Last weekend one of the world’s most persuasive spokesmen for freedom passed away. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, communist dissident and prolific writer, gave voice to the silent anguish of his countrymen and millions of others suffering under communist regimes. For his bravery in exposing to international scrutiny an extremely dark and evil government, Solzhenitsyn should be honored.
Solzhenitsyn’s criticism of communism was not some intellectual’s theoretical analysis of a government system; his eight years in a Soviet Gulag gave him the experience and authority to graphically detail the horror and misery of a "utopian government".
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the very week Solzhenitsyn passed away, and three Americans were arrested in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for protesting Communist China’s brutal human rights abuses, the California legislature passed SB 1322.
This unbelievably foolish measure would strike from current state law a public school’s ability to fire a Communist teacher. It would also allow Communists to use public school property for meetings. I can think of no private company that would allow an employee bent on its employer’s destruction to not only use that business’s property to plot against the business, but remain an employee—immune from termination. However, this is essentially what Democrat lawmakers want the California government to do.
As Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa blogged about on Monday, SB 1322 passed the Assembly, went to the Senate for concurrence, and is now headed to Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk.
Senator Alan Lowenthal and Assembly floor manager Gene Mullin both argued that communism is a “failed ideology.” But what they fail to understand is that ideas have consequences. And although previous generations experienced the terror of communist reign, the post-Cold War generations don’t have a visceral understanding of that terror.
Communists understand that education is their most effective tool in controlling government and society. Vladimir Lenin declared, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Advocating for complete government dictatorship of education, Karl Marx stated, “The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions at state expense.” Most chillingly, Josef Stalin declared, “Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”
If education is a weapon, why would we hand it over to those who despise our country—and our freedom?
Governor Schwarzenegger, you vowed to veto any bills sent to you until the budget is passed. Don’t just veto SB 1322 quietly, as a bargaining chip in budget arguments. Make a statement with your veto. Send a message to the oppressed all over the world that you understand their suffering and will not allow communism to gain a foothold in our education system.
Your veto message should give voice to the millions still suffering under communism in China, North Korea, Cuba. Like your predecessor Ronald Reagan, you can take a bold stand for freedom by speaking out against communism. In this time of mourning for Alexander Solzhenitsyn, your greatest tribute would be a veto of SB 1322.