With Bernie Sanders, “independent” Senator of Vermont, now the frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s nomination (and attempt to depose Trump), socialism is more on people’s minds. It doesn’t hurt to get up to speed on just what this evil political philosophy really is.

If we don’t understand what we are fighting, we cannot hope to win. Especially when those who claim to also be fighting the evil themselves believe in, support, and promote the same evil. Just under a different name. Or blinded by propaganda.

There have been some excellent articles recently published on the entire subject.

John C. Goodman recently had an article in Townhall, well worth reading. In “What is Socialism?” John takes a traditional approach, but is careful to point out the many flavors of socialism, and the inevitable tie between stealing economic freedom and political (personal) freedom.

But especially worth taking time to read, re-read, and digest is Jacob Hornberger’s recent triology published by his Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF.org).

Jacob’s first is “A Life of the Lie on Socialism,” published as part of his blog. He points out (unlike John) that not only America’s young people love socialism. Indeed, Jacob points out correctly that virtually all Americans have embraced socialism in most aspects of life – they just don’t call it that.

In his second, “Socialism in America, 31 years ago,” also part of his blog, he continues to specify how Americans have accepted the lie – now far more than a century old – that we live in a free society with a system of free enterprise. As he points out, our generation is far from the first one to understand this. However, the warnings have been ignored. Just as they are being today.

Jacob’s third article, “Socialism in education,” zooms in on just one sector, and just one part of that sector. Jacob points out that the socialist education system (which dates from the 1850s and earlier) is a key reason that socialism – by that name – is more and more acceptable to once-free Americans. He also notes that the alternatives to government-run, tax-funded schools are often themselves corrupted by socialism.

I encourage everyone to read these and share them with others. Socialism, as represented by its admitted promoter, is not a threat facing us only if Sanders is elected. It has and continues to destroy our freedoms, our liberty. Sanders and his ilk will expand it, taking away MORE liberty by giving more control to government, but it will be a shift in intensity, not a new process.

A related article was just published by Christine Smith, one of the better libertarian writers out there (though she has eschewed the label), and is also available at FFF.org. She attacks socialist education (GRTF schools) and particularly compulsory education. Like myself and Jacob, she equates compulsory education with military conscription and chattel slavery, and like us and Marshall Fritz, calls for the separation of school and state.

Unless more Americans are willing to pull off the blinders installed in our minds by government education and culture, and reject the false messiahs (like Sanders, and like FDR and Wilson and Lincoln before him), we will lose the liberty we still have. And, as seen by our actions today and in the past 30 years, actually welcome that loss. While continuing to proclaim how free we are.

That requires admitting that what we take for granted is indeed socialism, and that our “mixed economy” (as I was first taught 50+ years ago) is a whole lot less “free enterprise” and a whole lot more socialism. And getting more so.