America's younger generation lacks a basic understanding of history and is increasingly vulnerable to dangerous collectivist ideas, says Lily Tang Williams, a lawyer, former law school professor, and congressional candidate who survived Mao-era communism in China.
Appearing on Newsmax's "National Report," Williams said many young Americans have never been taught the real-world consequences of communism and centralized economic control.
"Our younger generation are very poorly educated," Williams said.
"Communists always use so-called collectivism to claim they are saving property or making decisions for the good of the group. But the most powerful group is always the state — the government. And the most vulnerable is always the individual."
Williams stressed that individual liberty, not collective rule, is the foundation of the United States and is protected by the Constitution.
"Individual rights and liberty are enshrined in our Constitution," she said. "That's what brought me to the greatest country on Earth."
Having lived through Mao Zedong's regime in China, Williams said she has firsthand experience with the promises and failures of centralized control. She warned that government control of the economy and private property inevitably leads to shortages and oppression.
"Whenever they use central control to save the economy and property, it always leads to shortages of everything and political oppression," Williams said. "This is not ideology. This is history."
Williams criticized modern advocates of socialist-style policies, noting that many have never experienced life under communism.
"People like [New York City Mayor Zohran] Mamdani probably never lived in a communist country," she said. "He's only in his 30s. They should listen to people like us who survived it."
She described harsh living conditions during her childhood in communist China to illustrate the reality behind the rhetoric.
"Imagine eight families sharing one bathroom in government housing," Williams said. "Imagine a family of five living on food rationing; 2.8 pounds of meat a month for my entire family."
Williams argued that Americans today often take their freedoms for granted because they have not been taught real history, not sanitized or romanticized versions of it.
"Americans are so blessed to be born and grow up in this country," she said. "But they don't appreciate it because they fail to learn history."
Williams, now a U.S. citizen running for Congress in New Hampshire, said her message is simple: listen to those who lived through communism, not those selling it as a new idea.
"Don't buy into their narratives," she said. "We already know how this ends."
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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