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As the end of the 20th century draws closer, one can't help but look over the past and see where we've been and how far we've come this century alone. This century has seen the birth of flight, cures for major diseases, the conquest of totalitarian socialism (twice!), space travel and major progress on many social issues such as race, religion, and poverty.

Where to go from here has become the topic of much debate. Do we try socialism (again), trusting that this time it will be different? Is socialism better than capitalism? Looking back over this century it is clear what path we need to take. Every time we've expanded the boundaries of capitalism with lower tax rates on savings and investments, fewer regulations, and less government intervention we've had periods of substantial growth. Every time socialism has been tried it has either resulted in a stagnant economy or a descent into totalitarianism.

With such a startling difference you think everyone would realize which path it is we need to take. Yet here we are again, debating whether or not to expand the role of government, whether to socialize health care, whether to let people keep more of what they earn.

So what keeps us from realizing the truth that is right in front of us? For one thing, our national media has no interest in the truth. For them the 'news' has become a propaganda tool for the advancement of their own ideals. We've come full circle with the media. Early in this country's history we bemoaned the 'muckraking and self-serving headlines of media barons. As the media made great strides in this century to become less partisan and more of an observer of events we came to trust them to tell us the truth, even when our own government would not. It is sad that in merely 30 years our media has gone from leading the charge against a corrupt regime to backing one up.

With the media running interference for the fans of socialism, we who believe in more freedom need to be twice as diligent in our quest. We must not only fight for more freedom in the future, but also fight to preserve the accurate record of the past. Already figures from the expansion of the 1980s are being rewritten as socialist supporters apply 'new techniques' in record keeping. Try finding a copy of the American Almanac, a mass market edition of the Statistical Abstract of the United States. You can't, they don't print them any more! No need for the average American to see the real numbers, trust the media to do that for you! Looking at today's government releases, you'd think the 1980s were a period of depression. Yet even for all their propagandizing the present regime can not hide the truth all the time. Their trumpets of "best whatever in 10 years!" reveals the truth: whatever was better 10 years ago--during the 1980s!

So where do we go from here? First of all, we must counter every propaganda drive put out by the fans of socialism. Every time they talk about "tax cuts only for the rich" we need to point out that across the board tax rate cuts are not "only for the rich" and that the top 10% of wage earners pay 50% of the taxes. This is the truth of our tax system. We should continue to press for flatter taxes, with even lower rates on capital gains. Since Social Security is merely a Ponzi scheme, we can not rely on it as a retirement fund.

We must also press for fewer Federal regulations. State and local authorities are best informed about what problems beset your community. One size fits all Federal programs are inefficient and a waste of our resources. Since WWII the number of crimes defined by our legal codes has doubled, with more than 90% coming from new Federal crimes. Do we really need two sets of crimes to define a bank robbery? A kidnapping? Assault? We tread dangerously close to suspending yet another right: the right to be free from double jeopardy, or being twice tried for the same crime. Once we have relented to being tried twice what is to stop the government from trying us as many times as they need to put the "troublemakers" in jail?

Another area where we must be vigilant is the environment. The enviro-whackos are out in full force, proclaiming both global warming and global cooling are besetting our society at the same time (!), that cars our the worst evil since money and that only bigger, more intrusive government can save us from ourselves. What nonsense! The Earth was warmer during the age of the dinosaur, and ever since a chunk of rock sent the planet into a massive ice age we've been slowly getting warmer, with periodic slips back into ice ages. Only the most arrogant, egotistical, and maniacal person would think that the one true climate for the Earth is the one that exists when they are alive.

Finally, we must not let our political opponents define the terms of battle. Every time the political landscape has been defined in terms of tax rates and government regulations we have won. Every time we let the socialists define the battle as one of compassion, their appeals to emotionalism (i.e., lies) carry the day. We must not let them define a lie as the standard to which we will be measured.

So it is on Toward 2000 that we travel. Let us never forget where we have been, so that we may only repeat the good times and not the bad.

Every time socialism has been tried it has either resulted in a stagnant economy or a descent into totalitarianism.

It is sad that in merely 30 years our media has gone from leading the charge against a corrupt regime to backing one up.

Their trumpets of "best whatever in 10 years!" reveals the truth: whatever was better 10 years ago—during the 1980s!

Since Social Security is merely a Ponzi scheme, we can not rely on it as a retirement fund.

Only the most arrogant, egotistical, and maniacal person would think that the one true climate for the Earth is the one that exists when they are alive.