FreedomWorks is excited to announce that our bill of the month for August 2021 is a Resolution Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism, H.Res. 548. Introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.), the resolution outlines the history of socialism as a failed ideology that has resulted in the deaths of over 100 million people worldwide.

The Big Picture

For over a century, socialism has spread devastation by destroying economies, emboldening dictators, and slaughtering millions via mass murder and starvation. Unfortunately, far too many still look at failed socialist experiments through an idyllic lens.

Left-wing commentators, politicians, and celebrities are quick to praise the socialist dictatorships of Venezuela or Cuba but are far too slow in recognizing the ruin socialism spreads. Rep. Salazar’s resolution reminds those who remain blind to the horrors of socialism's dark history.

The history of socialism is ripe with atrocity, and our elected officials must recognize the numerous failures of this debunked ideology. This resolution affirms Congress’ commitment to ensuring that America never becomes a socialist nation.

The Details

The Dark History of Socialism

• Socialism has resulted in the deaths of over 100 million people worldwide.
• Socialist tyrants including Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, and Nicolas Maduro are responsible for many of the worst crimes in human history.
• Tens of millions died during the Bolshevik Revolution, at least 10 million people were sent to Soviet gulags, and millions more were victims of the Terror-Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine.
• China’s “Great Leap Forward” caused a famine resulting in the deaths of between 15 and 55 million people.
• Over 1 million people in Cambodia were murdered in the Killing Fields when the Khmer Rouge came to power.
• 3.5 million North Koreans starved while South Korea prospered.
• The Castro Regime executed 20,000 Cubans, stole property, and forced the Cuban people into a life of poverty by destroying the national economy.
• Socialism had catastrophic implications for Venezuela, transforming a once prosperous country into one with the world’s highest inflation, topping 65,000 percent in 2018.

The Founding Fathers on Socialism

• The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, wrote, “To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.”
• The “Father of the Constitution,” James Madison, wrote that it “is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where the property which a man has in his personal safety and personal liberty, is violated by arbitrary seizures of one class of citizens for the service of the rest.”

Why it Matters

The principles of the American tradition, personal freedom, and individual liberty are antithetical to the insidious ideas of socialism.

Our republic is a symbol of freedom for many in the world subject to the horrors of socialism. After decades of oppression and economic despair, the Cuban people are rising against the Castro regime, taking to the streets in the name of liberty waving the American flag.

During this summer of protest in Cuba, the song “Patria Y Vida,” which translates to “Homeland and Life,” is the anthem of those demanding liberation from socialist tyranny. The title is a play on the slogan “Patria o Muerte" (Homeland or Death), popularized by Castro during the Cuban revolution. The lyrics “No more lies, My people call for freedom. No more doctrines, we no longer shout homeland or death, homeland and life instead,” encapsulates how deeply the socialist regime has oppressed and abused its people.

We cannot allow the values of individual liberty that underlie our republic to fall by the wayside. The gruesome history of socialism and the current unrest in Cuba must serve as a reminder that the fight for liberty is constant.

Our elected representatives must not forget the consequences of socialism and the terror that it has inflicted on millions. Rep. Salazar’s resolution is something that all lawmakers who support freedom, prosperity, and the American tradition should embrace.

Currently, Rep. Salazar’s Resolution Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism has 201 cosponsors. Hopefully, more lawmakers will recognize the importance of denouncing the ideology that has led to the deaths of millions.