One of life’s small personal pleasures is the opportunity to share a minority opinion amidst Asheville’s hyper-dominating political model.

It matters because our daily paper and TV station persistently betray the most basic of journalistic codes – the inclusion of diverse points of view.

That matters in turn because without varied views on the issues, one point of view dominates. We see that on our city’s 7-0 council and, per voting record, our county commission.

Looking at anything, especially governance, from just one direction is a guarantee for folly and corruption.

Welcome to Asheville.

The chance to sneak in the backdoor and challenge the deceptions championed by the left and their political party of record merits candor as surely as care.

Here’s my shot.

Progressives progressively destroy progress

Asheville is a progressive town. Progressivism is a socialistic movement. Behind the shallow virtue signaling so predictable to this self-congratulating crusade rests deep dangers.

That’s because their masked mission is an agenda of power and control – not people.

The why is simple. Power is the most addictive force on our planet. Nothing compares to it – not alcohol, not sex, not drugs, not money, not food, not anything. It is a ticket to so many of the things humans crave – excitement, prestige, distraction, influence, concealment and opportunity – all in one neat package.

But there’s a problem for intentional or naïve socialists. Most human beings value their independence and thus socialism’s central control model is not an easy sell.

It takes seduction to secure the deal.

You give me power – I’ll give you a handout

The razmataz comes in two forms: (1) the relentless promise of something for nothing and (2) the notion that surrendering freedom and liberty for safety and security is a noble exchange.

Socialists are thereby able to corrupt historically productive and protective cultures into parasitic hives of dependency. That’s what’s happening today in our America, and that this is the ultimate landing of socialism is easily demonstrated.

But first let’s give socialism’s acolytes their due in proclaiming, “It works quite nicely in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.” For grace, let’s also ignore the cracks, and concede that socialism works there in more ways than it doesn’t.

Unfortunately, that these are tiny homogenous cultures with a propensity for cooperation and social conscience illustrates a larger counterpoint. Socialism works only if people work together.

Frictional cultures like ours and most everyone else’s only work together when there is direct personal benefit.

That’s why free enterprise has uplifted more people than any other socio-economic-political model in history – it rewards individual accountability and initiative.

Socialism rewards just the opposite and that’s why societies caught in its clutches inevitably collapse into mediocrity.  

If you really want to get down and dirty on socialism, check out large heterogenous countries like Italy and Spain. With rare exceptions, futures of hope and potential are harder to find there than truth in American media.

Socialism’s pushers sell deceit

One of my other favorite challenges from socialism advocates is the suggestion that Social Security and Medicare are examples of how well it works.

Well, yes, that’s true – if you believe subsistence living and unsustainable budget deficits are a good thing. Besides, it’s possible to see the merit in a Chick-fil-A sandwich without having to eat the whole chicken. 

Then there’s that tired deception about Jesus being a socialist. Those embracing that argument would do well to actually read the scripture they’re abusing. The difference in a socialistic model and a Christian model is that Jesus asked people to share their blessings. Socialists force that participation and they don’t hesitate to do it at the end of a gun.

Yes, I understand that the Biden administration and the Democratic Party are not technically seizing “the means to production and distribution of goods.”

With apologies to the apologists, it’s socialism if you use taxation, regulation and government bureaucracies to micro-manage and redistribute at whim. Whether a thief breaks in the front door or back door, it’s still burglary.

These power rangers are deranged?

Once again, we find ourselves circling back to the core agenda of socialism – that control thing.

The substance of the left’s socialistic control agenda is most recently revealed in their accelerating efforts to stack the Supreme Court, abuse COVID-19 as a consolidation opportunity, do away with the electoral college, open our borders to more dependents, dismantle law enforcement and the rule of law, and spend money that doesn’t exist.

In contrast to these and other demonstrations of socialism’s dysfunction, America’s traditional success equation tracks to an honest formula – Liberty + Responsibility + Opportunity = Prosperity.

Socialists pick and choose on the first, skip the second, exaggerate the third, and pretend they can still magically pull the fourth out of a tattered hat.

It’s a lie, but by the time most people catch on to the scam, it’s too late to understand that creating dependency on government is like chaining a puppy to a doghouse.

Liberty, opportunity and responsibility loving Americans get something that socialists don’t.