Socialists – the proto-Borg

Most readers will recall one of the series of Star Fleet enemies, the half-organic, half-mechnical “civilization” which motto was “Resistance is Futile” as they worked to assimilate – or kill – all other intelligent forms of life or seeming life.

“Borg” is of course short for “cyborg” or “cybernetic-organism,” an old SF (and science) term. The Borg are perhaps the best known of many versions of such things throughout the history of the genre. Usually (not always) these creations are the antagonist. The enemies of humans – especially humans who are and want to be individuals and not part of a collective.

So the Borg and their analogues are the enemies in fiction for many good reasons.

Which brings me to the point of this commentary.

The Borg and their kindred villains of fiction are based mostly on an idea of extreme regimen and unified command and control in which mere humans are but units, cogs. It is the idea of the collective, der Volk, “We, the People” and similar terms for the same concept. Not necessarily without free will, but so restricted and molded by the “higher organism” that we are obviously interchangeable and very-replaceable components in the “organism” which is the community, the state, the nation, or the world.

Which is one of the objectives (even if not so stated), features, and distinctive characteristics of socialism. (And in a way, virtually all forms of human government – at least for the masses of people.)

Socialism is a collectivist ideology, among other things.

It emphasizes the supremacy of the group over individuals (and their rights). Collectivists put little faith in people. And virtually none in individual identity (except those individuals who “express the will of the people,” according to most socialist doctrine. The “elite” or the “vanguard” of society.

Since they oppose the paleo-liberal (libertarian) concept of individualism, personal responsibility, and self-determination, this should come as no surprise. Above all, collectivists hate diversity. (True diversity, not the ersatz version spouted by neo-liberal, Regressivist, statist version.)

In their society, they desire sameness of ideology and behavior, even when those things change in the mind of the leadership. It is, of course, the destiny and obligation of the leadership: the vanguard and elite, to change the public’s mind. This includes making sure that the public forgets what it used to believe.

Is it any shock? Of course, they seek to assimilate everyone into their own worldview, and indeed, organization. This makes them single-minded in every way, Socialists must be in mental lockstep against anything and anyone else – even those of their own number who do not toe the line precisely or seek to divert in the least jot and tittle.

They do and will kill (physically, morally, mentally, and socially) to preserve their one-way collective culture. (We call this “cancelling” today.) They may speak of liberty, but it is reserved just for them and their approved activities. We have seen this since the very first socialist movements and uprisings, now more than 170 years ago (1848 in Europe).

Of course, in the Fifty States, socialism had a bad name for a long time. (Not so, in Europe and Africa and South America.) This actually predates both World Wars, and perhaps can be traced back to the original Forty-Eighters who fled Europe for America. They quickly had to hide their socialism, and they did so successfully in the Abolitionist and Republican Party movements.

But their goal has always been to assimilate all of society, everyone, into their collective. To them, that is progress – or rather, Progress. To lovers of liberty, they want us to regress,

A Baker’s Dozen ™ examples of the real campaign platform and legislative/executive order agenda of the Regressivists:

1. Amend the US Constitution’s (USC’s) First Amendment to remove protection for “hate speech” and possibly “education” provided by religious groups. And anything which states opposition to any of the Regressives goals.
2. End private and home schooling (except maybe under very stringent government control with in-home inspections, massive reporting, records, and testing). (Possibly combined with #1)
3. Repeal the USC’s Second Amendment – or modify it to restrict gun ownership only to government employees and those protecting “the elite.” In the meantime, work around it.
4. Remove the Electoral College to allow direct election by nationwide popular vote for President.
5. Grant “statehood” to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to ensure their longtime control.
6. Enact the Equal Rights Amendment rejected by the amendment process decades ago, but expanded to include all eighty-something genders, and lowering the voting age to 16.
7. Establish national “wealth taxes” on money and property owned by billionaires and multi-millionaires (and work it to drop lower and lower within the very first four years like the income tax did).
8. Reestablish the Fairness Doctrine for media, including internet service, broadcast and cable, and quickly print media.
9. Work around the 4th Amendment to allow continuous surveillance in all public areas, and in private homes as a condition of parole, government and government contractor employment (and home-schooling).
10. Universal Medicare merged with Medicaid and military/veteran health care.
11. “Universal” free college tuition for incomes below median..
12. “Universal” basic income (reverse income tax) for incomes below median, following the lead of the “stimulus payments” for COVID-19.
13. Amend the USC to allow future amendments to be approved by a national popular vote.

Do we as lovers of freedom and liberty want this?