Rick RennerGuestMarxism is back with a vengeance, just a quarter of a century after scholars and pundits proclaimed it dead and buried.
Yet democratic socialism is merely Marxism with a qualifying adjective, Marxism that seeks popular or democratic approval.
He recognized that in certain countries Marxism might have to come to power through violent insurrection.
He also recognized that it might be necessary in the short term to rule by force.
Yet Marx termed this force dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e. dictatorship through the rule of the masses.
The issue with democratic socialism, today's form of Marxism in America, is not whether it's a new form of Marxism.
Rather, it is how democratic socialism might come to power in a country that Marx himself considered the capitalist society par excellence.
What, in other words, is the secret appeal of Marxism in the 21st century right here in America? Democratic socialists are all around us running for election and winning elections.
We know about stalwarts like Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts, and Bernie Sanders, senator from Vermont.
This was the first wave of 21st century socialism, building on Obama, who was himself a socialist in his formative years.
Also in New York, Claire Valdez and Daria Liza Avila-Chevalier are running as democratic socialists.
Janice Lewis-George, the likely new mayor of Washington, D.C., is a socialist.
In Los Angeles, the Marxist Nitya Raman is challenging another quasi-Marxist, the incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
The socialist Melat Kiros won the Democratic nomination in a Colorado congressional district.
Historically, the socialist and Marxist program has never found a strong footing in America.
Even in the Great Depression, when Marxism and socialism had their best chance at popular success, the American people said no.
Most people recognize the truth of Milton Friedman's slogan, there's no such thing as a free lunch.
So what has changed in our time? Why is Marxism appealing now, while it was unappealing and was in fact a dirty word, a frightening prospect in the past? Marxism is indeed un-American, but how did this un-American ideology gain so many followers in America? And how do we, as patriotic and conservative Americans, fight it? A few years ago, when I was researching my book The Big Lie, one of my favorite books by the way, check it out if you haven't read it, I was somewhat astonished to discover the idealistic appeal of early fascism.
Marxism is back with a vengeance, just a quarter of a century after scholars and pundits proclaimed it dead and buried.
Yet democratic socialism is merely Marxism with a qualifying adjective, Marxism that seeks popular or democratic approval.
He recognized that in certain countries Marxism might have to come to power through violent insurrection.
He also recognized that it might be necessary in the short term to rule by force.
Yet Marx termed this force dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e. dictatorship through the rule of the masses.
The issue with democratic socialism, today's form of Marxism in America, is not whether it's a new form of Marxism.
Rather, it is how democratic socialism might come to power in a country that Marx himself considered the capitalist society par excellence.
What, in other words, is the secret appeal of Marxism in the 21st century right here in America? Democratic socialists are all around us running for election and winning elections.
We know about stalwarts like Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts, and Bernie Sanders, senator from Vermont.
This was the first wave of 21st century socialism, building on Obama, who was himself a socialist in his formative years.
Also in New York, Claire Valdez and Daria Liza Avila-Chevalier are running as democratic socialists.
Janice Lewis-George, the likely new mayor of Washington, D.C., is a socialist.
In Los Angeles, the Marxist Nitya Raman is challenging another quasi-Marxist, the incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
The socialist Melat Kiros won the Democratic nomination in a Colorado congressional district.
Historically, the socialist and Marxist program has never found a strong footing in America.
Even in the Great Depression, when Marxism and socialism had their best chance at popular success, the American people said no.
Most people recognize the truth of Milton Friedman's slogan, there's no such thing as a free lunch.
So what has changed in our time? Why is Marxism appealing now, while it was unappealing and was in fact a dirty word, a frightening prospect in the past? Marxism is indeed un-American, but how did this un-American ideology gain so many followers in America? And how do we, as patriotic and conservative Americans, fight it? A few years ago, when I was researching my book The Big Lie, one of my favorite books by the way, check it out if you haven't read it, I was somewhat astonished to discover the idealistic appeal of early fascism.
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