Encountering Marxism at the Library

A week ago, at a local public library, I found the books I was looking for. While using the self-checkout, I learned that one book I had previously borrowed was overdue. Taking out my wallet, I asked the librarian at the front desk how much I owed. She said, “You don’t owe anything. We no longer charge fines. If you can find it and bring it back, that’s great. Otherwise, we’ll just take it off your record.”

Obviously, the pardoning was magnanimous. I could tell the librarian was proud of this and expected me to utter words of gratitude. But I had nothing to say. I was too shocked and disgusted to respond, as if someone had just punched me in the gut.

I could not help but recall other events that I had tried to forget — the similarity between them and this was too prominent to ignore.

Free … But with a Price

Growing up in Marxist China, I was taught that socialism was a system infinitely superior to capitalism. Within it, every Chinese citizen shared an equal distribution of goods.

My family owned very few things during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). I remember we had a pair of surgical scissors made of stainless steel, a rare treasure. We had that because my mother worked at a major railway hospital and brought the scissors home from her job. No one called it theft, because theoretically, the socialist ownership of all people allowed it. Taking something from the workplace was considered a norm.

However, the purported “equality” never existed. The ones who had power were able to appropriate more public goods to themselves. My mother, who was at the bottom of the power structure, felt fortunate that she was able to take a pair of surgical scissors home.

This is the backdrop against which I recently processed the librarian’s words. I instantly recognized the flagrant attempt of the California government to propagate Marxist ideology.

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

It turns out that California is not the only state that has implemented this no-book-fines policy. Several other states, including Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Utah, also have one like it. Their basic rationale is that since poor people don’t have the money to pay late fees, book fines would inhibit them from borrowing books at all. Therefore, eliminating book fines will encourage them to borrow books, thereby improving their literacy and education. Doesn’t that sound charitable and humane?

But because I am familiar with how Marxists operate, I saw the ugly skeleton under the attractive attire.

Marxists have a very low view of human dignity. In the case of canceling book fines, they assume that the poor are not disciplined and therefore cannot return books on time. Such a condescending attitude is reminiscent of the views Southern plantation owners held about black people before the Civil War.

Besides, if Marxists truly believe the poor are inherently irresponsible, would it be practical to help them learn to be disciplined? In addition, would removing book fines further exacerbate the poor’s existing defect, which is apparently slackness? But like the plantation owners, Marxists will never help the poor improve themselves. Neither do they want people to associate them with slavery, so they parade themselves as the saviors of the poor.

Killing Us with “Kindness”

Thus, Marxists constantly flaunt their “compassion” as a way to keep people from questioning their practices. Who wants to keep the poor from borrowing books? Any attempt that can encourage the poor to read should be promoted. Anyone who dares oppose this idea is either a racist or a white supremacist, regardless of their skin color.

Common sense tells you that something doesn’t add up. But as soon as you begin to question the logic of the idea, you feel guilty, wondering why you are so unkind. Besides, seeing more and more people support the cause, you’re compelled to give up your doubt and get on the bandwagon.

This is how Marxist psychological warfare works. They use their outrageous “kindness” to cancel you.

I’ve found that ordinary Americans seldom question the motives of Marxists. Many, especially young people, are drawn to the ideas of equality, free public services, and other socialist programs. Even if some disapprove of certain Marxist practices, they often attribute it to an ill-conceived method that nonetheless is paired with a good intention.

Yet, history tells us that both classic Marxism and its modern derivations are demonic in essence. It has only one goal — to destroy, to kill, and to devastate in order to establish a dark kingdom.

Stay Vigilant

For a long time, American Marxists have infiltrated our society on every level. They have been attempting to eliminate the sense of right and wrong that our Creator has put in each person’s heart, and replace it with their “moral” standards of the dark kingdom. They try to accomplish this through what a Chinese expression illustrates: hanging up a sheep’s head and selling dog meat. Their outward “compassion” is used to cover up their evil intention.

Perhaps this explains why Marxists’ practices appear confusing. In any of their agendas, there is always an element of madness under an attractive appearance. We can see this in their DEI hiring policies, open border policy, cancellation of student loans, anti-voter ID policies, and now removing book fines. The list goes on and on.

They will continue using different ways to gaslight us until we get used to them and become willing accomplices, replacing the Judeo-Christian worldview with their wicked Marxist principles.

Back to the issue of canceling book fines: The thought that, theoretically, I could keep any of the books in the public library without suffering consequences sickens me. I can tell where this will lead — a socialist society of ownership of all people where the elites live a hedonistic life and corruption becomes rampant. You, the ordinary Americans, will own nothing and be miserable.

When my mom came to the U.S. to visit me in 1995, she brought the surgical scissors with her because at that time, it was among the few of her possessions that she deemed good enough to give as a gift. I still have them. It serves as a constant reminder that if good people refuse to stand up against Marxists and their practices, soon a pair of surgical scissors could be a rare treasure in your household, too.

Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the U.S. and studying at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor at Christian colleges and seminary. She and her husband live in northern California and have two grown children.