Communism and Socialism

Hear the shoutin' from the mountains on out to the sea
No two ways about it, people have to be free (they gotta be free)
Ask me my opinion, my opinion will be
Natural situation for a man to be free

From: People Got to be Free (1969) by The Rascals

Sixty years and one week ago, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a self-described Marxist and admirer of Fidel Castro. Kennedy himself was an anti-communist who described the Communist threat as "an enemy, power[full], unrelenting and implacable who seeks to dominate the world by subversion and conspiracy." 

America was alarmed by communism during the 1960s. For example, the Washington State Communist Party was distributing The People’s World, published in San Francisco. It aligned with the Civil Rights movement, the Black Panther Party, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Today, 40% of Americans have a favorable view of socialism with GenZ’s favorability up to nearly half. “Eighteen percent of Gen Z and 13% of Millennials think communism is a fairer system than capitalism.” 

Why was JFK so anti-communist and how does socialism and communism really stand up?

Read the full piece on my Substack here.