[Sam Cree]

Still haven't had time to read the article, but it is accepted by many political philosophers, F.A. Hayek among them, that socialism and communism are both outgrowths of the rationalism of the French Revolution of the 18th century. IMO, it is no coincidence that the French Revolution included such things as a Reign of Terror.

[NutCrackerBoy]

While not actually supporting Communism, liberals ... were convinced that "one was morally compromised, turned toward evil and away from good, if one was against it." In the conviction that radical goals are noble, however problematic the radical means, lie the seeds of liberalism’s historic alliance with -- and protection of -- the anti-liberal Left. -David Horowitz (quote is from Lionel Trilling's novel The Middle of the Journey)

Probably not a new observation, but I hadn't thought about it in that way. It strikes me as dead on, having tried to understand the thought processes of dedicated liberals in my own family. For example, the thinking that all that killing of clergy and aristocrats in the French Revolution might have been bad but "necessary" to establish an order based on equality. I say no: it was just bad.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

IMO, it is no coincidence that the French Revolution included such things as a Reign of Terror.

Followed by the Russian revolution about a hundred years later with a repeat of a reign of terror. Excellent point. Thanks for highlighting it. I suppose that is the derivation of a continuing Communist strategy.

Another thing that is not well known among us great unwashed, is that even today the Left Bank (of the Seine) in Paris is still a hot bed of Communism. Many Communist leaders, including Ho Chi Mihn and Pol Pot (perhaps even Mao), were schooled there in their youths. There they are taught the value of terror to cement control and of the mass killings, torture, and starvation necessary to eliminate anyone smart enough to resist them.