Communism - The fantasy that persists.

About 25 years ago - give or take a couple of elections - a fellow in western Missouri ran for Congress. In his campaign advertising, he told how he, his father and his brothers all "lived from the same wallet". They each worked and put their earnings into a common bank account. All lived and spent frugally and all prospered. You can imagine that if one lost his job - he was taken care of until he found a new job. If one suddenly got a better job with higher pay, all profited. What a wonderful picture. Many folks I knew planned to vote for him. Sadly, the poor man was killed in an airplane crash before the election, so we'll never know how he may have governed had he been elected. But his story was very appealing. Of course, their success depended entirely upon every member working equally, spending frugally, being always true to the group.

For centuries, men have watched ants and bees, admiring and envying the way they all worked for the common good. There were no "poor" ants or "poor" bees, unless the entire colony was poor.

Then a German named Karl Marx spelled out a way for humans to live the same way... to live in an always equally sharing commune. Communism.

Trouble is, humans are not ants or bees. Humans are individuals with unique thoughts, aspirations and ambitions. Bees tolerate drones. Males whose only purpose is to mate with the queen and then be killed. Bees have worker bees which work endlessly until they drop dead on the job, never achieving anything special for themselves. Humans will not tolerate such a society.

But the Marxists have persisted. When enough people in a nation subscribe to their philosophy and install their form of government, the results are always the same. Too many workers refuse to work. Those who do work soon realize they are being cheated and quit working. The requisite rules and regulations soon trump reality and big mistakes are made in the name of compliance.

In the 1960s, the U.S. and Soviet Russia cooperated on an exchange program where teens of each nation spent a summer in the other nation, to learn about their way of life. Some farm boys from Kansas who participated were appalled when rules required that everyone leave the fields at quitting time, leaving crops to be destroyed by a coming storm. In Kansas, If your hay crop is cut and baled ahead of an approaching storm, you stay in the field, working through the night to get the hay safely in the barn. Then you can rest as necessary.

Every nation that has tried Communism has failed. Current examples are Cuba and North Korea. The greatest failure of Communism, of course, was the U.S.S.R.

Now some point to China as a success of Communism. But Communism in China exists only in the halls of government. Essentially, they have turned away from the collectivist rules and allow the people to make their own way. China is now the most entrepreneurial nation in the world. Unlike the Russians on the collective farms of the 1960s, the Chinese work tirelessly to succeed. Chinese people make great sacrifices to travel and live in distant places when that means a better job, a better salary, a better life for their families.

Still, the world is full of "bee watchers", intent upon transforming humans into drones and workers, etc. How much more proof do they need that this is a fantasy that has not, does not, will not work?

How did
The Greatest Generation
get it so wrong?

God knows we thought we were doing it right. We struggled through the depression years of "The Dirty Thirties" - dust bowl and all. We ate the simplest foods and were grateful for every bite. We went to school with homemade clothes and bare feet. We listened to the politicians promise us a new deal as the depression worsened. We dumped high school to join the military and serve the country we so loved.

When the world finally settled down, we also settled down to raise a family, determined that our children would have a better life than ours.

So, what did we do? We created a generation that cares nothing for the values so dear to our hearts. A generation that hates the American entrepreneurial spirit. A generation totally ignorant of the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, and totally disinterested in the miraculous constitution they gave us.

We cared so much for them, they now believe they should always be cared for. But, the greatest generation is rapidly disappearing, and this new generation soon will realize that we will not be replaced. And I fear they will also learn that the rest of the world will not care for them but will destroy them if they can.

This weekend I was reminded that the students starting college this year were born in 1992! Born in 1992??? Why, that's only.... oh.... 18 years ago! How could they know? They didn't live it. We didn't teach it. Whatever they are, perhaps we are responsible.

How did we get it so wrong?

But, still caring, I yet have one sincere wish: that today's generation will learn (please, not the hard way) before it is too late.

Where will we be in 2052?

My father died 42 years ago today. He did not have a lot of formal education, but he was an intelligent, well-read man, aware of current events.

But, at his death, he had never heard of the internet. Knew nothing of personal computers. Never heard of GPS. Would have been puzzled at the mention of HDTV or flat screen LCD TVs, much less a digital TV. Never saw a CD or a DVD. Never saw a cell phone. Never saw an electronic calculator. You get the idea. None of those things were a functioning reality in 1968.

He once told me the story of being at some sort of display in which a person could pick up a telephone on one side of the room and speak to another person, on another telephone, on the other side of the room. As the onlookers marveled, someone said, "Some day they will do it without the wire." Everyone laughed.

The advances in technology through his lifetime and since his death are just mind boggling. Now consider what engineers at Texas Instruments were once quoting as having said: "Every time we develop a new and better calculator, it makes it much easier to make the next improvement." With all the new tools we now have in our toolbox, what wondrous new tools lie in our future?

Want to plan a future amusement for your grandchildren? On a sheet of paper, write today's date, then make a list of all the examples of the latest technology in your daily life. Put it in a safe place to be opened at some future date. Not 42 years from now, but say, when that new baby graduates from high school.

Advance of the human!

In my eighty-one years, I have observed a lot of human real estate. In so doing, I have developed a keen eye for the human condition. Believe me, it has changed!

In the 1950s, Andre Williams recorded a song called "Jail Bait". In the lyric, a man stood before a judge, accused of improper relationships with underage girls. Pleading for leniency, the accused promised

Please Mr. Judge
You just let me go this time
I won't mess with those young girls no more
I swear I won't bother them no more Mr. Judge
I ain't gonna bother none 15
I ain't gonna bother none 16
I ain't gonna bother none 17
I ain't gonna mess with none 18

To underscore his sincerity, he explained:

I'm gonna get me a girl about forty-two...

Talk about a laugh-out-loud line! 42? Teens of the day wondered: Do girls really get that old?

Well, that was the 1950s. The world was on a different track. President Eisenhower was busy ending the Korean War (he succeeded), keeping the budget balanced (succeeded, again), and designing the Interstate Highway System (Yep, he succeeded there, also.)

But, off to the side - in the shadows - the nanny state was hatching in some people's minds. Looking beyond national security, fiscal responsibility and modern infrastructure, these folks were wanting to save us from our own bad habits. (Uh, they still are!). It took awhile, but they eventually eliminated trans-fats; got rid of well-marbled steaks, in favor of tough, lean beef; they created bottled water, glorified vegetarianism; greatly curtailed high fructose corn syrup; brought us organic eggs, etc., etc.

Mostly, we did not realize that these steps were doing wonderful things for some citizens.

Today I look at a 42 year-old-woman and I think: college freshman! Everywhere you look there's a hot 50-year-old!

The other day my wife of forty years headed out the door for some grocery shopping. All I could think was, "Damn, she's cute!"

Long live bottled water!

I Am Sick and tired

of being sick and tired of hearing know-it-all talking TV heads telling us what The American People like. Or, Really Like!

So, with some degree of regularity, I have to scream "You're wrong, stupid!"

On one of the Sunday talk shows today, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich reminded us, yet again, that Social Security is a big, costly government program but that The American People love it!

After all these years, one might hope that old Bob would pick up some smarts along the way. No such luck. So, let me explain once more, Bob:

When I took my first job away from the family farm, at about age 13, the government explained that I now owned a retirement insurance program. It was an ill-conceived idea. It was bound to fail. I didn't like it then. I don't like it now. I had no say then. I've had no say along the way.

But I paid their required premiums with every paycheck I ever earned. I know those premiums were not many dollars at first. But those were powerful dollars. With one - just one - I could buy a gallon of gas; a sack of six White Castle hamburgers; a cup of coffee; get a haircut and have some change left. And, I worked damn hard for one of those dollars. A ten-hour day got me two of them.

For fifty years I paid those premiums. The government quickly spent those dollar. Then they printed more and more of them, making each worth less and less. On my 13th birthday, $33.85 would buy an ounce of gold. As of last Friday, it took $1,133.60 to buy that ounce of gold.

Now please, Mr. Reich, don't tell me about big government programs that the people love. Don't tell me I am getting some kind of handout. The government made the deal. They gave me two choices: go along or go to jail! Yes, Social Security was and is a lousy idea. Not my problem. I want my benefits.

Just when you think

things cannot get more absurd... guess what? They get really dumb!

The big outrage today is that "kids were directing air traffic!" OMG! The former director of the NTSB said "The absence of an accident does not mean there was no danger!"

Apparently, a professional, veteran air traffic controller brought his kids to work. The kid sat there for some time listening to his/her dad chat with the pilots. As a one-time pilot, I can testify that these chats are almost universally pleasant, and absolutely always professional.

Once in a great while a pilot gets impatient when a controller follows rules that inconvenience the pilot a little. I remember an incident when a controller, feeling safety necessitated that he delay a landing by a few moments, directed a pilot to make a 360.... a 360º turn... a big loop in the sky to use up a few minutes of time. The pilot snapped in reply, "Are you aware that it will burn $500 worth of fuel to make a 360 in this aircraft?" The controller replied, "Affirmative. Please give me a $500 left turn."

But that is rare... controllers generally will do everything they can to accommodate pilots. And as a pilot, I can attest that it is a comfort to concentrate on landing your aircraft and not have to worry so much about other air traffic because the controller is watching out for you.

I recall an incident from my broadcast days. A very pretty young woman and I were guests at an Air force bombing range. The grading officer in the tower would, in turn, call each plane in for its bombing run. We listened for some time, and caught on to the lingo. Finally, the novel of having a pretty girl in the tower, presented a special opportunity for the airmen. The controller handed his mike to the young woman and instructed her to call the next plane in for its bombing run.

In those days of an essentially all-male Air Force, one can only imagine the surprise of that F-105 pilot in hearing a pleasant female voice directing him. We'll never know... that plane, roaring past the observation tower at 500 miles per hour, was a shattering blur. Flying in at treetop altitude, the plane flew straight at its target, released its bomb, then turned straight up, roaring out of sight vertically. Very exciting!

Back to the present. It is apparent that this controller had mentioned to one or more pilots that his kid was at his side in the tower. We can imagine a pilot radioing his hello to the visitor. And, it went from there. Pilot or controller asked the kid to repeat his father's instructions. The kid did as told. Both controller and pilots enjoyed the exchange.

Does anyone think, for an instant, that the controller or any pilot was taking their eye off the ball? Give me a break. These are the most professional of professionals. They are also dads and moms - humans, if you will.

But some jerk - the politician or journalist who would ignore corruption and fraud - is coming down on the controller. And probably someone unloaded a heap of wrath on one or more pilots!

What will we feel outraged about next?