“Never in the history of the world did it dawn upon the human mind as it dawned upon your ancestors, what it would mean for men to be free.,” said Anna Howard Shaw in her speech, “The Fundamental Principle of a Republic,” in Albany, New York, June 21, 1915. “They got the vision of a government in which the people would be the supreme power….They did not equivocate in a single word when they wrote the Declaration of Independence; no one can dream that these men had not got the sublimest ideal of democracy which had ever dawned upon the souls of men.”

Piercing words by Shaw.

We need to heed them as we listen to Democrat presidential hopefuls (aka, “the mob”) in their effort to move our country to socialism — maybe even beyond to the next “ism.” One wonders, did any of the candidates ever live under socialism? Do they have first-hand experiences about the “wonders” of socialism which to relate to us? Do the candidates have detailed protocols on socialism to present based on successful models and rigorous research? The answer to each question is No.

With our remarkable and, yes, superior form of government as backdrop, one stares in aghast at the deceptive zealousness that flows from the mouths of Democrat presidential hopefuls. There doesn’t seem to be a true thinking person among the lot. Surely, not the front runner. In fact, they seem to have no sense of the price that was paid so that they could live free under liberty. Moreover, they appear to hate the country that enabled them to be in their current elitist positions. Writer Jonah Goldberg calls their push to transform America “a fundamentally unpatriotic desire.” I call their actions a pandering con game!

Strange, isn’t it, how candidates, who always have lived under freedom and individual rights, want to transform America into a far less free socialist nation? Open the borders to any and all, they say. Appalling words because they haven’t a clue as to the reality of such an act on our nation, on communities, on taxpayers, and on the lives of ordinary American citizens. The ramifications are frightening in their consideration.

Even the Scandanavian countries, touted by some candidates as “models” of socialism, have seen the light and moved to more capitalistic economies. Sweden, in fact, never was socialist, according to Lee Edwards, Ph.D., writing for the Heritage Foundation. Sweden is a social democracy where production is owned by private individuals. It always has been capitalistic. On the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom, Sweden ranked number 19 worldwide.

What the American public observes are desperate presidential aspirants, offering a menu of freebies for votes: free college; Medicare for all; free healthcare to illegal aliens who broke our laws entering our country; college debt forgiveness; free reparation to blacks who never lived under slavery; free education to illegal aliens; free access by anyone and everyone to our country with its generous welfare benefits, even though the majority of illegals are illiterate and unskilled.

Freebies, of course, represent the “hook” to reel in the gullible and bring the candidates votes. Once reeled in, it becomes easier to destroy liberties now guaranteed by our Constitution. Patriotic blood shed defending rights and liberties, not just in the Revolutionary War but in the two great wars and other conflicts, appear to mean nothing to “the mob,” with the possible exception of Tulsi Gabbard. Note how they are exploiting El Paso and Dayton to fund-raise and to remove second amendment rights guaranteed by our Constitution.

Although Washington spoke about the cunning of “foreign influence,” the word “socialism” can be substituted as it requires the same cautions: “Against the insidious wiles of [socialism]…the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake,” said President George Washington in his Farewell Address (Sept. 17, 1796), “since history and experience prove, that [socialism] is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.”

The deceptive arguments proffered by “the mob” and “the squad” to desecrate and destroy our Constitution and our Republic Government ought to elicit the same warning: Free People, Be Jealous and Constantly Awake!

Deann Nelson is a Jamestown resident.