One would have imagined that, at some point, “That wasn’t real socialism ...”
would have been followed by “... and real socialism can’t exist because
man isn’t perfectible, selfishness is ineradicable, power has needed
restraining since the dawn of time, and political unity is a dangerous
and undesirable myth.” Alas, no such recognition has yet been forthcoming.
In the 20th century, Communism killed at least 100 million people — by democide,
by famine, by central planning, by war — and yet it is still acceptable to say
in public that it was a “nice idea.” In the post-war period, “democratic” socialism
ravaged the economies of the West like a virus and required a counterrevolution
to remove, and yet it remains sufficiently seductive to a slice of the public
as to present a threat to the American order. Today, the states that have
actively rejected socialism are growing fast (India, Poland, the former East
Germany) while those that fell prey to the temptation are either moribund
(Greece), tyrannies (China), or international pariahs (Cuba and North Korea)
— and yet there is still a solipsistic cottage industry dedicated to blaming
their successes and failures on decisions made by the United States. The
damn thing is ineradicable.
--Charles CW Cooke
