Communism in the 20th Century killed hundreds of millions of people.First, there was Adolf Hitler. Almost everyone knows of how Hitler attempted to achieve world domination through Nazi-Germany, and almost succeeded. We all learn of the atrocities that happened to minorities, particularly Jews, during the Holocaust in Germany.

Most of us have heard of Joseph Stalin, ruler of the Soviet Union during World War II, leader of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, who fought against the Allied Forces while under a non-aggression pact with Nazi-Germany, and then turned around and fought with the Allied forces in order to defeat Hitler. Joseph Stalin was also responsible for the Holodomor, a horrific incident where the whole country of Ukraine was starved in order to crush their individualist spirit, and some people became so insane that they reverted to cannibalism.

Your history books tell you of Mao Tse Tung, a Dictator who took over the Chinese government, turning it into the People’s Republic of China, a Communist government that the country is still under today.

Mao caused 14 to 20 million deaths from starvation during the ‘Great Leap Forward’, during which farmers were sent to collectivist farms, and anyone who refused to join them was killed. Tens of thousands were killed and millions of lives were ruined during the ‘Cultural Revolution’.  Mao, then  leader of the Communist Party, initiated a political and economic upheaval of the country that led to the country descending near anarchism. When Mao died, he left China in shambles.

Hitler, Stalin and Mao dominate 20th Century history classes, but Che Guevara seemingly does not. Che was a Marxist revolutionary who fought in the Cuban Revolution to overthrow Fidel Castro, the dictator who was then holding power. Many of the early leaders of the Cuban Revolution favored a democratic or democratic-socialist direction for the new Cuba. But not Che, Che held steadfast to his pro-Soviet Faction. his faction was the one who won in the end. Che founded “labor camps”, that were eventually used to kill gays, dissidents, and people infected with AIDS. Che was a murderer and a terrorist. In a famous essay that he wrote, Che expressed several disturbing thoughts, including the following:

“Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine. This is what our soldiers must become …”

Che was a killer, whose goal in life was to kill large amounts of people, and kill himself in the process. He spent his days leading several guerrilla movements that impeded the attempts at Democracy in Cuba. He died in 1967, leading a Bolivian guerrilla movement that did not enlist a single Bolivian peasant. Che was a enemy of Latin-American democracy, and also largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

But many Americans don’t seem to get this.In recent Hollywood films, such as Walter Salle’s  Motorcycle Diaries, Che is painted out to be a revolutionary hero, while in reality he was an enemy of freedom.  This delusional fascination over Che has climbed to the point  where websites like http://www.moreorless.au.com, that profile heroes and killers of the 20th Century, list Che as a hero. Wikipedia has some pretty words to say about Che:

Over forty years after his execution, Che’s life and legacy still remain a contentious issue. The contradictions of his ethos at various points in his life have created a complex character of unending duality.

As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a new man driven by moral rather than material incentives, Guevara evolved into a quintessential icon of leftist-inspired movements. An array of notable individuals have viewed Che Guevara as a hero; for example, Nelson Mandela referred to him as “an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom”

Che’s philosophies were very similar to those held by Hitler, Stalin or Mao, and most Americans wouldn’t think twice about singing praises to Hitler or Mao(Except Anita Dunn). Next time someone tells you that we need to implement communism in some form or fashion here in the united States, explain to them that communism has failed, over and over again, that it does nothing but create death, suffering, and tyranny; and produce tyrants like Che, Mao, Stalin and Hitler.

Below is adapted from a speech that I will be giving to a group of fellow Boy Scouts this Saturday:

Youth and their Impact on America’s Future

Ronald Reagan, our country’s fortieth President, once said that:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free –”

The former President was absolutely right.

The future of a great country, in our case America, is constantly in the hands of the next generation of Americans. Thus it is highly important that younger generations are trained to be good stewards of the country that they inherit. It is a citizen’s responsibility to follow critical issues, to raise awareness on any particular areas where changes need to be made in our country, and to vote for leaders who will lead according to the constitutional principles that our nation was founded upon.

Our present generation of young people is severely lacking people with the desire or understanding necessary to effect change in our country in this time when it is greatly needed, and this includes citizens who don’t vote, as well as politicians who make decisions based on how they will effect his or her ratings, rather than how they will effect the country as a whole.

In this speech I want to impress on you the importance of retaking America’s future by getting young people more involved in the political process.

We live in a time when Judeo-Christian values are constantly being attacked in the public realm, and the foundation that our country was built upon is being violently assaulted by those who want to undermine the principles for which early Americans stood for when they formed our country, and of which the present majority continue to uphold.

If American citizens stop caring about the consequences of such attacks, then we will lose our freedoms that so many people have lived and died for. A Harvard IOP survey conducted in the Fall of 2009,which interviewed two thousand Americans ages 18-29, shows disheartening results.

75% of the citizens interviewed said no when asked if they considered themselves to be politically engaged or politically active. 25% of the citizens polled did not even register to vote for the November 4th, 2008 presidential election.

There are dire consequences when almost a whole generation isn’t politically engaged, and large amounts of young people don’t even vote. It’s just as President Reagan said: If a whole generation fails to protect its freedoms, then those freedoms will be taken away.

Perhaps no other group of radical leftists has done more to take away our freedoms than the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). The ACLU has been attacking Christian principles since it’s founding by Roger Baldwin in 1920. The American Civil Liberties Union is against everything that we Christians believe in. The Bible, the traditional family, the institution of marriage, even Christmas. Disguised as the protectors of freedom, with a militia of attorneys at its disposal, the ACLU is a force to be reckoned with. Throughout it’s history, the ACLU has done much to further its goal of pushing religion, particularly Christianity, out of the public realm. Some of its recent victories include removing the Ten Commandments from public schools, and legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire,  Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont, without the consent of the majority in those states.

The ACLU has been largely successful in it’s anti-God crusade. And I believe that this is because of the lack of public outcry of the ACLU’s actions from Americans in recent years. There is really no other explanation for such an outrage. 96% of Americans when asked will tell you that they believe in a God.

The ACLU and others who want to destroy our liberties will only attempt to do so if they think that they can succeed. If the majority of Americans just stand by and do nothing, then who else is going to protect our liberties?

But there is hope.

When Americans voice their opinions loud enough, they will be heard. When Michael Newdow, an atheist from Sacramento California, called for the Supreme Court to remove the  words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, the ACLU, who would normally be in the thick of the fight, was strangely silent.

It turns out that 9 out of 10 Americans were against the exclusion of the words “under God” in the Pledge. The ACLU knew that the odds were completely against them at the time, so they decided not to get involved, because doing so would risk their already feeble public appeal.

In November 2005, Newdow went on to attack our national motto: “In God We Trust”, protesting that the phrase should not be included on currency and bank notes. In 2006, a Federal Judge rejected this lawsuit as well.

You see, in order to preserve our freedoms, the next generation of Americans, meaning you and me, must show our adversaries,  groups like the ACLU, that we will not allow them to take our freedoms. And if we do so, then we will be triumphant.

So what can we younger people do to protect our liberties?

Well, you can start by getting informed. Get to know the issues that afflict our country, and what needs to be done about it. Get the facts, and form your own opinions.

We may not be able to vote yet, but we can certainly support candidates who will lead effectively. You can send e-mails to your representatives on the local, state, or

national levels. Giving them your input, and telling them how you hope that they will vote on issues that concern you, and who knows, maybe one day in the future you will run for a political office. You would be in a position to put into motion much needed change in our country.

It is common for young people like you and me to feel that we don’t have much to offer in the field of politics, and that we can’t make much of a difference at such a young age.

I personally do not believe that to be true. It is my opinion that the earlier that people start thinking about such things, the better.

In November of 2005, eighteen year old Michael Sessions ran for the position of mayor in Hillsdale Missouri, and succeeded in defeating his 5 1-year-old incumbent, Mayor Douglas Ingles.

Sessions launched his campaign with the $700 that he made at a summer job, one month before the election. Sessions won his campaign with the help of Brandon Thomas, his seventeen-year old campaign manager. Many other younger people were involved in his campaign, and his message is primarily for young people. The teenage mayor still attended high-school when he was first elected mayor,  and now attends Hillsdale College. When he began the job, Michael used his bedroom as his office, earning $250 a month for his services.

“Age has nothing to do with ability,” said Valerie G. Van Opynen, a 49 year old artist, and resident of. “He’s done more good for this city in his first 15 minutes than the last administration ever did. This is the most excited I’ve seen this town in the five years I’ve been here.”

“Age has nothing to do with ability.” This is an important lesson that we should all take to heart.

In 1983, Brian Zimmerman, an 11 year old boy from Crabb, Texas, was elected as mayor of the community with a landslide of 23 votes out of 30 cast. The goal of his campaign was to incorporate the city in order to avoid annexation from neighboring cities such as Houston, although doing so would push him out of his position as Mayor because of Texas State laws prohibiting minors to hold office as mayor.

During his time as mayor of the Crabb community of roughly 200 people, Brian reportedly paved one of the town’s roads.
In 1988, his story was chronicled in a movie called “Lone Star Kid”.

I will admit, this story is a little far fetched, so whether or not you choose to believe in it is your choice. However, if it is, than it is a truly remarkable event.

As you can see, young people can enter the political realm, and can make a difference, either as an active citizen, or even in a political office.

I hope that my speech has shown you the importance of young people to America’s future, and more importantly, to persuade you to be active in the political process throughout your entire life.

Thank you.

Happy New Year from Teens for Liberty!  Today is the start of a new year for us at TFL, and we have a lot planned. If all goes as planned, this year will see a lot of growth here at Teens for Liberty. This year will be spent taking Teens for Liberty to a new level, with plans to expand the audience that we reach, as well as the ways in which we do so. I am excited about the direction God is leading us in, and I pray that he continues to bless this ministry.

-Calvin