After his term as California governor ended and before he became president, Ronald Reagan recorded daily commentaries broadcast by about 350 radio stations and heard by tens of millions of Americans. When I listened to a collection of these broadcasts recently, it sounded like Reagan was warning us about the socialism preached by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
With Sanders’ victory in the Nevada Democratic caucuses Saturday – making him the current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination – the words of warning from Reagan struck me as something more Americans ought to be aware of today.
Throughout his nearly five-year radio run, Reagan preached that the promises of socialism were lies. He noted that we often grow so accustomed to them, however, that we lose the fear of the ideology itself.
In one of his commentaries, Reagan quotes a line he once spoke in a play highlighting the far-left ideology’s danger: “I never knew what freedom was until I saw you lose yours.”
In another commentary, the future president tells of a young man debating a socialist who criticized anyone wanting to pursue the finer things in life.
“Socialists ignore the side of man that is of the spirit,” Reagan said back in 1975. “They can provide shelter, fill your belly with bacon and beans, treat you when you’re ill – all the things that are guaranteed to a prisoner or a slave. But they don’t understand we also dream, yes, even of owning a yacht.”
Bamsterman
Article URL : https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/paul-batura-ronald-reagan-warned-us-about-bernie-sanders-over-40-years-ago