This is the 99th Anniversary of The October Revolution in Russia. It was a coup d’etat that brought Lenin and the Bolsheviks to power in Russia. Triumphant over the counter-revolutionary White faction after a bloody civil war following this seizure of power, Communism, Marxism-Leninism, held on to control the government and economy until the early 1990’s.
An awful lot of people who voted today in the US of A weren’t even born until after Communism collapsed. I thought about that demographic fact standing on queue to vote today. I waited, shuffling forward for nearly forty five minutes before my turn came. It was a minor inconvenience. When I think of standing on line, I remember hearing the common complaint of most Russians under Communism that standing on line was the norm, so rife were shortages in Russia. The state-controlled economy could not meet the needs of the people. The common sense logic dictated that, if one saw a line forming, one got in it, because whatever was available at the end of the line was something a person probably needed, whether it was a chicken, cloth or toilet paper.
We, as a nation, as states, cities, counties and Congressional Districts, voted today. This constitutional republic voted to choose its leader and representatives, the ones who make and execute the laws under which this nation governs itself.
Were it a meaningless exercise, fortunes would not have been spent, advocating for one outcome over another, for one party to gain power over another. People emigrate to the United States because individual, personal freedom is the reality.
Who knows how it will turn out. But We The People expressed our will.
Dispatches From Dystopia 