Lost Lessons of Communism

John Hinderaker at Powerline blog links to a great article by Janet Daily published at the Telegraph: The Lessons of the Fall of Communism have still not been Learnt.

John:

I think a very partial answer to the question Ms. Daley poses is that leftism has never been based on idealism. It has always been based, for the most part, on hate and envy. So when Communism was conclusively proved to be a failure, leftists (including not only leftists in politics, but more important, leftists in the media and in academia) didn’t change their minds or admit their mistake. For in their eyes, while there may have been disappointment, there was no mistake. Their resentments and hatreds remained. They merely sought other vehicles, other terminologies, other tactics to bring down the West and the free enterprise system and democratic institutions that define it. Yesterday’s socialists are today’s progressives. They barely missed a beat.

Janet:

...the truth is that a good proportion of the population harbours a vague notion that there exists a whole other way of doing things that is inherently more benign and “fair” – in which nobody is hurt or disadvantaged – available for the choosing, if only politicians had the will or the generosity to embrace it.

Why do they believe this? Because the lesson that should have been absorbed at the tumultuous end of the last century never found its way into popular thinking – or even into the canon of educated political debate.

Janet's article and John's post sum up our work here at Ushanka.us.

This story needs to be told.

100 million dead in a span of 72 years, yet the 6 million killed by Fascism gets the attention of the history books.

Our children deserve a full understanding of both evils and both stories.

One has to wonder why the politics of envy is so underweighted in public education curriculum, no?

2.9: Thanks to IOTW for the link back!