The new economic "stimulus" bill signed by President Obama will require computerized medical records of every American resident by 2014.

This, of course, follows the Patriot Act and Drug War provisions allowing the government to monitor your bank accounts and library activities.

And the FISA Amendments Act allowing the President to spy on your electronic communications without a search warrant.

And the imposition of a de facto National ID card, putting us all on one central database.

It makes one wonder if mandatory webcams in our homes will be next. (Well, maybe not next; but perhaps four or five steps down the road.)

It's tempting to cry out, "This is America, dammit! B.S. like that isn't supposed to happen here!"

A similar sentiment was expressed by members of the Anti-Imperialist League when the United States acquired the Philippines in the late 1890's and used ruthless means to put down a "rebellion" there.

Indeed, something similar may have been cried during the Whiskey Rebellion that was put down by President Washington, though it was a tax protest similar to the American Revolution. (These "rebels" probably were also the first to think something along the lines of "Irony's a bitch.")

But it is really within the last 100 years that the sentiment has been said or felt with ever-increasing frequency, and for good reason. That's because of a political philosophy brought about by a new breed of intellectual in the West, heavily influenced by the efficiency and uniformity of the Industrial Revolution's factory floor. Today they're called "liberals," but that's a false label because real liberals believe in human rights. They could also be called "progressives" but lots of people are "progressive" in that they believe in social progress and human evolution without subscribing to their agenda. The best way to describe them is to use the "c" word.

When the Berlin Wall fell, many of us thought that we were entering a new phase of history. Democratic capitalism won; communism lost.

But communism didn't lose. Moscow may have lost, but communism didn't.

Indeed, communism was not only alive and well, it was dominant in both major parties in the U.S. when the Berlin Wall fell, and still is today. They just differ on strategy and tactics from time to time. Yes, the "c" word I'm talking about is communism.

By communism, I of course don't mean the community of disciples in the Book of Acts, who voluntarily shared their property. And I don't mean "Marxism" either. And I don't mean one-party dictatorship.

But I would call "communism" something broader: advocacy of a totalitarian, bureaucratic, expansionist, global government.

To the communist the individual is someone to dominate. To give orders to. To investigate and imprison for falling out of line. A person to give a government job, a government contract or subsidy, or to put on welfare, in exchange for his or her vote and acquiescence.

To the communist the nation means nothing. Yes, the communist will use aggressive American military intervention - and wave the flag as he does - as a means to his ends. But he will also use the United Nations, trade agreements, and foreign aid, reaching out especially to like-mined leaders across the seas who also seek to enlarge bureaucracies yet also undermine national sovereignty.

The communist will blame the "free market" for the crimes and incompetencies of corporations and the banks - even though the corporation and the Federal Reserve system of banks are both creations of government, not of the free market. The communist will then promote "regulations" that will effectively prevent small businesses from growing and individuals from finding work. This is to make them dependent on tax incentives and the Welfare State instead; to even get crumbs, they must crawl to the State. The communists are not exactly "anti-market," they are for a "regulated" market where they get to call the shots.

The communists will exploit every mishap and every crisis to gain more power. For instance, they justify taking property away from the innocent as a means of "protecting the children" from drugs. They will use both major parties and any ideology to pander for votes.

And the communists have had a wonderful time since 9/11. Creating new airline security personnel who force airline passengers to take off their shoes for inspection - and convincing many of them this is actually a reasonable precaution - is just one way communists can swell the ranks of individuals employed by the government or by companies dependant on government contracts.

The more who are directly or indirectly on the government payroll, the more the communists can set the terms and conditions of employment and aid.

And that is their aim.

Their agenda is not compassion. It is not equality. It is not democracy. It is certainly not justice or morality. It is, rather, power. Government power. The power to tell someone what to do. Whether it's a public school teacher telling kids to do stuff they don't want to do, or a USDA bureaucrat determining the milk price for the next month, it's a power that would not exist in a free society.

And this goes back to the invasions of privacy mentioned at the beginning of this piece. These programs make one reluctant to have anything "embarrassing" on their computerized records. They're new forms of blackmail.

The Communist Agenda is to swell the ranks of people employed by, or supported by, the government. It's a relentless machine, as people who depend on their government income will support the government and its continued growth, differing only on particular details at any given time. I suspect that next on the Communist Agenda will be:

• significant, yet politically feasible steps toward gun control;
• regulation of media content to promote the "Fairness Doctrine" where "both sides" have a say (although both "sides" promote an expanding State), plus other attacks on freedom of speech disguised as something else, such as lobbying reform.
• compulsory "national service" for young people.

I doubt all this can be achieved in four or eight years. Perhaps sixteen, and by then mandatory webcams may seem a real possibility.

One would hope the American people would rise up and defeat this agenda before it happens. Or maybe the basic stupidity of the communists will lead their idiotic system to collapse, just as the Berlin Wall fell. If that's the way it has to be, it's better for all if it happens sooner than later.