Christianity and Karl Marx

John C Wright reminds us that, up until recently, Socialism, much less Communism, were as compatible with Christianity as Kosher ham.  All of a sudden however, socialism is practically the only path for salvation.  Even more shocking is the view that maybe Communism, which certainly had a few rough spots in its history, is not so bad.

The almost epic level of dumb required for this turn in events is bind boggling.  The countries that cast longing glances at socialist models of government in Europe are the best of the lot.  And they are mostly aborting themselves out of existence through low birthrates and a general apathy about the future of their own civilization.

Those are the best countries.  In other places that have trended toward socialist/communist, the record is cesspools of poverty, misery, oppression, tyranny, gulags, killing fields, and the suffering and death of endless tens of millions.

Despite it all, our best and brightest continue to move the line inch by inch toward a world where only that leftist dream of a truly socialist mandate can save us.  A world where Marx is the key, and Socialism the dogma.  That's like wanting to bet on the Dodgers for the 2017 World Series - today. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church is doing scant little to resist the urge.  Some could argue it is becoming a willing accomplice. 

Granted, things change and we could always assume that Socialism today doesn't mean it will turn out military tyrannies or spin into Communist nightmares.  But that doesn't mean it will work either.  Given the conditions where it is in practice today, the burden is on those advocating for more of the same.

One of the driving forces behind this lunacy is the myth of progress.  That is, the idea that yesterday the world was fallen because everyone was stupid and evil, but today we're much better now.  Why, unlike everyone yesterday, we're now the intellectual apex of cognitive evolution and the moral and ethical hub of godlike perfection around which the entire history of the universe will spin.

Hence the quick and easy condemnation of people in history based on today's latest standards.  Hence the tendency of going through the lists of men who are guilty of having done what they were told was acceptable up until a few weeks ago.  That was then, when all was wrong.  But today, everything is right because, well, it's today.

So when the manifold terrors and failures of socialism and Communism are brought up, we're assured that those problems - if they're admitted to at all - where just part of the past.  Sure, there were rough roads, but that's because it wasn't us doing it.  Just as Pope Francis pointed out that the Church's teachings on the Death Penalty were the result of the Church not being as Christian as we are today, so our modern culture assumes that we will make all the changes necessary to ensure a socialist, or even Communist, success story.  After all, the problems were because those old timers weren't as good as we are today.  The evidence shows that when we get our hands on an issue, the result can only be success.  At least until tomorrow that is.