployment problem, now would it...
I'm starting a family as we speak. I wonder what sort of world they will inherit from me and my generation. I pray that it is far different from the change that we are headed for.
Goober,
What you describe is both merciful and sad. It is sad that the current"education/indoctrination" system is so effective in depriving our youth of what you describe as a rich heritage. The merciful part is that the present generation has not experienced the descent from liberty. The hope is that there will one day be an awakening.
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