Leftism - Part 1

by 

       M. Richard Maxson

    The Constitutional Republic that was created after the Revolutionary War was fragile at the beginning, but it has prospered over the centuries beyond the founding generation’s wildest dreams. Our Founders developed an ingenious system of checks and balances, which George Washington described as, “though not absolutely perfect, it is one of the best in the world.” This government “by the people, for the people.” The primary architects of our constitutional republic understood that history teaches essential lessons. They meticulously studied history and comparative political systems in preparation for crafting a system of government likeliest to maximize liberty.

    Around the same time Socialism began to take hold in France. They were called "Leftists" due the fact that people with certain views sat on the left side of the National Assembly. The French Revolution was their chance to show what they could do when they got the power they sought. In contrast to what they promised -- "liberty, equality, fraternity" -- what they actually produced were food shortages, mob violence and dictatorial powers that included arbitrary executions, extending even to their own leaders.

    By the eve of World War I, poor working and living conditions in American cities helped clear the way for socialism.  In 1912, Socialist Party presidential candidate Eugene Debs won 6 percent of the popular vote.  And there were hundreds of Socialist elected officials in cities and towns across the country. Terrorist bombings and assassinations of government officials that were happening in the United States were the seeds that sprouted agencies like the FBI. These governmental agencies were extremely anti-Communist and crusaded to hinder their spread. The party had other problems."The Socialists, who were a small third party, had very little to offer," says political scientist Gary Marks.  "What they could offer was ideological purity.  They could offer a beacon for a different society.  But the labor unions were rooted in the 'here and now.'"

    The economic upheaval of the 1930s gave many socialists hope that the time had come for a workers’ party in the United States.  But political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg says it was too late. "During the period of the Great Depression and economic downturn, there was more of a possibility for the creation of labor parties," says Ginsberg.  "But with the advent of Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition, labor became such a prominent force within the Democratic Party that most labor leaders could see no advantage to trying to go out on their own."

   Labor unions have been very active in promoting voter participation within the context of America's two-party system.  And since the Great Depression, organized labor generally has supported the Democratic Party, which has embraced many people on the left of the U.S. political spectrum.

     After the McCarthy hearings left them reeling they reinvented themselves as the "new" left. They threw out the concept of right and wrong for the ideal that it was a persons circumstance that caused all of societies problems. They struggled to avoid facing the plain fact of evil -- that some people simply choose to do things that they know to be wrong when they do them. Every kind of excuse, from poverty to an unhappy childhood, is used by the left to explain and excuse evil.

    Published in 1963, in the congressional records are the 45 goals of the Communist party. One of these is the take over of one of the political parties. The Democratic party was ripe for the taking. Since the Civil War, America's two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, have averaged between them about 95 percent of the popular vote in national elections. Essentially this means that third parties have no chance to gain representation at the national level in the United States.  So it's a logic where one has to try to create the broadest coalition that one can," says Marks. They began to infiltrate and mold the democratic party into their liking. "And to do that means that under normal circumstances, one has to downplay ideology and appeal to as many diverse groups as possible."

NEXT - Part 2 - The Last "Real" Democrat.