In Marxist theory, socialism is "the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles" (Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary). If present trends continue, the American political landscape will look dramatically different ten years from now than it looks today, the current Administration notwithstanding.

It must be remembered that an Administration can only do so much in a four-year term. Stemming the tide of what’s been going on for decades is not an overnight task. The forces of liberalism, statism, collectivism, political correctness and socialism (some of those are virtual synonyms) have undermined traditional thinking in just about every significant area of our culture including education, literature, movies, television, newspapers, morals etc. The best any Administration can do in four years is slow the process down, not stop or reverse it.

Though a numerical majority of Americans still tends to think and act conservatively, the Left controls the national propaganda machine. Real objective reporting has fallen on hard times. In its place, we have agenda-driven news and commentary. The barrage of leftist messages is overwhelming, and it is taking its toll on traditional values.

A New Organization Springs Up
As American society is incrementally corralled in the direction of an authoritarian Big Brother state, at least one new organization has sprung up to alert us of where we are in the process. In July, Concerned Citizens Opposed to Police States (CCOPS) was born. On July 25, the organization announced the creation of Totalitarian Time Clock to show us just how close to the Hour of Tyranny we are.

The idea for the clock was inspired by the famous Doomsday Clock that has graced the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists beginning in 1947. The movement of the clock’s hands is governed by key national events in ten categories. When something significant happens that moves the country closer to tyranny, the clock moves ahead. When that kind of event is counterbalanced by something else that moves us back in the direction of constitutionality and the Bill of Rights, the clock moves backward.

CCOPS is concerned primarily with developments in the direction of a police state here in the US, but it also monitors the whole English-speaking world. The clock is based on the idea that the ratification of the Bill of Rights represented the dawn of freedom for the United States. Midnight is the Hour of Tyranny.

Although movement in the direction of tyranny can be detected in many areas of American life, CCOPS selected ten specific areas based on the book The State vs. the People by Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman. The ten areas are listed below.

Ten Key Areas to Watch
Each of the ten categories listed below is vitally connected to the freedoms we have long enjoyed in this country. Here is a list:

· Gun rights

· Globalism

· Privacy

· Education

· Health & welfare

· Wars and "crises" (including the so-called war on drugs)

· Law, executive orders and regulation

· Lies and language (propaganda, brainwashing, manipulation of media)

· Ruthlessness (police brutality and militarization)

· Public-private partnerships against liberty (i.e. state-corporate fascism, abuses by non-profit organizations and lobbying groups)

Micromanaging Citizens
Ultimately, these criteria are drawn from previous and existing police states. A tyranny on the Right is Nazism – for example, Hitler’s Fourth Reich. A tyranny on the Left is Communism – for example, Stalin’s USSR. Both were socialistic. Both sought to micromanage the lives of the citizenry. Both ruled by fear and by force. Socialism is what I call "Government as God." It is the replacement of God and personal autonomy by government control of a person’s life.

The reason liberalism-cum-socialism has been able to make such great strides in the world is because the mass of people who could and should have opposed it have not. We have become a nation of passive spectators, couch potatoes who have no energy or motivation to get involved in saving their country. Those who have been bold enough to publicly stand against these developments have been characterized by the press and media as right wing nut cases who at night wear jack boots and goose-step their way to paint ball games deep in the piney woods. Sadly, many people have bought into the idea that this imagery is accurate.

Is the Dye Cast?
The dye, it would seem, is cast. It is hard to imagine anything short of an all out war that would stir up the American populace to return to the values of their founders. We have lost sight of those values, and less and less are they being taught in our schools. Time after time we see our politicians and judges flagrantly violating the Constitution they were sworn to uphold. Often, they do it with impunity. More and more we are seeing governance by executive order and through the judiciary. Here in California we have seen the people vote for certain propositions, only to have them overturned by a liberal judge. All too often these days, an arrogant, agenda-driven judiciary stomps with cavalier abandon on the will of the people. Sadly, they are usually allowed to get away with it.

It may well be that the march toward tyranny, both here in the United States, and throughout the world, is simply a precursor to a prophesied global government. If we take it literally, the apostle John was given by God a vision of the last days in which two men, empowered by Ha Satan himself, would come to control four major aspects of world power. The first man was seen in vision as a "beast" emerging from the sea. This beast of a man rules – he has a "throne" (Revelation 13:2). This does not speak of a democracy, but of a tyranny. This ruler’s power is universal for Scripture tells us, "The whole world was astonished and followed the beast" (verse 3b).

By worshiping the beast – this global dictator – the world perhaps unwittingly worships the spirit that is behind him, the devil himself (verse 4). This human leader controls both world politics and a global military. In verse 4 we read that the people of the world are cowed by the enormous power displayed by this demonized man. His military force is invincible – "who can make war against him?"

Another man also depicted as a "beast" is described in the vision as rising out of the earth (Revelation 13:11). He has a lamb-like appearance, but he speaks the words of the dragon, of Satan. He is given authority by both the devil and the first beast. He seems to be a religious figure that functions as a sort of prophet for the political leader. We are told that he will make "the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast" (verse 12).

This false prophet is described as being behind the creation of an idol or image to the first beast. He will oblige the citizens of Planet Earth to worship the world leader, or die (verse 15). He will perform seemingly miraculous signs and wonders that will dazzle the world (verse 13-14).

Ominously, this second beast will also control the global economy. He will force people to receive some sort of "mark" on their right hands and on their foreheads in order to do business in the world (verse 16). There has been much speculation about tattoos, embedded computer chips, eye prints, DNA identification methods, finger prints etc. etc. The list is endless. The point is, only those who succumb to this global system will be able to function as fully as the coming global tyranny will allow.

Summing Up
To summarize, we see the arrival to two human individuals, empowered by Satan himself, who will control world politics, a global military, world religion, and the global economy. Whether these two individuals are alive today is anyone’s guess. Sooner or later they will emerge. When they do, they will wield power over the earth for a period of three and one half years (Revelation 13:5-6). They will be anti-Christ and anti-God. They will display dazzling defiance and arrogance toward God, openly blaspheming his name at every opportunity. They will aggressively persecute Christians and Jews (Revelation 13:7).

This is the tyranny toward which the world is moving. To achieve it, those who seek to create an authoritarian global government must prepare the way by doing the kind of things listed on CCOPS’ list. They must disarm the populace, rendering us defenseless. They must destroy all vestiges of personal privacy. Everyone’s life must be an open book. Even the minutia of daily life will be a target for micromanagement.

Education is increasingly being designed to foster the creation of compliant global citizens. National, and eventually global, health care plans seem inevitable. Every aspect of life will be managed and engineered to serve the ends of the all-powerful State. Forced abortion – as in China – euthanasia, and genetic engineering will all become instruments of state control. Organs will be harvested from those deemed undesirable by the State and given to those regarded as worthy to live (again, look at the precedent in China. This is a portent of things to come).

Governments will declare "wars" on any behavior viewed as unacceptable or threatening by the State. (Again, witness China’s ruthless suppression of the Falun Gong.) Social engineering through laws, taxes, penalties, fines, and other disincentives will become increasingly widespread.

If you read or view the liberal press and media today, you will know how hard it is to get at the truth of any given issue. The majority of what we consume is agenda-driven, not objective reporting. In addition, an overlay of political correctness distorts the picture of reality at just about every level. Passive voice reporting is endemic. When demonic terrorists blow up innocent people in a market place in Israel, the press and media breast beat about the "cycle of violence" instead of labeling it for the act of hideous evil that it was.

As we move closer to national, then regional, and finally global, tyranny, we will see more and more police actions that suppress freedom of speech and assembly. Whatever means of protection the populace has will be taken from it. In Seattle, for example, the protests over the meeting of the World Trade Organization led to the banning of gas masks in Seattle.

We will continue to see government land-grabs, government intervention and control of vital functions like utilities, government intervention and manipulation of the free market, and finally the breakup and nationalization of more and more businesses.

Most importantly to us, we will see a continual escalation of persecution against Christians and conservative Jews. Everything from zoning to tax laws will be used to paint Christian organizations into an ever-smaller corner. Keep an eye on this trend. As Jesus said, "The night comes when no man can work."

Unless the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Christianity in general experience an enormous revival in the West, the march toward tyranny will continue apace. The United Nations itself is a deadly Trojan horse within our borders. Its members seek to bring the US into conformity with its globalist objectives. Incrementally, we have been giving up pieces of sovereignty to this non-benign world body.

It’s time to watch the clock. It could be a good indicator of where we are in the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. Last time I checked, it was 9:49 PM. You can check for yourself at www.ccops.org/index