Anti-Communism
The will and determination of the Soviet people give all of us great inspiration. But their power to overcome that crumbling government behemoth raises an issue that gnaws at the value of a 50-year U.S. commitment.
Most agree that the people were sufferers of lifetimes of a communist indoctrination which was legally sanctioned and enforced throughout every institution from schools to the workplace. But somehow they were they able to see through the lies to the values of a democratic society.
So why did we spend so much time and energy “protecting” ourselves from the marginal influences of an ideology so bankrupt that it couldn’t penetrate or convince a people steeped in it for 70 years? McCarthyism, Hollywood blacklists, HUAC and so much more.
Anti-communism has given this country nearly every major headache it has endured since World War II. From wars in far-off lands to witch hunts at home. From the military-industrial complex to politicians like Richard Nixon.
ALAN M. SCOLAMIERI
Long Beach
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