Anti-communism: a cover for kidnapping

By Terrie Albano

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." - Peter Finch, Network

That famous movie quote sums up how I feel about the situation around Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy whose relatives in Miami refuse to return him to his father. A small but loud and well-funded right-wing fanatical group is overturning the majority "common sense" opinion, the U.S. government's decision and international law that a small child should go home to his dad.

It is sick and it's a crime. Anti-communism is ruining a 6-year-old's life. But that shouldn't come as a complete surprise since anti-communism has caused untold death and destruction here and worldwide. From the victims of the McCarthy Cold-War era to the victims of U.S. imperialism's policy of anti-communism - the Vietnam war, e.g. - anti-communism is the antithesis of democracy.

The only argument for the boy being kept from his father offered by the Cuban American National Foundation boils down to this: (please read in your best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) Cuba, socialism, communism - bad, bad, bad. No Mickey Mouse, no Gameboys, no future, no love, no humanity. Here, good future, Mickey Mouse, lots of toys , Nintendo, lots of things, things, things.

How else can they argue for a son to stay with relatives he never knew and not go home to his father, grandparents and friends at school?

OK, some skeptics may say it's not as simple as that. Look at the problems Cuba is facing economically. Look at the havoc the embargo has wreaked. At least here small Elian can acquire some ... some ... some what? Some wealth of the material kind maybe?

It must be that because in Cuba there is a public educational system, health care, sports and recreation. There is no mass hunger and homelessness, racism or police brutality.

Yes, Cuba is a poor country, like many developing countries. But because of its socialist goal of equality, Cuba also leads Latin America with the highest literacy rates and the lowest infant mortality rates. It provides more doctors for World Health Organization (WHO) missions than any other country.

Socialism strives to bring the best out of human nature. It is not based on accumulation of personal possessions or wealth.

Elian's life is not endangered by returning to Cuba. So what is the glue that holds together all the arguments for Elian to stay here? Anti-communism.

Anti-communism is the Y2K bug of the century. It is the last refuge of scoundrels. Its ideology is so basic for capitalism and all who seek to maintain it.

Anti-communism serves only to scapegoat and isolate communists and the Communist Party from the working class movement and by doing that weakens the movement. Anti-communism zaps militancy, it zaps democracy, it zaps unity and it zaps the ultimate answer to capitalism's problems - socialism.

That the CANF or Steve Forbes or almost any Republican argues anti-communism from the right is almost understandable. After all, they argue the rights of capitalist exploitation; they argue for racism, for inequality for women; they argue disunity; they argue war.

But when anti-communism is embraced by left or progressives it begs the question: why? Why is it acceptable to red-bait or use anti-communism and still be considered left, progressive or even democratic-minded? One of the most notable public stands against the acceptance of anti-communism by a non-communist was by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He asked the question in his address honoring W.E.B. Du Bois "We cannot talk of Dr. Du Bois without recognizing that he was a radical all his life. Some people would like to ignore the fact that he was a Communist in his later years. It is worth noting that Abraham Lincoln warmly welcomed the support of Karl Marx during the Civil War and corresponded with him freely. In contemporary life the English speaking world has not difficulty with the fact that Sean O'Casey was a literary giant of the 20th century and a great Communist of that Pablo Neruda is generally considered the greatest living poet though he also served in the Chilean Senate as a Communist.

It's time to cease muting the fact that Dr. Du Bois was a genius and chose to be a Communist. Our irrational anti-communism has led us into too many quagmires to be retained as if it were a mode of scientific thinking." That was a heroic thing for a non-communist to say.

I guess it is easy for a Communist to argue against anti-communism. As a Communist I don't have the fear of red-baiting (to quote Popeye - I am what I am ...). But for a non-communist directly to take on anti-communism is an important step for democracy.

Luckily, that heroic group is growing. There is an overwhelming decline of anti-communist ideas by thousands of workers and everyday people. It's reflected in many ways, from the election of communists to public office to the ridding of anti-communist clauses in the labor movement to the apology by Hollywood unions for the blacklist.

But for Elian, the Y2K bug of anti-communism has really messed up his life. It's up to Communists and non-communists alike to rid this struggle of the bug and rid it for the coming class battles.