Boiling Frog Socialism

I've often used the metaphor of a boiling frog to illustrate what happens when liberalism creeps up on unsuspecting people.  If you're not familiar with the theory, here's the nutshell.  If you throw a frog into a pan of boiling water, it immediately leaps out.  However, if you throw a frog into a pan of cool water and proceed to slowly heat the water until it's boiling, the frog doesn't notice the temperature increase until it's too late - it boils to death.  [No, I've never actually done this myself...it's a metaphor.]  People are the same way - bad things can sneak up on us if we're not paying attention, and sometimes we realize it when it's too late to do anything about the bad thing.

That metaphor is used most excellently by Elio Bonazzi in an article (h/t Gateway Pundit).  Excerpts:

Once socialism has taken over in a society it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to revert its trend. According to Winston Churchill "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." European economies grow, at their peak, by one and half, maximum two percent per year; salaries are comparatively lower than in the US, and with the exception of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the standard of living is significantly lower than the US, where a yearly growth between 4 and 5 percent is not uncommon. Unemployment in the major European economies, with the exception of Great Britain, is almost the double of US unemployment: in 2007 the unemployment rate was 4.6% in the US, 8.6% in France, 8.7% in Germany and 6.2% in Italy. Those high unemployment numbers do not translate into social unrest, however, because of the massive network of welfare, subsidies, unemployment benefits which can be afforded thanks to income taxation levels that would be considered unacceptable in America; in Europe it is normal to have more than 50%, sometimes even 60% of one's income taken by the government in taxes.

In order to advance the Socialist agenda, and to create the stealth Socialist engine that slowly expands and solidifies, redistribution is an essential ingredient, together with increased taxes and welfare. Not to be underestimated, however, is the role of the Unions. In Europe the Unions are the number one agent of stagnation and resistance to change, able to paralyze entire nations with continued strikes while protecting the privileges of the few to the detriment of the majority. One of the top priorities of Obama's is ending secret ballots in Union's elections. Currently, when 50% of workers in a company sign statements to unionize, that merely sets up a second stage, where workers vote by secret ballot to determine if the company will be unionized. Under the new proposal, shared by Obama and his top aids, using a system called "Card Check," unionization would occur as soon as half the workers had openly signed cards stating that they favor union representation so that it would be visible who had refused. Such an arrangement would pave the way for a significant expansion of unionization throughout the country, an important move that would ensure an enduring socialist rule even when Republicans returned to power. Like their European predecessors, American Socialists understand that their best bet is a boiling frog style of Socialism, and the shortest way to achieve it is to create institutions, pass bills, and start government schemes not easily reversible by a future administration. Advance slowly, build trenches and resist the wave of counterattacks by the proponents of small government, free markets and individualism.

Obama received a mandate to improve the economy. That is not the same as a mandate to change the social contract of a Nation. Nevertheless Obama and the Democrats will try to pose the foundations for an America looking more and more similar to Europe. Americans who still believe in small government, free market, laissez-faire and individualism unite: resistance has begun.

This is what I'm talking about.  This is the danger in the Obama-Reid-Pelosi administration that is about to begin.  With almost complete control over the executive and legislative branches, and many in-roads into the judicial branch, the stage is set for a fundamental remaking of American society from top to bottom.  When Obama promised change, this is the change I think he had in mind.  This change will include the socialization of the economy through redistribution, the legal system through 'social justice' rulings, and the culture through efforts to control speech, thought, and beliefs like the Fairness/Censorship Doctrine and expanded hate crime legislation.

This is also what I was referring to in terms of this election possibly being the key battle between freedom and socialism, between Left and Right.  Some of the things Obama proposed (like higher taxes) can be fixed rather easily after a swing election.  Some cannot.  Those are the things that will fundamentally alter the social and cultural landscape of America, and those are the things I fear.  They include universal health care, even greater control over our educational system (i.e. NOT vouchers and school choice), the appointment of judges who are committed to social justice rather than the law as it is written, economy-breaking global warming legislation that enshrines permanent protections for mythical and/or provably false premises, massive new amnesties that will fundamentally alter the social and political make-up of this country, a thorough gutting of American defense and military spending which will tremendously weaken our ability to protect ourselves and our allies, creating a fully dependent state where a majority of Americans depend on the government to provide them with everything they 'need' on a daily basis, and so on.  These are things that may alter the collective mindset of America, so they are things that you simply can't roll back, even if a top-to-bottom conservative government follows Obama. 

At this point, the election is over, so we are forced to deal with Obama-Reid-Pelosi running relatively unchecked for at least two years.  In 2010 will be our first chance at wresting some control out of the hands of the most far-Left Democrats we've seen in power in American history.  Until then, the water is heating up rapidly; the only question is whether or not it will reach a boil before we can jump out of the pan.

There's my two cents.