A former boss and now good friend of mine, an older man, escaped communist Poland and eventually made his way to the U.S., where he worked diligently, day and night, until he could start his own company. He isn't a billionaire, but he is very comfortable.

He's a tall man. As a teen he was a gifted athlete and on a sponsored basketball team. The team did well and set off to western Europe for a match, it was during this trip he escaped. He escaped. Those are important words. He could not take any belongings with him, monitors checked for that kind of activity as they knew from previous experience, some would use the opportunity to flee for a better life. Think about that...he was NOT free to leave. He was a prisoner with country sized borders.

He left his family, his siblings, his friends and everything he knew. He was about 15 years old. Imagine the strength and courage the entire family had to have. His father had to let him go, his mother had to let him go, it was his only chance. The other siblings were not on the team, it's not like he could take them with, or he would have.

I'm at a loss for words when I read the propaganda that is accepted on platforms like reddit. I feel for the young, brainwashed, indoctrinated youth who are being lured along a dangerous path. I feel for them.

This country is far from perfect, far. But to date, it has been a global leader in many areas related to freedom. It is NOT a perfectly free country, there is work to be done. We find "bugs" in the code and we need to patch. Sometimes the patch causes two more bugs than it fixed. Humans are not perfect, thus no country is perfect. It's among the best models we've had so far and communism is clearly a step backwards.