20 Years Ago

Of course, 20 years ago the Berlin Wall fell. There were already hundreds of thousands of East Germans fleeing their country for the West because their living conditions were so abysmal. It raises the issue of the failure of communism. One of the most potent criticisms is the lack of an ethical dimension, which combined with the view that one was on the right side of a mechanistic history, gave people permission to do terrible things. I ran across this article which largely expresses my own views. And here is an interesting article on ethical reasoning. In my own study of Marx twenty-five years ago, I came to realize that he had no theory of the state and that his belief in the revolution was a quasi-religious one of conversion. And, of course, his idea that the world would be split into two classes has been proven false in successful countries. But why should one think the world will be better when the proletariat take over?

Addendum: This post does not convey what an enormous moment this was in Europe, as you may have seen on various news reports today. It also assumes that one knows how many well-meaning intelligent leftists in the 20-40's supported communism, even the Stalinist state. And it does not acknowledge the hysterical reaction to communism in this country, often manipulated by our leaders. The movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is in its own way a comic take on this attitude.