Communism, Chapter 7: The Long March through the Institutions

In the 1930s in Italy, an imprisoned Communist, Antonia Gramsci, was writing his “prison papers” opining that the dismantling the key cultural institutions, including the family, was necessary before Communism could take hold. Rudi Dutschke, a German Neo-Marxist in the late 1960s, followed on with this theme declaring that revolution would not succeed by violent over-throw, but by subverting society through “a long march through the institutions of power;” education, media, civil service, and judiciary.

Continue Reading

Communism, Chapter 4: Cultural Revolution

Groups of young people known as Red Guards struggled against authorities at all levels of society, setting up their own tribunals. It is estimated that 100,000s if not millions died. The Police turned a blind eye to the Red Guard beating bourgeois elements to death. Mao is quoted as saying,
“China is a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people.”

Continue Reading

Communism, Chapter 3: Stalin’s Terror

In Chapter 3 of a condensed history of the Terror of Communism, the consequences of concentrating power in one person are examined. After the death of Lenin, a former executioner of the party assumed power, leading to three decades of terror. As one example, in 1932 a terror-famine was unleashed on Ukraine causing 3.5 million deaths.

Continue Reading

Reflections on Orwell – D. Duffy

Reflections on OrwellAuthor: David Duffy A little while ago, I chaired a talk on George Orwell and his significance in the year 2021. “Orwellian” is now part of our language and cultural hemisphere. In my vote of thanks, I quoted the early 19th century Russian monk Pechorin in his letter to Alexander Herzen, the famous […]

Continue Reading