A friend was recently startled to find a Soviet-style hammer and sickle prominently displayed at a farmers market just a block from a monument to those who sacrificed their lives fighting totalitarianism. It’s particularly jarring for immigrants from former communist countries to see these hateful symbols cheerfully displayed alongside fresh greens, organic honey and homemade pies.
When my friend engaged the affable twentysomething about her advocacy for communism in America, the conversation quickly became absurd. “Don’t you know about the Gulag, the torture chambers, the massacre, the murder of 100 million men, women and children?” to which she replied, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about⦔
The young woman then parried, “All I know is that America has a shameful past and we should try to atone for the crimes of capitalism.”
“What âÂÂcrimes of capitalism?â”
“IâÂÂm not sure about the specifics ⦔ She then went on to deliver a short address on how communism will deliver a high standard of living by redistributing the obscene wealth of the rich.
When pressed about the historical record, either of communismâÂÂs brutality or specifics about so-called American imperialism, the young womanâÂÂs friendly smile never faltered. She really couldn’t name any of the crimes of capitalism.
Calling for the overthrow of the system that allows for a peaceful Saturday at a farmer’s market made the entire conversation seem absurd.
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Conversations like this one, between average Americans and self-styled communists and , break down due to differences of content and perspective.
When it comes to perspective, many of the 62% of young Americans, aged 18-29, that think that socialism or communism is a good idea have been educated with a simplistic neo-Marxist lens: U.S. history is a story of oppressor versus oppressed (i.e., patriarchy, race, religious bigotry). The Marxist model can be found in everything from “The 1619 Project” to the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America. Neo-Marxist critical theories attack the perspectives once widely held by most Americans regarding the American Dream and AmericaâÂÂs exceptional service to humanity.
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The part of these conversations that’s the most flummoxing, however, is not ideological. It is the part of the conversation that is about content: cold, hard facts. Anti-communists of all stripes typically point to the overwhelming evidence of the past and present crimes of communism. At 100 million men, women and children murdered, one would think that the evidence âÂÂprovesâ that this is not just an inefficient system, but a diabolical one.
We have survivor testimony, government records, and som
