Bruce Walker

Poor Lenin's Almanac: Perverse Leftist Proverbs for Modern Life Bruce Walker

Over 250 years ago, Benjamin Franklin produced a classic work of wit and wisdom in Poor Richard's Almanac. The words of Franklin were easy to understand and often cutting as well "A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats" and "God works wonders now & then; Behold! A Lawyer and an honest man!" Ben reminded us that we are responsible for our own lives "Diligence is the Mother of Good-Luck" and "God helps those who help themselves" and he warned us of not to forget what was really important "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."

The good advice that Benjamin Franklin is just as true today as when he wrote his book of common sense. Too many Americans, however, have adopted another outlook on life, built around the corrosive and nihilistic outlook of the Marxist left. Fifty proverbs of this noxious crowd are described in Poor Lenin's Almanac: Perverse Leftist Proverbs for Modern Life.

These proverbs reveal the attitude of Poor Lenin toward government "I never met a bureaucrat I didn't like" and politics "A victim in need is a vote indeed." The proverbs reveal also the social mores of the left "Parents should be seen and not heard" and "An ounce of celebrity is worth of pound of merit" and its hostility toward God "In the beginning, Darwin created the Heavens and the Earth" and America "I pledge indifference to the flag."

The fifty maxims are explained in short, easily digestible and humorous portions that can each be read in just a few minutes. They cover every type of meanness, pettiness, and cowardice that is the left in America today. The last proverb, the fifty-first, is a message of hope and a repudiation of all the spite mischief of Poor Lenin and his friends.