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I had an interesting conversation with a very old, very conservative friend of mine.

I brought up Ann Coulter's book and her views on McCarthy expecting him to be in 100% agreement.

He surprised me by cautioning that I need to better understand just how bad things were before WW II. People were suffering horribly from the depression and many were looking for a different approach, a different political solution because it certainly appeared that capitalism had failed.

Many people joined the Socialist Party thinking it was a fair and reasonable approach. I recalled seeing pictures from the 1930's of striking Iowa dairy farmers dumping milk and joining the Socialist Party. The average person also had no idea what was happening in Stalin's USSR.

Socialism is an ideology that is very attractive, very appealing to someone with little real world experience and to those with little hope for gain and nothing left to lose.

True socialism is a utopia that cannot be achieved. Communism is the proof that the Socialist model cannot work and has tragic consequences.

I don't begrudge those who, in the naivety of youth or desperation, turn even momentarily to socialism.

However, I have no respect for those 'worldly' people (Hollywood) who have access to knowledge, who have seen the truth and still chose to advance communism as a just cause.