Best news all day: the era of Fidel Castro has ended

Finally, after decades of unsustainable Soviet-style communism, Cuba is finally making steps forward to the modern world as Fidel Castro steps down.

As his brother Raul Castro introduces reforms to allow property rights, end price control and ween the public off of complete dependence on the state, we who are pro-freedom and pro-capitalism must encourage the moves. Encouraging is the seeking of ten year term limits on party leadership.

Mind you, a term limit in a still communist state isn't the same as in a democratic state. But a step in the right direction is still a step in the right direction. Here's hoping that the changes will harken a return to prosperity for the Cuban people who have long suffered under the policies of the dictator Fidel.

And we can only hope that the fall of strict communism in Cuba after the fall of strict communism in China will help to shake things up in North Korea, Venezuela and all other communist countries helping them see that free markets encourage competition which results in constant, necessary innovation which leads to a cycle of prosperity for all.

On a side note...

As a musician, I tend to have a specific hatred for the ignorance of what communism does to the creative soul. When you have to get permission to create, to innovate, to express and to perform, art is stifled and expression is not a right. That's why it bothers me when I see artists who simply don't get it.

If you ever want an idea as to how communism can destroy creative freedom, you should check out the movie For Love Or Country: the Arturo Sandoval Story starring Andy Garcia. It tells the true story of Arturo Sandoval, arguably the greatest trumpet player ever and how he had no choice but to flee Cuba to be everything he dreamed of being.

It's both an excellent drama all around but as a true story it is also a lesson in how much the world has been denied such a beautiful culture.

The Communism Tax

You gotta love MoveOn.Org and it's sheer honesty/transparency.

If there's one thing that modern politics has illuminated it is the fact that extremists like to hide in the shadows until the coast is clear and then implement their deepest fantasies as if it should be a self-evident life truth. The most recent example can be found in an enlightening MoveOn article titled Top 5 Problems With The Tax Deal.

(Cue scary music)

Since the age of Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the left has done its best to paint the idea of a Communist threat to the West as laughable and paranoid. McCarthy has become the boogeyman thrown up any time a center, right-of-center or far-right citizen has suggested that certain leftist policies sit in the ranks of Socialist or Communist ideology.

Now, I'm not one to jump around labelling leftists as Commies. In fact, I don't think I've ever accused the far left of secretly being Communists. But the aforementioned MoveOn article really goes to show how far the left has gone in its unabashed audacity to propel extremist ideology. Clearly, the intent on the part of this organization, founded by a leftist-loved billionaire who purposefully destroyed the livelihood of countless working class Britains, is to demonize the wealthy and exalt the perceived suffering and/or inequality of the working class.

(Yeah... the irony is hilarious.)

This attitude alone would be enough to confirm that there certainly is a tinge of Communism to the modern far left. But there is one thing that the far left (and increasingly the supposedly moderate left) has fought for that does more than anything else to reveal Communist ideology. And that thing is the Estate Tax otherwise known as the "Death Tax". There can be no clearer modern example that the left believes the state should own everything than this.

I think it's fair to say that most rational people believe business owners who pay:

• income tax
• sales tax
• property tax
• corporate tax
• payroll tax
• wealth tax
• capital gains tax

...and the myriad other taxes out there over the course of their lives in creating, building and developing something of worth -- such a business -- have already paid their fair share of taxes to acquire that which is rightfully theirs. It was their ingenuity that resulted in the formation of a successful business. The resultant property is theirs. They've contributed to the well-being of others by creating opportunities for those people to earn a living. They worked hard to attain success and they should have every right to leave the fruits of their labour to whomever they choose.

The far left? Ehhhh... not so much.

As much as they try and deny it -- while simultaneously opposing broad-based tax cuts or creating carbon taxes on innovative, industrialized nations -- the far left firmly believes in wealth-redistribution. It's undeniable now. It is their clear and firm belief that those who achieve success in their lives don't really deserve it. No, the people who deserve it are the so-called under-privileged.

(And whether under-privileged by circumstance or by choice, the left really doesn't care because everybody's a victim anyhow.)

The Estate Tax is the clearest piece of evidence demonstrating that the far-left believes the fruits of success belong to the state and that the state can claim ownership over whatever it wants. In fact, the folks over at MoveOn.org have gone so far as to call the government not taking a percentage of the estate of the deceased a "millionaire's bailout".

Think about that for a second. In the eyes of the left, the government not taking your property is equal to the government bailing you out!

Communists believe that the government -- a.k.a. the people -- have rightful ownership and sole determination for the distribution of all property. You don't own a thing; everything belongs to the state. It can only be from that mentality that a person could delude themselves enough to perceive the action of letting your heirs keep that which you have built translate into the government giving these things to your heirs. It's absolutely mind-blowing!

When you combine this with the fact that liberals aren't as generous as tippers or that studies show conservatives to be substantially more charitable than liberals, the hypocrisy is rather appalling. The gimme-gimme attitude of the modern left is just another thing that confirms my belief that conservative attitudes towards economic and financial issues are far more logical -- and ethical -- than anything the left has going for it these days.

They don't have it in themselves to give selflessly when they see somebody in need. They'd rather the government take things on their behalf and redistribute it with them taking the credit in being "progressive" and "caring".

As I said, I'm not one to go around calling leftists Communists. But with open calls for an Estate tax that usurps 55% (read: more than half / the majority share) of those possessions which you would give your spouse, children, friends or whomever you choose, I have a much harder time not seeing a strong Communist element to the modern left.

It's because of this that I believe "Death Tax" isn't quite descriptive enough and there's a much more appropriate name for the Estate tax: the Communism Tax.