Don’t let the title fool you. This is not an Anne Coulter screed. This is a serous examination of modern liberalism and it’s uncanny similarities to the Fascist movement of the early 20th century.

It was written long before BHO became president, but you’d think it was written yesterday it’s soooooooooooooooo relevant. It doesn’t just show us where it came from. It gives a frightening picture of where we’re headed.

This sems as if it were written yesterday as it is an insightful commentary on human nature. The clarity of that insight and its resonance today is profound. What I found most trenchant was the seeming throw away line which observed that true socialism is a long way in the future, for ‘If men will not
act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit
of their effort is for all?”

On another note, being surrounded by idiots who think the Constitution needs to be “living” becuase the founders didn’t know about all of the changes in society an technology, this clean sketch of the stubborn immutability of human nature prompts me to observe that the founders mention “technology” not at all. Rather, the wrestled with the inherent flaws in human nature and how those expressed and magnified themselves in the institutions of goverenance. I see nothing that suggests these issues have changed one wit since our country’s founding.

socialism cannot prevail over human nature. The little essay is a good peek into the mind of a 19th Century Progressive. He longs for that socialist world where from each according to his ability to each according to his need doesn’t result in the able getting screwed.

We now have close to half a Nation getting its needs satified by the government’s confiscation of the ability of others and the ratio is getting worse by the day. The sad part is the one third to one half of this Nation that is largely wasting oxygen and making babies thinks that it is they who are the victims.

Interestingly Hubbards piece gives some insight into why socialist regimes so often turn vicious. The true believers really do work hard and believe in the new socialist man, but the masses malinger. The temptation to begin shooting the malingerers sometimes becomes insurmountable.

My first corporate supervisory assignment was when I worked for a Fortune 500 company.

Early on, we had to do the annual performance appraisal ritual that is common among such companies: Grade every employee on their performance on a 5-scale (5 being the high end in this case).

The premise is that human performance follows a bell shaped curve. In practice, there are few 5s, and 1s should be on their way out the door. 2s need to improve and 4s get a nice pat on the back. By design, 50% or so are supposed to be 3s, which is to say “average”.

Nobody enjoys hearing that they’re a 3. They equate it with getting a C in school, and with cost-of-living raises, and no more.

Well, in my experience, this is a poor model of human performance in an organization.

I had employees that deserved a negative 3, because they screwed up everything they worked on so badly that someone else had to be designed to fix it. Having them around was worse than having an empty chair. And, yes, they got the ax, with no regrets on my part.

Then there was the rare individual that deserved a 10 – not only were they a highly effective employee, their presence and example made the people around them better employees, too. Kind of like a force-multiplier.

And the “Message to Garcia” heroes are those rare 10s on a 5 point scale. Few & far between, but they are the difference-makers.

What a powerful little pamphlet. I have recommended it to friends already. You’d think it was written recently. It is a succinct analysis of human nature and the need for personal responsibility and initiative.

Could easily be a message for today’s workforce. If you are not one possessing what it takes to give orders, then be one who can receive orders and carry them out with enthusiasm. The only part of Hubbard’s message that does not ring true today is his statement that Socialism is so far in the future. In 1899, the “knotted club” and a worker’s dread of being “bounced” from their job probably did hold many a worker in his place. Not so today. The knotted club does not exist and today’s workers know the state will take care of them, even if their insubordinate behavior causes them to be bounced by what they see as the oppressive employer. Hands are out, and Socialism is at our doorstep. The humanitarian efforts of the New Deal inadvertently created a monster made up of children who grew up believing the government owns them a living. Those children are now grown and have children of their own. Heroes do escape and rise from the monster we created, but unfortunately, they are rare.

Could easily be a message for today’s workforce. If you are not one possessing what it takes to give orders, then be one who can receive orders and carry them out with enthusiasm. The only part of Hubbard’s message that does not ring true today is his statement that Socialism is so far in the future. In 1899, the “knotted club” and a worker’s dread of being “bounced” from their job probably did hold many a worker in his place. Not so today. The knotted club does not exist and today’s workers know the state will take care of them, even if their insubordinate behavior causes them to be bounced by what they see as the oppressive employer. Hands are out, and Socialism is at our doorstep. The humanitarian efforts of the New Deal inadvertently created a monster made up of children who grew up believing the government owns them a living. Those children are now grown and have children of their own. Heroes do escape and rise from the monster we created, but unfortunately, they are rare.

Nothing ever changes.
There is a conservative website, Jewish World Review, that some of you may be familiar with. They sometimes feature a Q & A with a “Jewish Ethicist” who bases his answers in part on the 3,000+ yr old Torah. A recurring topic in this Q & A has been work ethics. http://www.jewishworldreview.com/jewish/ethicist_job_hunt.php3
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/jewish/ethicist_work_ethic.php3
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/jewish/ethicist_careerism.php3
The Jewish Ethicist’s answers would fit right in with a Message to Garcia with the added edict that you perform your work duties joyfully.

Liberals are against the notion of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”. They accuse conservatives of being heartless for suggesting it as a solution to problems like poverty, as if hard work is no solution. Of course, there are sometimes other obstacles to overcome but that doesn’t mean the basic premise is unsound.

Once, when discussing the chronically unemployed, I had one Leftist tell me that not everyone has had the benefit of someone (a parent or mentor) training them to be responsible or be like Rowan (who delivered the message to Garcia) as it were. So their solution is to give hand outs, excuse me, hand ups is what they prefer to call them. Maybe a better solution would be this book. But I’m guessing liberals would probably be against that because promoting initiative goes against growing a stronger government which is the enemy of initiative and vice versa. One can only conclude that they have something to gain by people being poor workers.

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…”

And Colossians 3:23

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men…”

We will all give an account, or as Hubbard put it in more secular fashion, “Destiny patiently awaits around a corner with a stuffed club [for the indolent].”

Everybody has a “rich Pa” now, or rather, a rich uncle. Of course, it can’t last forever.

As de Tocqueville said so eloquently, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” Well, part of the public anyway…

There is nothing new under the sun. The same lack of work ethic still prevails. I manage a doctor’s office and come across this kind of thinking almost every day. There is no way to fight it. Not anymore.

I’ve already sent copies of Message to Garcia to friends and family. As for Liberal Fascism, I am half way through it already! What a book! It should be on every Libertarian and Conservative’s book shelf!

As a note, I have the trade paperback edition and it has a new Afterword on Obama.

to work taken seriously and a job well done. I liked the bit in the intro about showing respect and gratitude to whoever you work for. Or, if you really can’t respect them, choosing to move on. One would think this would come naturally and I’m not really sure why a disgruntled attitude is so common – though I have theories.

I do think he is going overboard about (didn’t he say?) never working part time. There are legitimate reasons for working part time and legitimate times to say no. I worked as a waitress when I was in college and there were some shifts I was available for and others when I simply wasn’t. If I was scheduled on a day that I’d said I wasn’t available – which I think is something new managers generally tried- I’d politely correct their mistake and tell them that- as mentioned on my schedule request – I wasn’t available. I didn’t put up with mistreatment and I questioned policies I didn’t like or understand the need for (respectfully) but I liked my job and I always gave 100% whenever I was there – and I tended to get the good sections. etc. as a result.

I witnessed other employees who were willing to work shifts they weren’t scheduled for if management put any pressure on them at all -but then they’d whine about it. They’d wear an expression that made it clear they didn’t want to be there, etc. They were very willing to do as asked – but out of passivity not from passion And I was kind of shocked how much was commonly put up with:

Once I was waiting on a couple of guys and, while I was telling them the specials and looking at one, the other stuck his finger in my mouth! I walked away disgusted and reported the incident to management – who didn’t do anything about it but said I didn’t have to wait on them- while I was in the back calming down for a minute some of the other waitresses asked what happened -I explained “…and this pervert stuck his finger in my mouth!” they just looked at me like “And?” To them, being innappropriately touched by customers was no big deal. The guys in question thought I was being stuck up by refusing to go near them after that and one of the waitresses seemed to take their side and was trying to convince the hostess to go out with one of them! (shaking head)

I guess, in some ways, when you occupy a low status job – to a certain extent- there is encouragement to see yourself in a lowly manner and not expect much, but It seems to me there are two basic ways to look at life: either as an adventure that presents challenges and opportunities, or as a calamity to be painfully endured. If it’s an adventure you will naturally do your best and try to make the most of every opportunity. Anything less would not only be wrong, it would be boring. There’s really no point in doing anything if you aren’t going to do it wholeheartedly whether it’s writing a novel, bagging groceries or playing tennis. There’s no point in stepping on the court if you aren’t going to bring your A game,

But if you are looking at life as just something to be gotten through ( how depressing!) then everything is reduced to a litany of complaints.