If you’ve ever studied 20th century history, you’ll probably be familiar with anti-socialism. Over the course of the century, even when almost everything else changed, the vast majority of people still hated socialists.
In recent weeks, we have covered the concepts of both anti-capitalism and anti-communism. The latter of which, shares a large portion of their history and criticisms, especially in the West.
What is Anti-Socialism?
Over the course of the past 150 years, anti-socialism has morphed beyond anything we could’ve ever imagined.
On the most basic level, anti-socialism is any form of opposition to socialism and socialist ideals. Most commonly, this is associated with the right of the political spectrum, however, some socialists and communist may hold anti-socialist views in certain areas.
With that being said, history has shown us that sometimes, simple opposition to socialism, and critiquing it, is not enough. Sometimes, you need to take this further…
History
Over the course of thousands of years, there has been a long, drawn-out history of people being major detractors of socialism, doing so through a variety of mediums.
Pre-The Communist Manifesto
Socialist-style communities have been around for as long as time itself. There is evidence of large agrarian communities, who shared their resources and shared their harvests equally.
In many of these societies, there were no kings or chieftains. Everyone had a say at a weekly meeting. Many of these communities date back to the Neolithic period at the earliest.
It is believed that a small minority of contacted and uncontacted tribes in Africa, Asia and South America still practice these beliefs today.
With that being said, even though many of these tribes have practiced these beliefs for thousands of years, a very small minority of them dislike the concept of it. However, this is only after they’ve been in contact with outsiders.
We can assume that throughout selected points in history, many of these tribesmen have had similar views. However, given by the fact that these tribes still practice agrarian socialism, the anti-socialists were unsuccessful.
However, this is all speculation. Many of these tribes have not invented writing, and those few tribes that have, have understandably not written this down in their history, for fear of starting a mini revolution in the future.
The Communist Manifesto
In 1848, Karl Marx published The Communist Manifesto. This book laid out Marx’s criticism of what he called “Capitalism” (the term didn’t really exist prior to The Communist Manifesto’s publishing).
Marx wrote that in order to live in a so-called “Utopia”, the masses needed to rise up and overthrow the bourgeoise and control the means of production. To many in Europe’s working classes, this idea was appealing.
A few who read Marx’s works were also inspired by other philosophers of the era. Many of these philosophers were critical of Marx, believing that a communist state would only stifle innovation and ruin any chances of an actual utopia.
However, they agreed with him on certain points- mostly that the workers needed to overthrow the current establishment and institute new reform. This reform would spread wealth equally among the people.
Naturally, many of those who stood to lose the most- the land owners and the factory owners, wanted to protect themselves. To do this, they had to discredit who they called “communists” (which included communists, trade unionists and socialists).
Many of today’s largest newspapers discredited their ideals, whilst many more were openly hostile to them. These newspapers scared politicians into enacting anti-socialist and anti-communist policies.
Those socialists who were the most vocal, were identified and, if they caused too much of a ruckus, they were arrested. And that’s if they were lucky…
Interwar Period
WWI erupted in 1914, and after four long years of fighting, soldiers on both sides returned home to their loved ones. The war had changed them in many ways, losing friends and brothers along the way.
In the trenches of Western Europe, the sons of dukes, barons and industrialists ate, slept and breathed the same air as the common men. Here, both the poor and rich alike shared stories and world views, including socialism.
By the end of the war, many of those who fought in the trenches held deep-rooted socialist views. When they returned home in 1918, they still held these socialist views.
However, the communist revolution in Russia in 1917 had dampened socialism’s creditability in the west. Plus, the interwar period had seen an era of unforeseen economic growth.
This economic growth managed to pull many families out of poverty. From a political standpoint, this was used as further evidence for the capitalist cause, and as such, more criticisms of socialism and communism.
In 1929, the Wall Street Crash happened. This set off the Great Depression, where hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs. Angry about losing their jobs, many of these now unemployed workers turned to more appealing alternatives, namely socialism and communism.
As a result, police were ordered to disburse socialist and communist-led protests. As with before, socialists were identified and arrested for purposes of national security.
Post-WWII
In many countries, this caused far-right political parties to come into power, most famously Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy. This set off a chain reaction that would eventually lead to WWII.
Once again, young men would shipped off to France to fight in a bloody war. Once again, the sons of dukes and industrialists would exchange ideas with the common men that served under them; especially socialism.
In 1945, the war had ended in both Europe and the Pacific. With this, millions of young men would return home, with many still holding their socialist viewpoints.
Over the course of the next ten years, Europe would elect their left-wing parties into office to enact social reform. Most famously, Britain elected the relatively unknown Clement Attlee in 1945, who later helped created the NHS.
With this, these socialist parties also striped many of those families who’d made the most money during WWII of much of their income. Large businesses were broken up, and taxes on the richest 1% were increased.
Naturally, these people were rather unhappy with the status quo. With this, they attempted to use whatever influence and money they had to get these socialist parties out of office, as soon as possible.
This had mixed success, with some European countries being supporters of anti-socialism, whilst it fueled the socialist parties in other countries.
Cold War
The onset of the Cold War, in 1946, brought on a period of economic growth that would last well into the 1970’s. By most accounts, WWII had acted almost as a way to level the playing field.
During this time, employment levels were at all time highs. Wages were at the highest levels they’d been at in any point in history. Hundreds of thousands of people were able to pull themselves out of poverty, and live great lives.
At the same time, the capitalist West was embroiled in a stalemate with the communist East. For much of this stalemate, the West was embroiled in wars like Vietnam and Korea, conflicts many young men would fight in.
The media at the time portrayed the East, and their communist and socialist ideals, as dangerous. School children in the west were taught that socialism is evil, and communism was plain stupid.
Due to all of this, anti-socialism was at an all time high. After all, why would you want to support something that everyone believed was not only economically wrong, but also, morally wrong.
And plus, why would you want to ruin a system that has held to pull so many out of poverty? Despite the communist revolution’s intention of doing that, life in the West seems much better than life in the East!
Red Scare
In the late 1940’s, and early 1950’s, Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy enacted what historians call the second “Red Scare”. Here, he was scared that officers who held communist views were feeding the USSR information.
At the beginning, it was likely that McCarthy was acting in the US’s best interests. The late 1940’s and early 1950’s had seen several high profile defections to the USSR by US scientists and intelligence officers.
On top of this, membership for the American Communist Party was at an all-time high.
McCarthy feared that communists had infiltrated the military in particular. As such, he commissioned a series of hearings to root out so-called “communists” in the military. For the most part, these were high ranking officers.
With this, phrases such as “communist” and “socialist” became buzz words. If someone did something to you, that you didn’t like, they had to be a communist. As with before, anti-socialism and anti-communism were at record highs.
Many in the US, as well as its allies became genuinely fearful that communists and socialists were ready to take over. To the government, a communist and a socialist were the exact same thing.
In particular, the term “socialist” became somewhat of an insult (as did “communist, which was used more frequently).
Today
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the West has no longer had a boogeyman. For the most part, much of the East and West became allies (minus Russia).
With this, anti-socialism is at record lows. In most developed countries today, it is illegal for teachers to share their political views in schools (although many do regardless).
As a part of these laws, many of these countries have implemented a wider “Neutral point of view” to learning. As a result, all anti-socialism and anti-communism resources have been removed from the syllabus and from textbooks.
Due to this, younger generations- those who never grew up with the threat of the USSR (at least, not really), have no reason to be anti-socialist or anti-communist. As a result, they are more socialist than previous generations.
Perhaps this is best shown by the candidacies of both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Fifty years ago, they would’ve been considered part of a “fringe” movement.
Today, they both had a shot at the presidential nomination from one of the two major US parties. Although, this was ultimately unsuccessful.
To date, anti-socialism and anti-communism are at record lows, at least in the eyes of the general public.
Naturally, there is a small minority of ardent capitalists, who claim they’ll defend capitalism to their dying breath. This is regardless of the threat, be it communists or socialists.
How Does Anti-Socialism Differ From Country to Country?
Naturally, anti-socialism is still present today, as it has been throughout history. As well as adapting throughout history, anti-socialism has also adapted based on geography too!
For the most part, it is to do with severity. In some countries, it is more severe than others. Both in how socialists are treated and how they are monitored.
In much of the developed world, we are much more open to the ideas of socialism. At least, we are more open to limited socialist intervention. As such, your everyday socialist, isn’t monitored anymore than your average capitalist.
However, as with all political radicals, those who are more extreme in their views, are likely monitored. For the most part, nothing is done to them, however, if they turn violent, they are arrested.
Once arrested, they may be treated slightly differently. If they’re in a local jail, they may be placed in isolation. If they’re in a penitentiary, they may be placed in ad seg, for their own protection. However, this is all on a case-by-case basis.
In many other countries, especially those that are commuist or those that are formerly communist, socialists represent evrything that is wrong with their society.
For many formerly communist countries, socialists prove they have not learned from the past. The reason their infrastructure is crumbling, the reason their healthcare is a mess, the reason they’re no longer a world power, is because of communism.
Here, they are monitored. If they cause a ruckus, they are arrested. From here, several things may happen: a warning; a beating; or they “disappear”. Depending on their record, it is one of those three options.
Why Are Some Communists Anti-Socialist?
Despite both the concepts of anti-socialism and anti-communism sharing a common history, many communists are actually anti-socialist. On the surface of it, it seems rather strange, however, makes sense once you research it more.
Over the course of the last 180 years or so, both communism and socialism have spread to every country. Both communists and socialists have established their own political parties, which have often worked with each other.
Much of the social reform enacted in Europe post-WWII, was done by those countries’ socialist parties, often with the backing (or occasionally the direct input of their communist allies!)
However, there was still an air of distrust between the two. Some of these socialists didn’t trust the communists, and vice-versa. For the communists, it’s mostly about socialists not being radical enough.
To them, they believe that the only way for us to live in a “utopia” is to overthrow the government and seize the means of production. If this can’t be done peacefully, then violence will do.
However, whilst there are undoubtedly a few socialists like that, most are not. Instead, they want to influence legislation over the course of decades, to punish the rich, and make them pay more.
To many communists this simply isn’t the way. It may be effective in the long run, but it doesn’t get it done now.
Is it Right?
Naturally, a question like this is quite divisive, and mostly depends on your own personal views. Chances are that if you’re a socialist, or perhaps even a communist, you’ll say no, because in your eyes, you’re fighting the good fight.
However, if you identify as a capitalist, you’ll probably say that anti-socialism is right. After all, capitalism may not be 100% perfect, but at least it doesn’t leave the majority of its citizens starving in the streets.
With that being said, here is where I undoubtedly annoy half of the people who are reading this article. As someone’s who relatively young (only in my mid-thirties) I do understand why so many in my generation like socialism.
Despite this, their rhetoric has gone perhaps a bit too far. Instead of implementing basic social reform to get what they want, they sound as though they want to completely abolish our capitalist system.
In its place, they want to replace capitalism with socialism (obviously…) However, this isn’t a blend of capitalism and socialism seen in some European countries like Denmark or Sweden. It’s a full blown socialist “Utopia”.
And that is something that never ends well. Just ask Eastern Europe or much of Asia. They’re in poverty today, because of their former socialist rulers.
It may seem attractive, but no matter what, it isn’t worth it. At least, not when you look at it from a historical perspective…
What do you think about anti-socialism? Should it be more or less widespread? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Katerkate via Flickr.