The Battle Between Freedom and Socialism Has Been Fought Since America’s Founding

The Battle Between Freedom and Socialism Has Been Fought Since America’s Founding
Detail, “Declaration of Independence” by John Trumbull (1819), depicting the Committee of Five—John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. (Public domain)
Arthur Zhang
8/26/2021
Updated:
8/26/2021
Commentary

The end of this battle will determine our fate and that of our children and the future of the entire world.

The United States is known as a land of the free. The American character is rooted in independence and thought belief in daily life. However, the foundations of the American character are now under assault. Many people have been accustomed to viewing the freedoms Americans enjoy every day and the American political system as a natural outcome and the vilification and destruction of these as a recent socialist revolution, but this is not the case. The fight between freedom and socialism or communism began on the day the United States was founded, and it has now reached a very critical moment of decisive battle.

America Rewritten” is an exclusive special feature from The Epoch Times. Award-winning investigative reporter Joshua Philipp spoke with leading experts on the uniqueness of American character, the radical falsification of American history, explored what the world would be if the American constitutional spirit were lost, and discussed what Americans could do to prevent this happen.

America is more than just a nation. It represents the belief that people, when given freedom, can create a prosperous and harmonious society. It was an unprecedented philosophical and political innovation. Because when the age of kings was ending in the 18th century and people around the world were looking for what type of government could replace it while finding the place for religion and tradition, the U.S. Constitution and political system beautifully answered this age-old quandary and became a model for the world to adopt.

In 1776, the American Founding Fathers established one of these ideas with a statement in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” They established a government based on the idea that people’s rights are given to them by God and that government is only instituted among men to protect these rights, which led to the creation of one of the most prosperous nations in the world’s history with its foundations in individual freedom.

It would be a little naïve to think that since God has given such a wonderful gift to mankind, the devil, who represents tyranny, will willingly withdraw.

Just as Satan once gathered some corrupted angels to challenge God, and just as the slaughter of infants under the age of 2 in Bethlehem by King Herod accompanied the birth of Jesus, so America has faced subversive challenges from home and abroad since its birth. Selfishness, greed, arrogance, and hypocrisy have all been exploited by the devil to attack or erode America’s founding principles and freedoms. The French sans-culottes revolution, the attempts to divide the Union to uphold slavery, the worldwide communist/socialist movement including the National Socialists (Nazi), Marxists, Leninism, Maoism, the Fabian Society, and the Frankfurt School have all been part of this attack.

Take the radical French Revolution as an example. What they built was a very different system. Alongside the destruction of the age of kings, the insurrection leaders advocated that God should also be abandoned under the new government, the Committee of Public Safety. They accumulated all power to a central government authority, established a state-run atheist cult of reason, and launched the reign of terror to put all they did not like into the guillotine.

That idea of brutal suppression in the name of the greater good of eliminating tradition and belief and of holding a single centralized power of government that could control the lives of each individual led to modern communism and socialism, which would eventually sweep the world.

Throughout history until today, these two competing ideas of freedom and socialism have been at the heart of arguments on the role of government and the place of citizens. This has led to many attacks on the American character in attempts to demonize not just our history but even the founding principles of this country.

Who are the groups leading this charge against America now? It will be easy to know the answer if you understand who believes that the U.S. Constitution impedes their lust for profit and power. The Constitution has protected Americans for over 200 years by ensuring free speech, assembly, the right to keep and bear arms, and preventing unreasonable searches and seizures. So the Constitution is the enemy of all tyrants.

As Trevor Loudon illustrated, every tyrant right now from the radical left to the globalists to Big Tech to the Chinese Communist Party are all trying to destroy the U.S. Constitution and the American spirit of liberty. If they can do that, they will have complete power over every aspect of our lives, a nightmare for the American people and even the entire world.

Former President Reagan prayed to God that “another generation of Americans has protected and passed on lovingly this place called America, this shining city on a hill, this government of, by, and for the people.” But he also warned that “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

The U.S. Constitution is like a formula that ultimately would produce a free, powerful, and benevolent nation. However, the founding principles and values do not inherit naturally but must be learned about, adopted, practiced, and carried forward by each generation. Keep it or lose it.

This is the battle of our age. Where is the hope? And what are Americans supposed to do to win? Watch the documentary for more details.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.