But then, realize, these parties are ancient, with multiple decades behind them, if not being over a century old, a feat surpassing almost any other contemporary third-party in the United States. The Libertarian Party only dates back to 1971, the Constitution Party having roots a bit further back to 1967. The only political party aside from the two major ones which can rightfully claim to be older is the single-issue Prohibition Party, which dates to 1869 and which won a grand total of 519 votes nationwide in 2012. And this is in spite of decades of concerted effort to stamp out Communism in the US, and even the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Yet today, these parties, and other, newer Marxist parties, are starting to grow. Ironically, this might be due to the right-wing’s continuing attack on Communism. Because the right-wing continues to attack Communism despite having few examples in the world which to attack; it has made the Marxist ideology attractive to a new generation disillusioned over the failures of trickle-down economics and the hard-right objectivist philosophies which failed today’s youth. This is likely why polls now find thatCommunism is more popular than Congress. In all fairness, however, so is Jar jar Binks.
But, beyond the humor factor, there is an underlying discontent with the system, and unlike the Libertarian model, which ignores facts in order to push a fantasy, the Marxists actually are presenting solutions. They may not be the best solutions; they might not be the worst, but they actually are solutions to the problems we are facing which are rooted in reality. And as a result, they are starting to achieve electoral success. In Washington State, the incumbent Democratic candidate, Frank Chopp, had to debate socialist candidate Jess Spear last month, a debate in which it is widely reported that he won. But it remains a debate against a candidate who, twenty years ago, you would never imagine being up on stage in the first place.
Story's here.
