have you read Animal Farm lately?

This last summer we read Animal Farm out loud on a road trip. Daddy had never read it before and Mommy liked the refresher. We decided it should be required reading for our kids when they get older and we especially thought that all elected officials should be required to read it annually.

Now I wonder how long it's been since most of America read it. As I drove around D.C. yesterday I felt like I needed to put a sign in my window: Have you read Animal Farm lately? From most of what I hear on the news it appears that the lessons of the Cold War and socialism are lost on many of this generation and we are in danger of becoming what we once loathed.

This election has so many extreme socialist views on the left that it shocks me that most Americans can't recognize them for what they are. Do we forget the results of socialism on a society?

I think some confuse the candidate's ideas and see them as charitable but we must remember that true charity is something that starts in our hearts and homes and we implement in our own lives through the decisions we make -- not because they are imposed by the government. It cannot be forced. Most of the measures being touted will in some measure surrender parts of our agency to the government. Hmmm....

Force vs. Agency. Whose idea does that sound like?

Agency! If you want to get down to it that is what this election is about. Agency! So valuable that our Father in Heaven sacrificed one-third (33%!) of his children to be lost over it! At what cost must we defend it?

Everyone needs to read this address from Elder Ezra Taft Benson, an apostle of God, that was given at BYU. It addresses socialism for what it is - "a philosophy incompatible with Man's Liberty".

Ahh...another word -- Liberty! At what cost did our great founding fathers defend it!

This November I know the choices are not between two great men. But in my mind I think we need to at least fight against what we know is wrong. Survey the issues - please make a choice for your liberty, and your life, and your happiness.