It’s time we addressed an old, fragile lie that has plagued the American political system for decades. Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party are not communists.
Four years after the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, the Soviets conducted their own test in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, establishing themselves as a formidable adversary to the major Western powers.
What ensued was a historic arms race, based on the principle of nuclear deterrence. In order to establish their legitimacy and ensure their future, the United States and the Soviet Union believed they had to match their opponent in strength. If one country fired, the other had to be able to fire as well, assuring mutual destruction. Only then could both sides be compelled to hold back. Many people believed that was the only way to keep the world safe–and perhaps they were right.
The Soviet Union had a reputation for expansionism. They were not about to stay within their borders. They spread throughout Eastern Europe and Asia, eventually reaching 8.65 million square miles.
By 1951, the world was convinced that the apocalypse was inevitable. Propaganda videos, like Duck and Cover–featuring the cartoon turtle Bert–famously instructed elementary school students to take cover under their desks to ward off the effects of a nuclear attack. Fallout shelters became a staple in suburbia. Small mansions were built underground, while everyone obsessed over the most pressing question: When were the bombs going to drop?
It’s hard to imagine living in a time when the world could end at any moment. The threat was daunting, and there were horror stories seeping across the border–mass slaughter, secret police knocking down doors, hunting anyone who doubted the Soviet regime. Fantasy melded with what was most certainly a harrowing reality, and panic took hold.
Word got out that Russian sleeper agents were working to undermine democracy from the inside, along with American traitors who were said to be hiding in plain sight. Politics in the US descended into the grips of a red scare. Witch hunts and blacklisting became common. Anyone associated with the Communist Party–or wrongfully labeled as such–could be barred from housing and employment. Some were even forced into exile.
This went on in one form or another for decades, even after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Right and the Red Scare
Throughout the Cold War, both the right and the left were largely united against the Soviet Union. They understood the danger, and while they might have disagreed on how to handle it, there was never any doubt who the enemy was–until Republicans seized on the fear of Communism and began wielding it as a weapon against the Democrats.
Today, everyone on the left is a commie, secretly bent on enacting a socialist agenda. All leftist policies–from food stamps to public housing–are seen as a ruse, meant to rob the American public of their rights and keep them dependent on the government. We’ve all heard it. Many of us have been listening to these excuses for decades. They’re so deeply embedded in our politics that even some Democrats and Independents believe them. But none of it is true–not one word.
Attacks on Kamala Harris
The very second that Vice President Harris announced her economic agenda, the word began to spread. Every corner of the internet was filled with angry Republicans calling her policies Kamunism.
Childish epithets mixed with outright lies, outlining a slippery slope that would, in their minds, inevitably lead to the establishment of the Socialist States of America.
For those who have been misled, Kamala Harris’s actual economic agenda can be found on her official campaign website. Don’t believe anything you see until you’ve actually read it. It is unique. It is not Trump’s plan. It’s not Biden’s plan. It is designed to meet the most pressing needs in our country to date.
In order to truly understand what Harris is trying to do, we have to take a look at our economic situation in this country–and not just on Wall Street–but on the ground.
The nation is in the grips of a historic housing crisis. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, there is a shortage of 7.8 million affordable homes–and more than 580,000 people experience homelessness on any given night. Tent cities have sprung up across the country while shelters struggle to provide enough beds.
Kamala’s plan to tackle this problem includes funding to build 3 million more low-income homes, reform that would cut red tape and make it easier to build homes, as well as a $25,000 payment to first-time homebuyers. It’s ambitious, and while it doesn’t necessarily cover everything, it is a step in the right direction with the possibility of more aid to come.
Harris also spoke about addressing the problem of price gouging. Kroger, one of the nation’s largest food retailers, recently admitted that they artificially inflated the price of milk and eggs, absorbing the profits of lower inflation, instead of passing those savings on to the consumer. They were able to do this because they have a near monopoly in many markets, making it impossible for customers to seek out lower prices in other stores.
Monopolies like Kroger’s have drastically increased the cost of living, making it difficult for the average consumer to afford basic goods. In her speech, Kamala also mentioned companies that drove up the cost of housing by leveraging the lack of competition. She plans to crack down on anti-competitive practices and pass a federal ban on the price gouging of food and groceries. She also plans to bring back the Child Tax Credit, a $6,000 boost for families with newborn children, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Ten days later, Trump appeared on a podcast with former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan where he called her a Marxist. He repeated those claims during the second debate. Posts began springing up: Kamala in a Soviet uniform, Kamala on a Mao poster, Kamala standing in front of a Soviet flag.
It’s nothing new. We knew it was coming, but what’s shocking is how out-of-touch they are. Not a single one of these people has had the foresight to Google “Marxism,” “Socialism,” or “Communism.” They don’t even know what a liberal is. If they did, they’d change their tune in a heartbeat.
Defining the Left
When you see the word “liberal,” you need to know that it is being misused. It’s not a catch-all term to describe everything on the left. It’s not even necessarily referring to the left.
Liberalism is centered around the idea of individualism and self-interest. Liberals believe that because self-interest is intrinsic to human nature, a natural harmony can be created by allowing everyone to go about their lives doing what’s best for themselves. The role of the government is to oversee contracts, enforce property rights, and maintain security. Economic liberalism is defined by its emphasis on corporate rights, property rights, and laissez-faire, a principle that states the government should not interfere with the market. Republicans love laissez-faire. In fact, they like all things that fall under this umbrella. But they’ll never admit it. They’ll go decades without even checking.
Kamala’s price-gouging agenda goes directly against economic liberalism. She is not a liberal. She has been described as progressive. This is not a misuse of the term. Progressives came to the forefront during the early 20th century. Their goal is to address social issues like starvation, disease, and poverty through the use of social programs, scientific advancement, and modernization. Economic progressivism is characterized by the belief that free markets are inherently unfair and should be regulated to improve life for the working class. They are opposed to laissez-faire, which is often used to divide Republicans and Democrats.
Social programs like social security and universal healthcare are the hallmark of progressivism–not Communism, no matter how many times the Republicans say otherwise. Communism is a complex form of government, unlike progressivism, which is seen as a belief system. There are differing views but what defines it is an idea known as the common ownership of the means of production. To put it simply, the government would own all of the banks, labor, the currency, all of the factories, all of the land, and all of the stores. There would be no property rights. Everything would be distributed according to need, and many Communists believe that this can only be achieved through violent revolution. It’s a radical system.
It would be absurd to assume that everyone on the left is a secret Communist. Frankly, I don’t believe in it. Progressives throughout the past century have come out against it. Is it so hard to believe that the Democrats are in favor of property rights? The Cold War is over. It’s time to set that paranoia aside and learn to move forward as a country.
