Reflections On The Failure of Socialism

Reflections On The Failure of Socialism

This book was originally published in 1955 and sold for 75

cents. It is a collector's item now and can be found selling from $23 - $150 on various websites. It is an interesting commentary written from the author's perspective as he pivots from his hardcore fervor for a global, socialistic ideology to the realization of the ultimate, proven failure of such idealism. I found this book to be a basic explanation of our world today in 2020, some 65 years later. His arguments and reasoning still apply. His words of wisdom, borne of self-experience, soberly taps the shoulder of any liberty-minded patriot, evoking self-conscious examination of our own personal responsibility in maintaining the precious freedoms we so casually enjoy.

The author, Max Eastman, a US citizen, delves into his dreams of a utopian, socialistic community. He lived the lofty principles he hoped would provide the foundation of a common society based on socialism. He writes of his decision to support, and then live, in the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. He was present for the hopeful adoption of the Marx – Engles philosophies, then the Nazi German occupation, and Chinese Revolution, after which he was driven to sadly conclude that these styles of governments 'work only if under a dictator'.

Mr Eastman's greatest surprise was the apathy his peers showed when confronted with the idealism of communism against the actual harsh reality of its implementation. He writes, (p 57): “I still think the worst enemy of human hope is not the brute facts, but men of brains who will not face them. … I never dreamed, however, that they could sink to the depths of maudlin self-deception and perfectly abject treason of truth, freedom, justice, and mercy that many of them have reached in regard to the Russian debacle. That has indeed profoundly, and more than any other shock, whether emotional or intellectual, disabused me of the dream of liberty under a socialist state.”

He further explains the clever manipulation of language used to veil the atrocities he witnessed. For instance, (p69): “The term 'working class' was detached from the actual workers and attached to party believers in the Marxian theory about what the workers were going to do. This innocent-looking maneuver set the style for such etymological atrocities as calling it 'liberation' when the Red Army marches in and arrests, jails, rapes, deports, or shoots 50 percent of a nation's population, and pinning upon the resulting perfect tyranny the name of the “People's Democracy”.

This is a revealing read that provides many uncomfortable parallels to our current 2020 political climate. The devolvement of the duty of our own American government from being 'for the people' into what has become the controlling of the people is proven through endless, unelected bureaucracies who write legislation empowering them to actually jail its citizenry. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency, or even the Child's Protection Service where children are forcibly removed from their parental homes, are rarely questioned and work without oversight. The cost of the socialist/communist ideology, the death toll and misery it brings, becomes all to clear in this brief 127-page book. It is an unofficial plea to the American Public.

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