Why Lessons of the Fall of Communism Have Not Been Learned

John Hinderaker has a must-read post from the other day, "Communism Collapsed: Who Cares?"

And following the link there takes us to Janet Daley, at Telegraph UK, "The lessons of the fall of communism have still not been learnt."

Also blogging: Bruce McQuain, "Why has the collapse of Communism had so little impact on political discourse in the West?"

There's an answer here that the above commentators have missed. The question of why progressives haven't "learned" from the collapse of communism assumes that leftists conceive of politics through reason. That is, it's an erroneous assumption to assert that since capitalism emerged objectively by the end of the twentieth century as the single working economic system that it thereby follows that progressives will see the errors of their ideological ways and abandon the collectivist's historical program.

Leftists are true believers. Their religion is the Utopian of the Marxist state. Progressive weren't deterred from their goal of a communist revolution because they don't believe true communism has been tried. I'll perhaps write more on this, but for now remember my review of David Horowitz's book, The Politics of Bad Faith, and the quote from Horowitz:

Totalitarianism is the possession of reality by a political Idea --- the Idea of socialist kingdom of heaven on earth; the redemption of humanity by political force. To radical believers this Idea is so beautiful it is like God Himself. It provides the meaning of a radical life. This is the solution that makes everything possible; the noble end that justifies the regrettable means. Belief in the kingdom of socialist heaven is faith that can transform vice into virtue, lies into truth, evil into good. In this revolutionary religion, the Way, the Truth, and the Life of salvation lie not with God above, but with men below --- ruthless, brutal, venal men --- on whom faith confers the power of gods. There is no mystery in the transformation of the socialist paradise into Communist hell: liberation theology is a satanic creed.

More on this later. In the meanwhile, see "Anti-Intellectualism and the Marxist Idea."