Free Republic

That this discussion is still going since 1999 is a testament to its vitality. Gramsci certainly seems to be the inspiration for Rules for Radicals. However, we should not overstate his role. E.g., Malthus and Sanger were out there there propagandizing to the beat the band long before Gramsci came along. His theories, however, do put their roles as "organic intellectuals" in perspective.

Moreover, the values in conflict today are more nuanced than appears on the surface: Marxist, bourgeois, radical Christian, capitalist, traditional American, and various admixtures of these and probably more (e.g., bourgeois Christianity, Liberation theology).

What does seem to be emerging is a deeper appreciation for the role of the "organic intellectual" in working toward a new synthesis of traditional values for our time -- when some of our most important institutions have become thoroughly corrupt. The explosion of popular dialogue via the internet holds both the risk of a new Tower of Babel and the promise of renewal -- unless Mark Steyn's Armageddon gets here first.

But first we have to deal with the immediate crisis and the likelihood that Obama isn't as dumb as he seems, and that the collapse of our society into economic chaos is, in fact, the pre-determined goal of the left. It certainly fits Marxist theory.

Our most serious enemy, however, is not them, but "us" -- as Pogo once so wisely warned. If America goes down for the count, it will be primarily because of our own apathy and unwillingness to risk "our lives, our honor, and our sacred fortunes" -- as the founding fathers did -- to save it.

As a researcher, I predicted the current crisis as early as 1995 through 1998, and even got the dates right -- starting in 2000 through 2010 and very likely 2020 -- all based on demographics, and not the ups and downs of the stock market. But relatively few listened.

I keep asking: How can we possibly have prosperity with a 43% decline in the birth rate since 1960 and 54.5 million abortions since Colorado legalized it in 1967? Cutting taxes and reducing spending can only moderate the noise we make when we hit bottom. It will take massive renewal of personal responsibility to prevent it.

Basically, we've eliminated at least 30% of our under-45 generation,and yet most people don't want to read the suicidal message on the wall. And now we want to kick the can down the road and send the bill to the under-45'ers. When they wake up to that, there will be hell to pay.

Obama didn't start this one, yet Planned Parenthood still has the active support of Congress and a whole bunch of bourgeois Republicans as well as all of those pandering Democrats. No thanks to Gramsci, we're headed off the cliff with our foot on the gas pedal, and few seem to care.

For more info ck out: http://tinyurl.com/dc8skx

Thanks to Planned Parenthood, we’ve eliminated an estimated 120 million people under age 40. That’s the demographic reason behind the current long term economic crisis. If all those kids had been born, there would be a housing shortage, not a surplus, and the tax burden would be more widely shared. And the economy would be 30-40% larger. This is nothing but valuable human resources going down the drain. If we put the money government gives PPF every year into education, we’d all be far better off.

Yes, and now someone else’s children will have to support you in your old age.

I've just finished reading an article in the New Oxford Review on the history of the fight over abortion in the 19th century. It is in their November issue and, unfortunately, is not yet posted on their website: http://www.newoxfordreview.org. It is by Frederick N. Dyer and is titled: The Physicians' Crusade Against Abortion. But anyone seriously interested in the history of this issue ought to read it:

To summarize it: Abortion was virtually the only method of birth control available to women in the early 1800's -- a period when most families had 6 or more children and maternal death during childbirth was quite common. Considering the state of medicine at the time, the even more radical intervention of abortion was even more dangerous. However, many women sought it as their only escape from the burdens of a time when life was hard to begin with (no central heating, no supermarkets, no appliances, etc., etc.) Imagine doing laundry for a family of 8 in the middle of winter in 1804.

By the 1850's, abortion had become a serious concern of many physicians, and one Horatio Robinson Storer became the leader of a physicians' crusade against abortion that climaxed in the passage of restrictive laws against abortion on a state by state basis that stood until Roe v. Wade. Feminist voices like that of Susan B. Anthony, who called abortion "child murder," also contributed strongly to this crusade.

The main thrust of the physicians' crusade was education and persuasion on a patient by patient basis, chiefly among married Protestant women where the practice was more common. They found allies in this effort among Catholic priests who had the forum of frequent confession to reach Catholic women as the practice spread into their ranks.

These efforts were more successful among married women than among the unmarried for whom pregnancy was a huge social stigma at the time. However, it was this combination of education, persuasion and legislation that made the 19th Century crusade so successful. Indeed, it was still going strong into the mid-20th Century until Margaret Sanger broke down public resistance through her counter-crusade during the 1920's and '30's.

Today, relatively few physicians strongly counsel their patients against abortion, and the Catholic practice of seeking frequent confession and spiritual guidance has all but disappeared. Indeed, it is the rare parish where the topic is even discussed from the pulpit more than once every few years. The clergy themselves seem to have been very much influenced by the new "spirit of the times."

Meanwhile, the pro-life movement has tragically become a largely a political one, and pro-life education is limited to a few organizations like my own (www.movementforabetteramerica.org) that actively promote discussion and dialogue as the best means of promoting understanding of the inexorable consequences of the wholesale extermination of unborn children.

Politics alone will never solve this problem. What is needed is more honest, open discussion and the beginnings of a profound moral, spiritual, and cultural change. Sadly we're not getting either from the medical profession or from most of the clergy. "If the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted." It seems we will have to convert the churches first.

What is mind-blowing to think about is that if the 19th century abortion wave had not been stunted by this crusade, cumulative population growth in the U.S. would have been dramatically hampered, and there is no way we could have become the industrial leader of the world and the arsenal of democracy in two World Wars. Instead, we might very well have ended up as an outlying colony of the Third Reich.

Like it or not, history is ultimately determined in the bedroom and the cradle. Only God knows where we will end up given the birth dearth in the U.S. and Europe and the continuing population explosion in the Muslim world.

The main reason for our approaching defeat in the Iraq War is that there is no way we can win a war of attrition against a population whose young men of military age outnumber our forces by 40 to 1. They are having the babies and we aren't.

The post was from a news release on prweb http://www.prweb.com (search "48.5 million" + movement for a better america) that is the same as the post. It was based on the article posted on the movement for a better america website of which I am the author. http://www.movementforabetteramerica.org. My byline was left off the original article inadvertently.

I've been researching this topic for over 10 years and make no apologies for what I have written. Nor do I have time for petty squabbles. And, yes, I am new to FR. I will be back again when I have something worth sharing. Meanwhile, thanks to all who read and appreciated my post.