California’s communist party rises Christlike from the grave
Interesting little story. I had no idea that this law even existed. It’s good news that it will be overturned though:
The California Senate yesterday passed legislation that would delete membership in the Communist party as a reason for firing a public employee, a Cold War-era prohibition intended to root out communists. California is the only state that allows public employees to be dismissed for membership in a political party.
It’s rather ironic that in the so-called land of the free you weren’t free to become a Marx brother. I’m not a big fan of communism - even though I don’t think failed experiments in the USSR and elsewhere should be attributed totally to communist doctrine. You can’t blame Jesus for the Crusades and I don’t think you can blame Karl Marx for all the mad dictators who took his name in vain.
Having said that, one of the problems with communism has always been that it didn’t take the human heart into account. (One could say the say about Christianity, of course.) One of the central tenets of communism is that people only need to have things explained to them in order for them to see the light and let Marx come into their hearts, so to speak.
There’s nothing much morally wrong with the idea that everyone works as hard as he or she can and will get all that he or she needs - it’s just that the human animal will probably always refuse to become a virtuous member of some collective. It would be nice if we could, maybe but chances that we humans collectively will become that malleable are as big as that of us turning that famous other cheek. Whatever processes (or God) forged us, just didn’t shape us in that fashion.
Back to the USA though. As I said, it’s kind of weird that being a member of any political party would be forbidden in any of America’s states. So, it was (and still is) okay to be a member of the KKK, or the Hell’s Angels but a crime to be a card carrying communist? I’d say believing in the redistribution of wealth would be deemed more harmless than being a white supremacist or a violent & misogynist drugs dealer but then again, what do I know?
Anyway, so it seems another quaint and ill-advised law will be written off now: the Cold War is receding further and further into the past. Which, obviously, is a good thing. New bogeymen will of course take the place of the old ones. We see in the whole nonsensical ‘War on Terror’ that our leaders (and millions of other, easily led folks) love the whole idea of a powerful enemy too much to let it go without a struggle.
The Bin Laden boys make but a poor substitute for the old USSR and all its military might and I wonder how long this new spook will last before some folks will convincingly explain that it doesn’t even wear a bloody sheet.
So, what will be the new evil empire? Whom will we proclaim worthy to become our next biggest Adversary? I would like to believe it would be organised religion itself - but I have to say I think that would be as likely as the spectacle of the whole of humanity holding hands and singing the Internationale.
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