Alek grew up in Russia and escaped to freedom in the United States a few years ago.  He appreciates and loves America.  He was a surprise guest speaker at our West Chester Tea Party.  He knows the horrors of socialsim. This is his story:

I had a “hands-on” experience with the real socialism and my personal knowledge is based on whatever happened with me or my relatives during three generations.
In few words:
1. Socialism lost an economic competition with Capitalism due to lack of a stimulus package which is a reward for good work, bright ideas, dedicated service or successful entrepreneurship. Example for the Second Amendment supporters – Eugene Stoner, M16 designer became a rich and famous person and he invited and paid for Mikhail Kalashnikov, a famous designer of AK-47, visit to US, because Kalashnikov was a poor man, living in 2 room apartment in Moscow. His reward was a honor and Golden Star, but no money for his personal needs. Sorry – socialism means no money, words only!
2. Socialism means all the people have the same rights – yes, but only the members of the ruling party had access to better food, medicine and recreation facilities. And all these services officially were free or cheap, but you had to come to the hospital with your antibiotics or to bribe/pay the doctor to get them.
3. Socialism means a free education – I had stipendium, but after getting diploma everybody had to work for the government owned companies for few years. And engineers salaries were the same that of workers (but lower than in Detroit ).
4. Positions starting with the department manager and up needed a Communist party membership – no outsiders excepted.
5. All media worked under a strict control of the party and KGB – 100% censorship. The reason why USSR had good mainframe computers and no personal was KGB fear that people may use their personal computers to communicate without Big Brother control. When I was working on my Ph.D. my scientific consultant was arrested and jailed for 8.5years after telling the students that the country should be ruled by the specialists in economics, social sciences etc, but not the politicians without education.
6. Socialism had a freedom to work for the government or to serve the government or to die for the government. I anybody wanted any other kinds of freedom – welcome to Siberia or local prisons, labor camps or at least to the “black list”. It means you can not get job you would like or apartment you were waiting for.
7. Low wages means government is an almighty boss, and you are a slave – this is why Americans paying their earned money to the government are giving up their freedoms. Freedom of choosing the lifestyle including their medicine, housing, education, child/parent relations, religion – name it!
8. Money in the hands of the people means freedom! More money for the government – more chances that some bureaucrats will stick their noses in your family life and take out your values. They will kick out Second Amendment, then First Amendment. Examples – Bolsheviks (Communists) in 1917 promised to stop WWI, give the lands to the farmers, all plant to the workers, to nationalize banks and to replace Tsarist Army with Militia (word taken from the US history), to separate state from religion, to make everybody equal and happy. Results – money based system was destroyed, communist government nationalized everything – lands, plants, banks, media. To get food to the cities and to distribute through the Food Stamps (Bread Card) like system for only communist supporters (the rest should die) a new Red Army and Community Organizations of Poor People (KOMBED) rushed to take almost all food from the farmers, and all the guns were banned from non-bolsheviks to prevent any kind of resistance.This was beginning of the Russian Civil War which devastated the country and took lives of >15 millions. After a Civil war a system of the labor camps became a part of society and a menace for anyone to open their mouth. Few years later farmers were pushed into the collective farms and after the harvester was picked all the wheat was taken to the centralized storages. In 1932-1933 millions died, most of my relatives died in Ukraine – the richest soil country in Europe. 6 millions only in Ukraine! No one newspaper reported these atrocities! For the outside world it was a happy country building a happy socialism! 4 years later great perjuries started. My grandpa and grandma just arrived (1937) to the city of Vitebsk, Belorussia, my grandpa got a scientist position at the chair of general physics in a college. 10 of 12 people working for this chair were arrested and prosecuted. Every night grandpa was waiting the same – they both were ready sitting all the night with a pack of underwear (my grandma told this story). At 5am a truck with a big cabin stopped near the next house and KGB (that time NKVD) officers took out a professor and his two sons 15 and 17 years old. Officer looked in the truck and probably did not find a place for them so the “justice” was performed on spot – all three were shot in the head and bodies were left near the entrance.
I know a lot of stories and my advice is – no socialism! This is the end of freedom, this will be the end of the Great Country – United States of America!

KEEP OUR MONEY, OUR FREEDOMS, OUR RELIGION AND GUNS!  LET THEM KEEP THE CHANGE!

Thank you Alek – YOU are a great American.