Approximately seven years ago I mentioned to a young man I know, who was about 19, that communist governments have killed perhaps 100 million people. His eyes got wide as he registered shock.
He had no idea.
Note, too, that this fellow lived in an affluent suburb, had attended “good” government schools, and had basically conservative parents.
He had no idea.
No wonder socialism, and even communism, are again becoming popular among the young.
But Florida seeks to remedy this, finally. Its government plans to include in its school curricula, including in kindergarten, enhanced lessons about the evils of communism.
Not everyone is happy about this, though. In fact, one critic, using an old tactic, claimed that much of the proposed curriculum is “straight up John Birch talking points.”
Telling the Truth
Florida already has a “Victims of Communism Day,” instituted in 2022, and an associated lesson plan. As to the increased sunlight to be shined on communism in the Sunshine State, at issue is “a new class set to pop up in Florida schools starting with the 2026-2027 school year,” News 6 reported last Friday. The outlet elaborates:
More specifically, a law passed last year (SB 1264) will require public schools to teach about the history of communism.
The coursework involves instruction on communist movements in places like Russia, China, Cuba, and even in the U.S. itself. According to Legislative analysts, instruction must include “age-appropriate” content about the following:
- The history of communism in the U.S. and domestic communist movements
- Atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism
- Comparative discussion of political ideologies, such as communism and totalitarianism
- The increasing threat of communism in the U.S. and to its allies
- The economic, industrial, and political events that have preceded communist revolutions
- The communist policies of Cuba and the spread of communist ideologies throughout Latin America
Leaving Critics Red-faced
There’s another aspect of this that will be reassuring — for those grasping that education was better a half-century ago. As the left-wing Tampa Bay Times tells us:
In many ways, the academic guidelines … echo Florida’s “Americanism vs. Communism,” a 30-hour required course first offered in 1961. As Education Week reported, Florida lawmakers at the time wanted to make sure that students understood the “true nature” of the communist threat.
They certainly don’t seem to today. After all, 20-year-old Hannah Shvets, an open communist, just won elective office in upstate New York — partially owing to college-student votes.
Not everyone appreciates dispelling such ignorance, however. For example, consider one Seth Cotlar, a history professor at Willamette University in Oregon.
“Much of the proposed instructional material is ‘straight up John Birch talking points,’” the Times quotes him as saying.
And what is the problem? Well, as Times op-ed writer John Hill complains in a different article, claiming the “lessons are skewed”:
One depicts socialism as a feeder-drug that “can lead to a communist regime.” Several lessons attempt to whitewash the destructive Red-baiting of then-Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Another accuses “communist sympathizers” of using slander to shut down Congress’ Cold War purge of suspected leftists across American society. Other lessons depict Hollywood actors and the media asstooges [sic] for communist fronts; one even laments the iconography of Che Guevara-inspired jackets and berets. The lessons cast shade on the United Nations and other international organizations, warning they “may support communist initiatives.”
Hard Reality
As to Hill’s gripes, well, talk about an alternate universe. Truth:
- Russian Revolution author Vladimir Lenin himself explicitly defined socialism as a transitional phase to communism.
- Though McCarthy got some details wrong and could be reckless, he was broadly correct about communist infiltration of U.S. institutions. (This was confirmed by declassified Venona intercepts and KGB archives.)
- “Communist sympathizers” did use slanderous accusations — e.g., “fascism” and “witch hunts” — against McCarthy and the anti-communist purges. This contributed to the senator’s 1954 Senate censure and those purges’ scuttling.
- Legacy media and entertainment figures have long been communist stooges (and, more commonly, unwitting useful idiots).
- Che Guevara was a bloodthirsty Marxist revolutionary who unjustly executed hundreds of people. Should he be admired in any way?
- It’s also true that the UN and other internationalist entities “may support communist initiatives.”
Other than that, though, Mr. Hill’s critique was spot-on.
A Mind So Open…Your Brain Falls Out?
Now, so many may preach the “both sides” argument here. As Hill writes, he’d “have more faith if the curriculum took a balanced approach by comparing different systems of government….”
Question: Does he apply this to Nazism, too?
“Well, we all just evolved [by the secularists’ lights]. So it only makes sense to jump-start man’s next evolutionary phase in a sort of hot-house environment. Follow the science — to eugenics! And, you know, some people are a burden on society or have lives not worth living, so compassion dictates we…”
In reality, you can make a logical case for anything upon accepting the relevant premises. But is it really both-sides-ism über alles? Do we say, “God says Satan is evil; Satan says God is evil”?
“We report — you decide.”
It’s also hypocritical. A multitude of isms are presented in schools uncritically. Do the world’s Hills want us providing the “other side” on racism? I bet the KKK has some relevant materials there. How about feminism, multiculturalism, environmentalism, and global warming? What of the opposing view on slavery?
The point is that, as G.K. Chesterton noted, “There are only two kinds of people, those who accept dogmas and know it, and those who accept dogmas and don’t know it.” No institution is “value neutral.” Education is no exception.
In fact, Mr. Hill has no problem, as he puts it, turning the “mirror on our own history.” He mentions focusing on things such as slavery (of course), seizure of Indian land, and Japanese internment. My, Mr. Hill, your dogmas are showing.
The Purpose
Yet people miss the point of teaching schoolchildren history. We cannot teach “everything,” as some stress, because that includes far too much information. We necessarily must pick and choose.
And what should be picked and chosen? First grasp history instruction’s purpose. The idea — with young children especially — is to
- give kids a basic understanding of the story of man and of their nation; and
- instill a sense of national pride.
Accomplish that, and you’ve done more than our schools currently do. And what of insistence on teaching kids the “sins of America”? An analogy is in order.
When you have a young child, at some point he’ll want to know a bit about his parents’/family’s “history.” So you might tell him how mommy and daddy met, why they liked each other so much, a cute story relating to this, or other things of that nature. But imagine you said:
“Well, ya’ know, kiddo, mommy was around the block with a lot of guys. To be honest, she had a couple of abortions as well. And daddy, whoa, he got nabbed with drugs when he was 19: possession with intent to distribute. He might’ve ended up in the pokey, too, except that his dad had pull and knew the local prosecutor.”
Would continuing in this vein be wise? There might be a time, during a heart-to-heart when the tyke reaches adulthood, to perhaps broach family sins. But it’s inappropriate with a kid, as it could scandalize the family. With youths, it’s prudent to focus on the positive. It’s no different, either, with a national family.
The bottom line is this: Some people take umbrage at demonizing communism, but relish demonizing America. And that is an absolutely demonic way to pick and choose values earmarked for kids.
