White Supremecists Slay 49 in NZ Mosques

[Dill]

(03-15-2019, 10:00 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: So, are you saying that an anti-communist group is just as dangerous as a communist regime??  I'm having trouble understanding exactly what the point that you're trying to make is.

The premiere anti-communist regime that history offers us is the Third Reich, which I think was certainly more dangerous than the Soviet Union (but not worse than Democratic Kampuchea). But I am not connecting that directly to U.S. anti-communism or to each and every person today who dislikes communism. I am myself not a fan of Communism, but that doesn't mean I accept distortion of the historical record.

Anti-communism in the U.S., particularly in government officials, has led the U.S. to do a number of shameful things, e.g., to overturn democratically elected governments and support dictators in the suppression of their own people, not to mention harass our own, especially civil rights leaders. (that is the "horrifying track record" I was referring to, not an American "group") 

Today anti-communism is an ideology held to widely different degrees by people in many countries--and in the U.S. from neo-Nazis to ordinary Americans who don't know a lot about Communism but know they don't like it. They have seen the internet memes with the high body counts and know it is "anti-capitalist" and "failed everywhere it was tried" except China, the next super power.

Do keep in mind that I am addressing a point made by SSF about Stalin's body count in his source, which I find way to high. I was not trying to make a point about anti-communists' bad behavior so much as point out how that filter continues to distort history.  Many people whom I would not classify as anti-communists nevertheless are exposed to it and repeat its shibboleths, keeping them alive long after the Cold War.