Marxism's Deadly Legacy: Why People Still Believe



The Marxist Progressive left is one of the single most destructive ideologies in history. It’s destructive power is clear—the nightmare of the Soviet Union, the mass murder in Maoist China and Pol Pot’s Cambodia, the spiritual disintegration of eastern Europe, and the various African Marxist experiments that killed millions. And then we add today’s Progressive/Socialist tyrannies—North Korea, Cuba, and until recently, Venezuela. Every single Marxist, Progressive left-wing government has been a parade of horrors.

So that logically brings up the question, why are millions in America and Europe so enamored with it?  What is the appeal of Progressivism? The Marxist cult has a number of deceptions that make it attractive to people who are easily deceived, or worse, people who want to be deceived. What are those deceptions?

People are naturally religious, or, as one writer put it, man is incurably religious. The Christian faith has been the most powerful in history but what happens if you reject it? Surely Chesterton was right: when men stop believing in the God of the Bible they do not then believe nothing; they then believe anything. Marxist Progressivism serves as a substitute religion for those who have rejected God.

Marxist Progressivism promises a society in which all men are treated justly and fairly. The hunger for social justice emerges from the Christian doctrine of the sanctity of life. In Genesis 1:27 God says He created all men and women in His image; thus, all have infinite value and dignity. The Left has seized on this glorious doctrine and try to create a society of coerced, state-enforced equality. They assert that human beings can become morally perfect, given the right circumstances. Circumstances created through Left-wing power, of course. In the Bible God promises a heaven in the afterlife through Jesus Christ. Progressivism offers heaven on earth through a state generated utopia. Every injustice will disappear and justice and prosperity will reign over all. Everyone will be equal and no one will wield power and authority over anyone else.

The Progressive Left is a violent ideology and one reason for its powerful appeal is the  promise of violence against those you hate. If a person feels they have gotten a raw deal in life it offers an outlet for vengeance. You get even with those who have oppressed you. You may have noticed that the Left is far more animated by hatred for the rich than love for the poor. The Progressive Left does nothing for the poor except make their lives worse. But the rich—they have killed those they deemed rich by the millions. Marxist ideology has created the worst gang of murderers in history but this violent propensity has great appeal to many angry people. When I was a professor at large secular university I had a Marxist teaching assistant. I had a lecture on the “Attractions of Marxism” and I decided to let him deliver it. Teaching assistants always love the opportunity to get in front of the class. He delivered my lecture, using my notes, almost word for word. But then at the end he added this: “Professor Mitchell has left out one thing in his lecture. As a Marxist I look forward to the day when I get kill all the oppressors.” A chill came over my class, me included. But at least we got a clear look of why Leftist ideology appealed to this young man.

Why does the Progressive Left have such an appeal when it has been such a failure in practice? Mary Eberstadt has observed that many left-wing rioters and demonstrators come from broken family backgrounds. If your family has failed you the sense of community you get with other Leftists fills a deep need in your soul. You become part of a community and that’s something every human being wants. It meets your need for human connection, and as I have said before, it meets your religious needs. Every human being has a religion. If you have abandoned historic Christianity you have to have something to take its place. That’s what Progressivism does for you—it becomes your substitute religion. It gives you a way of demonstrating your own righteousness. A number of years ago the theologian Joseph Bottum observed that Left-wing politics gives it’s liberal practitioners a way of alleviating their guilt. One does not save his soul through faith and repentance but by the way you vote. By voting for left-wing politicians you are saving your own soul. And it provides an easy way of proving you are more righteous than other people. This is known as virtue signaling. You alert others to your own righteousness. This is why rich white people put “Black Lives Matter” signs on their lawns even though their communities are 100% white.

One time my wife asked me why I thought I was right and so many of my Leftist colleagues were wrong. Where had they gone astray. I told her that Paul answers that question in 2 Cor. 4:4. They have been deceived by the God of this world. Satan has blinded men into thinking they can become righteous through Leftist politics. We must pray for these people to come to know the truth and enter into His glorious light.

More: Yoram Hazony’s brilliant essay on Marxism: https://quillette.com/2020/08/16/the-challenge-of-marxism/