Some American socialists insist that their brand of socialism is completely different from the socialism that tyrannized the Soviet Union and still tyrannizes China, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, and far too many other countries today. "We just want to make people's lives better and create a safety net for the less fortunate," these American socialists insist.
Those who understand history--and those who lived under socialist oppression--know better, as I discussed in Petr Izmailov's Story is a Cautionary Tale About Marxist Theory in Practice.
Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov was raised in the USSR but he educated himself about socialism's flaws and he recently did a brilliant interview explaining those flaws. The entire interview lasts less than 90 minutes and is well worth your time, but if you only have five minutes then fast forward to around the 55 minute mark and listen to him explain why the socialism advocated by Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is just as evil and dangerous as the socialism that enslaved Kasparov's home country. Among other things, Kasparov points out the hypocrisy of people who protest police brutality in the United States but turn a blind eye to the horrors taking place in China and so many other totalitarian dictatorships. Although Kasparov does not mention it directly, the warm feelings that the American Left has for leftist dictatorships are nothing new, and date back for several decades (all the way back to Stalin's regime, in fact). American socialism is not about improving the lives of the less fortunate; it is about destroying the American way of life, and replacing it with a system that has failed every single time that it has been implemented--and failed in ways that caused profound misery and suffering.
During the interview, Kasparov states that he supports any country that has democratic values, and he emphasizes that this is why he supports Israel. Contrast Kasparov's take on Israel with the hateful rhetoric emanating from the American Left, including the false accusations that Israel practices apartheid.
Kasparov does not mention Critical Race Theory by name, but Critical Race Theory embodies the ignorance and hypocrisy that Kasparov discusses. It is important to become educated about the Marxist underpinnings and implications of Critical Race Theory. Once you understand the founding principles of CRT, and the goals of its followers, if you still support the precepts and goals of CRT then the burden is on you to explain/prove that you are not against democracy (both in this country and in other countries around the world, including Israel), and the burden is on you to explain why you act as if America is an evil country while ignoring the evil taking place on a massive scale in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and many other totalitarian countries.
Put simply, I would say to any supporter
of CRT, "I agree that the history of the American slave trade and racism
should be taught in schools. Why do you want to suppress media coverage
and education about the slavery, oppression, and genocide that is
happening in the world right now? Why do you pretend that America is
irredeemably racist and evil while ignoring the racism and evil taking
place right now in countries that, not coincidentally, are sworn enemies
of America and American values?"
No intelligent person can take seriously an ideology or a movement that attacks America but then is silent about China's atrocities. Many media members anoint various athletes and entertainers as so-called social justice warriors. Enes Kanter is a real social justice warrior, an NBA player who has bravely spoken out against the oppression in his native Turkey and also about Chinese oppression of Hong Kong. The NBA has repeatedly proven that its slogan "The NBA Cares" should be renamed NBA Cares About Profits as it rakes in Chinese sponsorship money while ignoring China's brutality.
Kasparov laments that for young Americans the Cold War is ancient history that has been misunderstood, if not forgotten. He correctly states that America is not perfect, but no country is perfect, and he disagrees with the awful notion propagated by the American Left that America is fundamentally evil.
During the interview, Kasparov made a very insightful comment about the sad state of American political discourse. America used to be about striving for excellence, he explained, but the last two Presidential elections have been about choosing the lesser of two evils. Kasparov rejects both the American Left's embrace of socialism and the American Right's embrace of Donald Trump, and he implores our country to get back on the path of providing leadership to the Free World, which he notes was a bipartisan goal from 1945-1991. Kasparov asserts that during that period Democrats and Republicans disagreed about methods but not goals, but that since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War the two parties no longer agree about goals, which has set America adrift and threatens our leadership role in the world by damaging our moral authority.
I would add that President Biden's defining moment--the triumph of the Taliban--exemplifies the failure that Kasparov astutely identified, and that has been authored by both political parties for the past 30 years or so. Kasparov calls out the hypocrisy of both the Democrats and the Republicans: the Democrats blame President Trump for signing a deal with the Taliban (but ignore that the collapse happened under President Biden's rule) while the Republicans blame President Biden for the collapse of Afghanistan under President Biden's rule (but ignore that President Trump signed a deal with the Taliban).
Hopefully, America will regain its footing both domestically and abroad, and once again strive for excellence instead of being mired in mediocrity, extremism, and divisiveness.
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