“Communism Wasn't That Bad”

Scott Burgess discovers a gem: The Guardian’s Seamus Milne thinks that Communism (that which can now be idealized now that it’s morphed into EU social policy) is honky-dorey. Having lived behind the Iron Curtain for a few years, the only reaction I had to Milne's piece was: “what an idiot.”

«Last month, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly voted to condemn the "crimes of totalitarian communist regimes", linking them with Nazism and complaining that communist parties are still "legal and active in some countries". Now Göran Lindblad, the conservative Swedish MP behind the resolution, wants to go further. Demands that European ministers launch a continent-wide anti-communist campaign - including school textbook revisions, official memorial days and museums - only narrowly missed the necessary two-thirds majority.»

No surprise in the sentimentalism shown by at least one-third of the Euro-body of Euro-parliamentarians.

In a fit of mindless overreach, Milne makes light of Europe’s boundaries. “Europe,” often used as a euphemism for the EU, doesn’t encompass all of Europe, or even that of Napoleon’s dreams. A Council of Europe pronouncement criticizing it’s own past can hardly be seen as hypocritical when it applies outside of “the realm.” Besides – when was the last time you heard about Moldova in the news? Ah – the items about human trafficking, poverty, mob violence, etal... Obviously the fruits of a system as civilized as Communism that does everything it can to construct scarcity and make materialism the only concern anyone has in life.

«Paradoxically, given that there is no communist government left in Europe outside Moldova, the attacks have if anything become more extreme as time has gone on. »

I recommend a little bit of light reading to keep things in perspective.