In a recent discussion hosted at the Heritage Foundation, four authorities shared their thoughts and research on the current status and future of Communism today, offering a different take than the one most college students are likely to get in Cold War studies courses.
“Who knows that the Soviet Union murdered twenty million people, and the Chinese murdered fifty million through various massacres, trials, and other acts under Communism?” Lee Edwards, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation said. “Who knows the Communism plague has exacted a death toll surpassing that of all the wars of the 20th century combined?” said Edwards.
The “Victims of Communism” memorial, a bronze statue, commemorates a similar monument erected in 1989 in Tiananmen Square, and then torn down. “We must not allow history to forget those who died and are still dying under Communism,” said Edwards.
Edwards focused his discussion on the vast realm of the political spectrum that Communism occupies, and the danger that lies therein, not just for the oppressed people living under these regimes, but also for United States citizens as well. Countries such as the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, and Syria are all supporting Communist regimes.
“The spectre of Communism still haunts the world…even in America’s biggest city, which hosts the ‘KGB Bar’ (a very popular night club),” Edwards said.
Frank Calzon, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba, said that despite Fidel Castro’s illness, Cuba remains a Communist country. “We can be optimistic about Cuba though, because it is only ninety miles away from the United States, while North Korea for example is right next to China,” Calzon said. The victims of Communism in Cuba, according to Calzon, are those who “say what those around them are only willing to think.”
Calzon alluded to the importance we have as American citizens to get the word out about the workings of Communism, and use our freedoms to do what the people under Communism can not. “We ought to do what folks like us are not allowed to do in Cuba and other countries that are Communist—all of you should write a Letter to the Editor at the Washington Post…I guarantee if they get fifty letters, one or two are bound to get published,” Calzon said.
Paul Goble, formerly with Voice of America, and an authority on the Baltic, talked about the turmoil that Communism presses on not only those who perish under its rigid system, but also those who are left behind. “In every Estonian family in 1940, one member was killed, one sent to Siberia, one joined the KGB, and one managed to avoid all these fates…but they were all victims, especially the one who remained alive,” Goble said in reference to Estonian families today.
“If we are serious about the original definition of captive nations, then we have to admit that there are now people living with less freedom and choice than ten to fifteen years ago in the Russian Federation,” Goble said.
Goble argued that it is not in America’s best interests to ignore the fact that the Russian constitution says a ruler may only have two terms (in regards to Putin’s push for more). “It’s going to be a very long time before we can happily say that it (Communism) is over and can look away,” Goble said.
Harry Wu spent 19 years under torture in prison/labor camps in China for speaking out against Communism. His book, Bitter Winds, references his torture and starvation which he incurred during his imprisonment. Wu began his discussion by assuring the audience that “nobody in China believes Communism is a good thing.”
“The ideology of Communism is not a crime, but the implementation is a crime,” Wu said. Wu alluded to a word he uses to define Communism in China: “Classicide.” “Classicide” refers to the persecution and struggle of classes, particularly the bourgeoisie class, which theoretically ended in 1976.
Under this system, Wu’s father’s property was taken away and he was killed, Wu’s mother then committed suicide, his brother was killed and he was sent to the labor camps. “You can do all the business you want in China, but you can not say anything you want to say,” Wu said. Conversely, “The United States and American people are closer to promoting Democracy and freedom rather than Capitalism,” said Goble.
China is still very much a Communist country, Wu argued. We are given the idea that the living conditions of people today are changing, but “The problem is still, after thirty or fifty years we don’t know what will happen,” Wu said.
“The average person around the world does not have a negative view of the United States, but the elites do,” Goble said. Go figure. Edwards hopes to eventually, in the near future, have a library and museum erected in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the victims of crimes of Communism.
Elizabeth Young is an intern at Accuracy in Media, Accuracy in Academia’s parent group.
