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| | During the French [[Reign of Terror]] of the early [[Enlightenment]], the Left attempted a de-Christianization movement to replace the "reactionary" worship of God and replace it with the worship of national patriotism, or the ''Patrie''. Many churches were closed and either converted into Temples of Reason,<ref>John Hall Stewart, ''A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution'' (Macmillan, New York, 1963).</ref> or otherwise demolished outright under the order of Jacobin leader [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] under the pretense that their design was "undemocratic."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050309031846/https://culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/Fidelity_archives/parricide.html Operation Parricide: Sade, Robespierre & the French Revolution]</ref> The Left even formed a new calendar [[Liberal censorship|secularizing Christian holidays]]. This calendar was short-lived though and was never accepted in the rural, more religious parts of France. | | During the French [[Reign of Terror]] of the early [[Enlightenment]], the Left attempted a de-Christianization movement to replace the "reactionary" worship of God and replace it with the worship of national patriotism, or the ''Patrie''. Many churches were closed and either converted into Temples of Reason,<ref>John Hall Stewart, ''A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution'' (Macmillan, New York, 1963).</ref> or otherwise demolished outright under the order of Jacobin leader [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] under the pretense that their design was "undemocratic."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050309031846/https://culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/Fidelity_archives/parricide.html Operation Parricide: Sade, Robespierre & the French Revolution]</ref> The Left even formed a new calendar [[Liberal censorship|secularizing Christian holidays]]. This calendar was short-lived though and was never accepted in the rural, more religious parts of France. |
| | | | |
| − | The term Left has its origins in 1790s, when in the French revolutionary parliament the representatives for the socialists sat to the presiding officer's left.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/left Left Ideology], Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> In addition, it was also stated that the left-wing had some origins in the [[Book of Revelation]] when [[Jesus Christ]] transfigured people on his right and left as sheep and goats, respectively.<ref>https://www.theculturewatch.com/the-french-revolution</ref><ref>James Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men: Origin of the Revolutionary Faith.</ref> | + | The term Left has its origins in the 1790s, when in the French revolutionary parliament the representatives for the socialists sat to the presiding officer's left.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/left Left Ideology], Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> In addition, it was also stated that the left-wing had some origins in the [[Book of Revelation]] when [[Jesus Christ]] transfigured people on his right and left as sheep and goats, respectively.<ref>https://www.theculturewatch.com/the-french-revolution</ref><ref>James Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men: Origin of the Revolutionary Faith.</ref> |
| | | | |
| | ==19th century European leftists == | | ==19th century European leftists == |
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| | [[Karl Marx]] (May 5, 1818<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/letters/misc/1818-bc.htm Birth Certificate of Karl Marx], Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''Collected Works'', Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 635</ref> – March 14, 1883) was a [[bourgeois]]<ref>Francis Wheen, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3KOyuSakn80C Karl Marx: A Life]'' (W.W. Norton & Company, 2001) ISBN 0393321576, pp. 8, 278</ref> political pamphleteer,<ref>George Bernard Shaw, “Trotsky, Prince of Pamphleteers,” ''The Nation'' (ISSN 0027-8378) Vol. 1922 No. 30 (June 7, 1922), pp. 560-561, reprinted in Brian Tyson, ed., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ui6sNgX5vfQC Bernard Shaw's Book Reviews: Volume Two,1884-1950]'' (University Park, PA.: Penn State Press, 1996) ISBN 0271015489, pp. 440-450. Cf. Terrell Carver, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HgbPEM0A4ksC The Postmodern Marx]'' (University Park, PA.: Penn State Press, 1998), p. 160</ref> polemicist<ref>Chris Matthew Sciaberra, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=D7z2ACODvLkC Marx, Hayek and Utopia]'' (SUNY Press, 1995) ISBN 0791426165, p.6. Cf. Michael Grenfell and Cheryl Hardy, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ao6emzDlvIAC Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts]'' (Berg Publishers, 2007) ISBN 1845202341, p.17</ref> and [[propagandist]],<ref>Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ItJmAAAAMAAJ The Cambridge Modern History]'' (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1910), p. 758. Cf. Milorad M. Drachkovitch and Sidney Hook, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MJkLqIlu-q4C Marxist Ideology in the Contemporary World: Its Appeals and Paradoxes]'' (Ayer Publishing, 1973) ISBN 0836981545, p. 113</ref> credited as co-founder (with [[Friedrich Engels]]) of communism<ref>Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=am7G9xBmlXAC The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings]'' (Barnes & Noble, 2005) ISBN 1593081006, p. vi</ref> and specifically of Marxism. Although Marx always considered himself an economist,<ref>Charles H. Powers, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cw8nRx08ix0C Making Sense of Social Theory: A Practical Introduction]'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010) ISBN 1442201193, p. 115</ref> "the Marxist system as a whole is not regarded as economics by the mainstream," according to Don Ross, co-editor of ''[http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/oso/public/content/oho_philosophy/9780195189254/toc.html The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics]''.<ref>Don Ross, "[http://uct.academia.edu/documents/0095/6341/Economics__anti-economics_and_ideology.pdf Economic theory, anti-economics, and political ideology]," p. 10</ref> Ex-Marxist<ref>"'I was a Marxist when I went to the University of Chicago, and I was still a Marxist after I took [[Milton Friedman]]’s course. ... But just one summer as an economics intern in Washington got rid of all of that.' Sowell worked in the Labor Department, in the Wage and Hour Division. He was interested in whether minimum wages helped the poor by raising their pay or hurt them by denying them jobs. He found that the personnel around him were interested in other things: namely, the preservation of their own jobs, and the perpetuation of government programs." Jay Nordlinger, "[https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/article/?q=NTQ5ZjNhNzE5MjhmOGY5MjYwNGFjNmEwYWNmZjNmNTk= A Lion in High Summer]," ''National Review'', Vol. LXIII, No. 3 (February 21, 2011)</ref> economist [[Thomas Sowell]] agrees: | | [[Karl Marx]] (May 5, 1818<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/letters/misc/1818-bc.htm Birth Certificate of Karl Marx], Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''Collected Works'', Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 635</ref> – March 14, 1883) was a [[bourgeois]]<ref>Francis Wheen, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3KOyuSakn80C Karl Marx: A Life]'' (W.W. Norton & Company, 2001) ISBN 0393321576, pp. 8, 278</ref> political pamphleteer,<ref>George Bernard Shaw, “Trotsky, Prince of Pamphleteers,” ''The Nation'' (ISSN 0027-8378) Vol. 1922 No. 30 (June 7, 1922), pp. 560-561, reprinted in Brian Tyson, ed., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ui6sNgX5vfQC Bernard Shaw's Book Reviews: Volume Two,1884-1950]'' (University Park, PA.: Penn State Press, 1996) ISBN 0271015489, pp. 440-450. Cf. Terrell Carver, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HgbPEM0A4ksC The Postmodern Marx]'' (University Park, PA.: Penn State Press, 1998), p. 160</ref> polemicist<ref>Chris Matthew Sciaberra, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=D7z2ACODvLkC Marx, Hayek and Utopia]'' (SUNY Press, 1995) ISBN 0791426165, p.6. Cf. Michael Grenfell and Cheryl Hardy, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ao6emzDlvIAC Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts]'' (Berg Publishers, 2007) ISBN 1845202341, p.17</ref> and [[propagandist]],<ref>Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ItJmAAAAMAAJ The Cambridge Modern History]'' (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1910), p. 758. Cf. Milorad M. Drachkovitch and Sidney Hook, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MJkLqIlu-q4C Marxist Ideology in the Contemporary World: Its Appeals and Paradoxes]'' (Ayer Publishing, 1973) ISBN 0836981545, p. 113</ref> credited as co-founder (with [[Friedrich Engels]]) of communism<ref>Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=am7G9xBmlXAC The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings]'' (Barnes & Noble, 2005) ISBN 1593081006, p. vi</ref> and specifically of Marxism. Although Marx always considered himself an economist,<ref>Charles H. Powers, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cw8nRx08ix0C Making Sense of Social Theory: A Practical Introduction]'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010) ISBN 1442201193, p. 115</ref> "the Marxist system as a whole is not regarded as economics by the mainstream," according to Don Ross, co-editor of ''[http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/oso/public/content/oho_philosophy/9780195189254/toc.html The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics]''.<ref>Don Ross, "[http://uct.academia.edu/documents/0095/6341/Economics__anti-economics_and_ideology.pdf Economic theory, anti-economics, and political ideology]," p. 10</ref> Ex-Marxist<ref>"'I was a Marxist when I went to the University of Chicago, and I was still a Marxist after I took [[Milton Friedman]]’s course. ... But just one summer as an economics intern in Washington got rid of all of that.' Sowell worked in the Labor Department, in the Wage and Hour Division. He was interested in whether minimum wages helped the poor by raising their pay or hurt them by denying them jobs. He found that the personnel around him were interested in other things: namely, the preservation of their own jobs, and the perpetuation of government programs." Jay Nordlinger, "[https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/article/?q=NTQ5ZjNhNzE5MjhmOGY5MjYwNGFjNmEwYWNmZjNmNTk= A Lion in High Summer]," ''National Review'', Vol. LXIII, No. 3 (February 21, 2011)</ref> economist [[Thomas Sowell]] agrees: |
| | {{cquote|[T]he Marxian contribution to [[economics]] can be readily summarized as virtually zero. Professional economics as it exists today reflects no indication that Karl Marx ever existed... [T]he development of modern economics has simply ignored Marx. Even economists who are Marxists typically utilize a set of analytical tools to which Marx contributed nothing... In professional economics, ''Das Capital'' was a detour into a blind alley...<ref>Thomas Sowell, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=TVkVAAAAIAAJ Marxism: Philosophy and Economics]'' (Taylor & Francis, 1985) ISBN 0043201717, p. 217.</ref>}} | | {{cquote|[T]he Marxian contribution to [[economics]] can be readily summarized as virtually zero. Professional economics as it exists today reflects no indication that Karl Marx ever existed... [T]he development of modern economics has simply ignored Marx. Even economists who are Marxists typically utilize a set of analytical tools to which Marx contributed nothing... In professional economics, ''Das Capital'' was a detour into a blind alley...<ref>Thomas Sowell, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=TVkVAAAAIAAJ Marxism: Philosophy and Economics]'' (Taylor & Francis, 1985) ISBN 0043201717, p. 217.</ref>}} |
| − | William Coleman of the Australian National University actually goes so far as to identify Marx as an "anti-economist."<ref>William Coleman, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jMipPwAACAAJ Economics and its Enemies: Two Centuries of Anti-Economics]'' (London: Palgrave as Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 1403941483, p. 234. As economics concerns human prosperity and thriving, "anti-economics" may be understood as an anti-human project of death and destruction.</ref> Ross concurs, labeling Marx "the most influential anti-economist of all."<ref>Don Ross, "[http://uct.academia.edu/documents/0095/6341/Economics__anti-economics_and_ideology.pdf Economic theory, anti-economics, and political ideology]," p. 10</ref> Even Michael Harrington, a well-known Marxist,<ref>Wayne Price, "[http://www.utopianmag.com/files/in/1000000043/wayne_utopia.pdf Anarchism: Utopian or Scientific?]" ''The Utopian'' Vol. 5, p. 62</ref> in his book, ''The Twilight of [[Capitalism]]'', devoted an entire chapter to Marx "The anti-economist."<ref>Michael Harrington, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=__ROAAAAMAAJ The Twilight of Capitalism]'' (Simon and Schuster, 1976) ISBN 0671227599, chapter 5</ref> Nevertheless, men and women of zeal, often well-meaning but without understanding<ref>"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0277_0438_ZD.html Brandeis, J., Dissenting], ''Olmstead v. United States'' 277 US 438 (1928)</ref> of economics, ravaged the 20th century reifying Marx's anti-economics—in the process killing more people than all the century's wars combined.<ref>R.J. Rummel, [http://democraticpeace.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/what-only-35000000-killed-in-20th-century-war/ What? Only 35,000,000 Killed in 20th Century War?], Democratic Peace Blog, November 30, 2008. In 1918, [[Grigory Zinoviev]], first head of the [[Comintern]], announced: "To overcome our enemies we must have our own socialist militarism. We must carry along with us 90 million out of the 100 million of [[Soviet Russia]]'s population. As for the rest, we have nothing to say to them. They must be annihilated." (George Leggett, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NRUFAQAAIAAJ The Cheka: Lenin's Political Police]'' [Oxford University Press, 1986] ISBN 0-19-822862-7, p. 114) Zinoviev's estimate that the Soviets would murder 10 million people was far too low: Mid-range academic estimates of the number of civilians murdered by Marxists range from 94 million (Stéphane Courtois, ed. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]'' [Harvard University Press, 1999] ISBN 0-674-07608-7, p. 4) to 148 million. Margaret Cox, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xMvOoPN58CoC The Scientific Investigation of Mass Graves: Towards Protocols and Standard Operating Procedures]'' [Cambridge University Press, 2008] ISBN 0521865875, p. 8; Cf. Rudy Rummel, [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Genocide&month=0511&week=d&msg=kbHvcYM/g2BcFyVBXdoRew&user=&pw= Reevaluated democide totals for 20thC. and China], H-Genocide Discussion Logs, H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Online), Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online (Michigan State University), November 28, 2005; T. Matthew Ciolek, [http://www.ciolek.com/SPEC/rummel-on-democide-2005.html R.J. Rummel: Reevaluated democide totals for 20th C. and China], Asia Pacific Research Online, Internet Publications Bureau, Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies, National Institute for Asia and the Pacific (Australian National University), November 29, 2005</ref> | + | William Coleman of the Australian National University actually goes so far as to identify Marx as an "anti-economist."<ref>William Coleman, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jMipPwAACAAJ Economics and its Enemies: Two Centuries of Anti-Economics]'' (London: Palgrave as Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 1403941483, p. 234. As economics concerns human prosperity and thriving, "anti-economics" may be understood as an anti-human project of death and destruction.</ref> Ross concurs, labeling Marx "the most influential anti-economist of all."<ref>Don Ross, "[http://uct.academia.edu/documents/0095/6341/Economics__anti-economics_and_ideology.pdf Economic theory, anti-economics, and political ideology]," p. 10</ref> Even Michael Harrington, a well-known Marxist,<ref>Wayne Price, "[http://www.utopianmag.com/files/in/1000000043/wayne_utopia.pdf Anarchism: Utopian or Scientific?]" ''The Utopian'' Vol. 5, p. 62</ref> in his book, ''The Twilight of [[Capitalism]]'', devoted an entire chapter to Marx "The anti-economist."<ref>Michael Harrington, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=__ROAAAAMAAJ The Twilight of Capitalism]'' (Simon and Schuster, 1976) ISBN 0671227599, chapter 5</ref> Nevertheless, men and women of zeal, often well-meaning but without understanding<ref>"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0277_0438_ZD.html Brandeis, J., Dissenting], ''Olmstead v. United States'' 277 US 438 (1928)</ref> of economics, ravaged the 20th century reifying Marx's anti-economics—in the process killing more people than all the century's wars combined.<ref>R.J. Rummel, [http://democraticpeace.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/what-only-35000000-killed-in-20th-century-war/ What? Only 35,000,000 Killed in 20th Century War?], Democratic Peace Blog, November 30, 2008. In 1918, [[Grigory Zinoviev]], first head of the [[Comintern]], announced: "To overcome our enemies we must have our own socialist [[militarism]]. We must carry along with us 90 million out of the 100 million of [[Soviet Russia]]'s population. As for the rest, we have nothing to say to them. They must be annihilated." (George Leggett, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NRUFAQAAIAAJ The Cheka: Lenin's Political Police]'' [Oxford University Press, 1986] ISBN 0-19-822862-7, p. 114) Zinoviev's estimate that the Soviets would murder 10 million people was far too low: Mid-range academic estimates of the number of civilians murdered by Marxists range from 94 million (Stéphane Courtois, ed. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]'' [Harvard University Press, 1999] ISBN 0-674-07608-7, p. 4) to 148 million. Margaret Cox, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xMvOoPN58CoC The Scientific Investigation of Mass Graves: Towards Protocols and Standard Operating Procedures]'' [Cambridge University Press, 2008] ISBN 0521865875, p. 8; Cf. Rudy Rummel, [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Genocide&month=0511&week=d&msg=kbHvcYM/g2BcFyVBXdoRew&user=&pw= Reevaluated democide totals for 20thC. and China], H-Genocide Discussion Logs, H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Online), Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online (Michigan State University), November 28, 2005; T. Matthew Ciolek, [http://www.ciolek.com/SPEC/rummel-on-democide-2005.html R.J. Rummel: Reevaluated democide totals for 20th C. and China], Asia Pacific Research Online, Internet Publications Bureau, Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies, National Institute for Asia and the Pacific (Australian National University), November 29, 2005</ref> |
| | | | |
| | ===Bakunin=== | | ===Bakunin=== |
| − | Anarchist thinker Mikhail Bakunin critiqued prominent leftist theoritician [[Karl Marx]] in 1873 with these words, | + | Anarchist thinker Mikhail Bakunin critiqued prominent leftist theoretician [[Karl Marx]] in 1873 with these words, |
| | | | |
| − | :"..if the [[proletariat]] is to be the ruling class, over whom is it to rule? ...the peasant "rabble" who, as it is known, does not enjoy the sympathy of the Marxists who consider it to represent a [[Racism|lower level of culture]], will probably be ruled by the factory proletariat of the cities. Or, if this problem is to be approached [[Nationalism|nationalist]]ically, the [[Slavs]] will be placed in the same subordinate relationship to the victorious German proletariat in which the latter now stands to the German bourgeoisie." <ref>Michael Bakunin, ''Statism and Anarchy'', (1873), in Sam Dolgoff, ''Bakunin'' On Anarchy, (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1972), p. 330.</ref> | + | :"..if the [[proletariat]] is to be the ruling class, over whom is it to rule? ...the peasant "rabble" who, as it is known, does not enjoy the sympathy of the Marxists who consider it to represent a [[Racism|lower level of culture]], will probably be ruled by the factory proletariat of the cities. Or, if this problem is to be approached [[Nationalism|nationalist]]ically, the [[Slavs]] will be placed in the same subordinate relationship to the victorious German proletariat in which the latter now stands to the German bourgeoisie."<ref>Michael Bakunin, ''Statism and Anarchy'', (1873), in Sam Dolgoff, ''Bakunin'' On Anarchy, (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1972), p. 330.</ref> |
| | | | |
| − | It should be noted that Bakunin was also a leftist, and in fact, the only difference he had from Marx was the exact extent that they should get rid of government. In addition, he also declared regarding anarchism: "Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and eternally creative source of all life--the passion for destruction is also a creative passion!"<ref>''Reaction in Germany'', 1842</ref> Richard Wagner also noted of Bakunin that “The annihilation of all civilization was the objective on which he had set his heart…. It was necessary, he said, to picture the whole European world - transformed into a pile of rubble.”<ref>https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/understanding-tyranny-and-terror-the-french-revolution-modern-islamism</ref><ref>Richard Wagner, quoted in Bryan Magee, The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy (New York: Henry Holt, 2000), p. 39.</ref> | + | It should be noted that Bakunin was also a leftist, and in fact, the only difference he had with Marx was the exact extent to which they should get rid of government. In addition, he also declared regarding anarchism: "Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and eternally creative source of all life--the passion for destruction is also a creative passion!"<ref>''Reaction in Germany'', 1842</ref> Richard Wagner also noted of Bakunin that “The annihilation of all civilization was the objective on which he had set his heart…. It was necessary, he said, to picture the whole European world - transformed into a pile of rubble.”<ref>https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/understanding-tyranny-and-terror-the-french-revolution-modern-islamism</ref><ref>Richard Wagner, quoted in Bryan Magee, The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy (New York: Henry Holt, 2000), p. 39.</ref> |
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| | ==United States leftists == | | ==United States leftists == |
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| | ===State planning=== | | ===State planning=== |
| | {{See also|Economic planning}} | | {{See also|Economic planning}} |
| − | In the United States men such as [[Eugene Debs]], Maurice Hilquit and [[Norman Thomas]] believed they could, by a gradual series of alterations in the structure of society, create a truly democratic world in which all people would enjoy not merely freedom, but prosperity. They believed this could not be achieved under the system of [[private property]] and [[profit]]. They advocated a gradual acquisition by the State of all the great utilities, transportation, communication, and basic industries such as coal, oil, and steel. | + | In the United States, men such as [[Eugene Debs]], Maurice Hilquit and [[Norman Thomas]] believed they could, by a gradual series of alterations in the structure of society, create a truly democratic world in which all people would enjoy not merely freedom, but prosperity. They believed this could not be achieved under the system of [[private property]] and [[profit]]. They advocated a gradual acquisition by the State of all the great utilities, transportation, communication, and basic industries such as coal, oil, and steel. |
| | [[Image:1904SO.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Eugene Debs|Debs]] for President poster, 1904]] | | [[Image:1904SO.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Eugene Debs|Debs]] for President poster, 1904]] |
| | The dream of a cooperative commonwealth in which all would share equally in the prosperity created by an economic system owned by the people was the vision of [[Socialist]]s. This in theory would end [[poverty]], [[ignorance]] and [[crises]]. The idea was to [[Nationalization|nationalize]] banks, railroads, all means of transport, mines, and a few basic industries, but leave some factories, stores, farms, entertainment industries, etc., in the hands of private owners. The government would assume responsibility for making the economy work, for the well-being of all the citizens, their protection from the hazards of life, poverty, sickness, and old age. To make the whole economy work continuously without occasional [[Great Depression#Boom or Bust Cycles|boom-bust]] cycles, the government would create [[economic planning]] boards staffed by a bureaucratic class which would continuously study and observe the functioning of the economic system and make plans covering production, prices, distribution, financing, profits, [[wages]], hours, etc. Thus there would be Planned Capitalism, with the State responsible for the planning and for ensuring the carrying out of its plans through great government bureaus armed with the necessary powers to enforce compliance. | | The dream of a cooperative commonwealth in which all would share equally in the prosperity created by an economic system owned by the people was the vision of [[Socialist]]s. This in theory would end [[poverty]], [[ignorance]] and [[crises]]. The idea was to [[Nationalization|nationalize]] banks, railroads, all means of transport, mines, and a few basic industries, but leave some factories, stores, farms, entertainment industries, etc., in the hands of private owners. The government would assume responsibility for making the economy work, for the well-being of all the citizens, their protection from the hazards of life, poverty, sickness, and old age. To make the whole economy work continuously without occasional [[Great Depression#Boom or Bust Cycles|boom-bust]] cycles, the government would create [[economic planning]] boards staffed by a bureaucratic class which would continuously study and observe the functioning of the economic system and make plans covering production, prices, distribution, financing, profits, [[wages]], hours, etc. Thus there would be Planned Capitalism, with the State responsible for the planning and for ensuring the carrying out of its plans through great government bureaus armed with the necessary powers to enforce compliance. |
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| | ===Borrowing from fascism=== | | ===Borrowing from fascism=== |
| | [[File:Benito Mussolini Roman Salute.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Benito Mussolini]] after gaining power]] | | [[File:Benito Mussolini Roman Salute.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Benito Mussolini]] after gaining power]] |
| − | In the 1920s [[Benito Mussolini]] had adopted the Planned Capitalist State and gave it the name "[[fascism]]". [[Adolf Hitler]] adopted the same idea and called it [[National Socialism]]. Mussolini and Hitler both realized that a system which imposes a vast complex of decrees upon a people while subjecting them to confiscatory [[tax]]es to support the immense activities of the government cannot be operated except by an [[Absolutism|absolute]] government that has the power to enforce compliance. Prior to [[World War II]], this type of system had spread all over Europe. For nearly 70 years all the countries in Europe, with Germany in the lead, had been experimenting with the idea of the [[welfare state]], the State which attempts to provide its people with jobs and protection from all the hazards of life. | + | In the 1920s, [[Benito Mussolini]] had adopted the Planned Capitalist State and gave it the name "[[fascism]]". [[Adolf Hitler]] adopted the same idea and called it [[National Socialism]]. Mussolini and Hitler both realized that a system which imposes a vast complex of decrees upon a people while subjecting them to confiscatory [[tax]]es to support the immense activities of the government cannot be operated except by an [[Absolutism|absolute]] government that has the power to enforce compliance. Prior to [[World War II]], this type of system had spread all over Europe. For nearly 70 years all the countries in Europe, with Germany in the lead, had been experimenting with the idea of the [[welfare state]], the State which attempts to provide its people with jobs and protection from all the hazards of life. |
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| − | This system is the direct opposite of [[classical liberalism]]. It is the negation of the classical liberal philosophy which for decades has been fighting to [[Emancipation|emancipate]] the people from the [[tyranny]] of the all-powerful State. During the [[New Deal]] this doctrine became known in America as "liberalism". Liberals did not admit that it implied the restoration to the State those very powers which had been stripped from the State as the means of giving people [[freedom]]. They called it the [[planned economy]]. But it was and is fascism by whatever name it is known. Incrementally the government must be made stronger, and the rights of the citizens reduced. | + | This system is the direct opposite of [[classical liberalism]]. It is the negation of the classical liberal philosophy which for decades has been fighting to [[Emancipation|emancipate]] the people from the [[tyranny]] of the all-powerful State. During the [[New Deal]] this doctrine became known in America as "liberalism". Liberals did not admit that it implied the restoration to the State of those very powers which had been stripped from the State as the means of giving people [[freedom]]. They called it the [[planned economy]]. But it was and is fascism by whatever name it is known. Incrementally the government must be made stronger, and the rights of the citizens reduced. |
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| | ==Modern leftists== | | ==Modern leftists== |
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| | ===Gramsci=== | | ===Gramsci=== |
| | [[File:Gramsci.png|thumb|150px|right|[[Antonio Gramsci]] ]] | | [[File:Gramsci.png|thumb|150px|right|[[Antonio Gramsci]] ]] |
| − | [[Antonio Gramsci]] was a lieutenant of [[Joseph Stalin]] who headed the [[Italian]] branch of the International Communist movement ([[Comintern]]). After several failed assassination attempts on Mussolini, Gramsci was imprisoned in 1926 until his death in 1937. While in prison Gramsci wrote his ''Prison Notebooks'', speculating on the failure of [[violent]] [[revolution]] to materialize in [[Western Europe]] as [[Karl Marx]] had predicted. Gramsci's works are considered by [[Socialists]] to be foundational to modern [[public education]] and [[Cultural Marxism]].<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/23768314?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents</ref><ref>https://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/prison_notebooks/problems/education.htm</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdTTr4iYT0M</ref> | + | [[Antonio Gramsci]] was a lieutenant of [[Joseph Stalin]] who headed the [[Italian]] branch of the International Communist movement ([[Comintern]]). After several failed assassination attempts on Mussolini, Gramsci was imprisoned in 1926 until his death in 1937. While in prison, Gramsci wrote his ''Prison Notebooks'', speculating on the failure of [[violent]] [[revolution]] to materialize in [[Western Europe]] as [[Karl Marx]] had predicted. Gramsci's works are considered by [[Socialists]] to be foundational to modern [[public education]] and [[Cultural Marxism]].<ref>https://www.jstor.org/stable/23768314?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents</ref><ref>https://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/prison_notebooks/problems/education.htm</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdTTr4iYT0M</ref> |
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| − | Gramsci's theory of "cultural hegemony" states that the ruling capitalist "oppressor" class uses cultural institutions, such as "traditional marriage," to maintain power. The "oppressors" develop a "hegemonic culture" using [[ideology]] unlike Socialists who use [[violence]], economic force, and coercion. "Hegemonic culture" propagates its own values and norms so that they become "[[common sense]]" values and thus maintain the [[status quo]]. According to [[Wikipedia]], this "Hegemonic power is therefore used to maintain consent to the capitalist order, rather than coercive power using force" as Marxism does "to maintain order. This cultural hegemony is produced and reproduced" by the dominant Christian oppressor class "through the institutions that form the superstructure." | + | Gramsci's theory of "cultural hegemony" states that the ruling capitalist "oppressor" class uses cultural institutions, such as "traditional marriage," to maintain power. The "oppressors" develop a "hegemonic culture" using [[ideology]], unlike Socialists who use [[violence]], economic force, and coercion. "Hegemonic culture" propagates its own values and norms so that they become "[[common sense]]" values and thus maintain the [[status quo]]. According to [[Wikipedia]], this "Hegemonic power is therefore used to maintain consent to the capitalist order, rather than coercive power using force" as Marxism does "to maintain order. This cultural hegemony is produced and reproduced" by the dominant Christian oppressor class "through the institutions that form the superstructure." |
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| − | Joseph A. Buttigieg, [[Pete Buttigieg]]'s father, was a founding member of the International Gramsci Society and served as the executive secretary."<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100616163619/http://english.nd.edu/faculty/profiles/joseph-a-buttigieg/</ref> | + | Joseph A. Buttigieg, [[Pete Buttigieg]]'s father, was a founding member of the International Gramsci Society and served as the executive secretary<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100616163619/http://english.nd.edu/faculty/profiles/joseph-a-buttigieg/</ref> |
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| | == Leftism: Use of condemnation/mockery rather than reasonable argumentation == | | == Leftism: Use of condemnation/mockery rather than reasonable argumentation == |
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| | *In [[Seattle]]'s [[CHOP]] zone, leftists shot three Blacks, killing two, one of them a child. The third survivor was also a child. | | *In [[Seattle]]'s [[CHOP]] zone, leftists shot three Blacks, killing two, one of them a child. The third survivor was also a child. |
| | *In [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]], leftists murdered an 8-year-old Black girl and a Black male adult as part of the [[Black Lives Matter]] protests. | | *In [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]], leftists murdered an 8-year-old Black girl and a Black male adult as part of the [[Black Lives Matter]] protests. |
| − | *In [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], leftist murdered a 77-year-old retired Black police captain in retaliation for the death of [[George Floyd]]. | + | *In [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], leftists murdered a 77-year-old retired Black police captain in retaliation for the death of [[George Floyd]]. |
| | *In [[Oakland, California]], leftists murdered a Black federal security policeman to protest police brutality against Blacks. | | *In [[Oakland, California]], leftists murdered a Black federal security policeman to protest police brutality against Blacks. |
| | *In Washington, D.C., leftists defaced the [[World War II]] memorial to commemorate the soldiers who defeated [[fascism]]. | | *In Washington, D.C., leftists defaced the [[World War II]] memorial to commemorate the soldiers who defeated [[fascism]]. |