Speech Crime:

Day 4,669, 14:01 • Published in USA USA • by Roger the Shrubber

"Don't blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him. Who rejoiced at their loss of freedom and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks on the forum, of this new and wonderful place that shall now be Rome. "
*Marcus Tullius Cicero*

ACT 1: Acceptance

It astonishes me that the Communist Party has managed to maintain such unflagging devotion from it's adherents, in light of all its failure.
They promised us communism and gave us state owned monopolies.
They promised us equality and gave us authoritarianism.
They promised us prosperity and gave us famine.
So, why not hand over your democracies?
If you ignore all the ill-conceived economic theories; the psychology bodes more strongly than our hedonistic conception of capitalism.


"The cart that overturns on the road ahead is a warning to the carts behind. "
*Buddha*

Act 2: The Woke

The thing that troubles me the most is the the fact that the party of purges has managed to rebrand itself as the champions of civil liberties.
This is a marketing feat that would make Edward Bernays tip his fedora.
Remove your blinders and look at what's on the periphery. Let's be damn sure that the terms of collectivism are well defined before we hand the lawmakers a pen and ask them to dictate. We may all be sorely butt-hurt over the results.


"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success."
*Malcolm X*

Act 3: Speculation

I dare say that there are people in my own party who have censored my criticism of North Korea. Meanwhile, there's a guy organizing and arming for a protest. He repeatedly defames the US and even spams us with the Soviet and Internationale Anthems. This all seems to fly under the radar.
Perhaps they thought my characterization of Kin Jung Un was a threat to their concept of Democratic Socialism?

"I have not failed. I merely found 10 thousand things that don't work. "
*Thomas Eddison

Act 4: Apologetics

The astute among you may have noted that Roger himself is a Socialist. I was promoted to several leadership positions. I even wrote papers and hosted assemblies.
You may be wondering; "Why the sudden change of heart?"
Well, much to my chagrin, it took me the better part of a decade to realize I'd become a member of this cult of personality.
I came to the realization that we were emulating a regime that would crush it's protesters with tanks. It may seem pretty innocuous, but we were helping to legitimize the regime from which we borrowed our slogans and iconography.
I, too, had been echoing the platitudes that had been drafted by Mao's innumerable ghost writers.
More recently, some of the members began to declare their hatred for my nation These were the same members that showered adulation on tyrannical men, who let millions starve as they wasted human labor building monuments to their own glory.
At best I was working against my own interests and at worst I was helping to subvert them.
So, I've defected.


"Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so."
*Voltaire*

Act 5: Conclusion

And I know what some of you are going to say;"Those weren't real communists."
"Your off your meds, old man" And fair play to them.
What would make me think that the people carrying communist iconography, shouting communist slogans and proclaiming their communism would actually be what they say?
It would be erroneous to believe I'm helping some millennial dodge a web of delusion.
I only wish to start a debate which garners 25 comments and let the chips fall where they may.

Take care of each other.
Roger the Shrubber