Nazism and white supremacy are vile ideologies that have enslaved and murdered millions and attempted to exterminate entire races of people. They deserve every bit of disdain and contempt they receive and their hatred and bigotry should always be challenged. Historically, however, socialism and communism are no better than Nazism. When it comes to their ability to inflict human suffering and extinguish lives, socialism and communism are just as effective and even more proficient. With billions enslaved and over 100-million dead, communism and socialism is every bit as deserving of disdain and contempt as Nazism.

Nevertheless, that does not seem to be the case. While Nazism is deservedly stigmatized, socialism and communism is still revered and defended, often by very influential institutions and individuals who should know better. So why is the vileness of communism so acceptable to so many?

One aspect that should be considered is public relations. Communism has enjoyed a century-long positive public relations campaign carried out by the media, academia, and political leaders all over the world. While the atrocities of Nazism have been rightfully exposed, the atrocities of communism have been at best, glossed over and at worst, completely ignored.

For all the lives exterminated, families destroyed, and nations plundered by this insidious ideology, communism and socialism still seems to be “cool” among a large swath of people. You can thank the deliberate and concerted PR campaign promoting this murderous ideology for that.

Michael Rubin has more on this troubling phenomenon in the Washington Examiner:

Why aren’t communists stigmatized just as much as Confederates and neo-Nazis are? Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, Va., where a car mowed through a crowd protesting against neo-Nazis and other “alt-right” demonstrators, has renewed focus on white supremacists and, more specifically, the role Confederate monuments play as rallying points. In the wake of the Charlottesville protests, Baltimore; Richmond, Va.; Dallas; and Lexington, Ky., are now debating removing their Confederate monuments. Simply put, the protesters argue that history matters and that the symbolism of the past has resonance today. Make no mistake: The issue surrounding Confederate symbolism is different than efforts at Yale University and elsewhere to rename buildings and to remove statues, stained glass windows, and artwork. The issue at hand is not a refusal to judge historical figures by the standards of their time, but rather the symbolism driving or representing a political movement. How ironic it is, then, that the same stigma (rightly) attached to Confederate symbolism is strangely absent with regard to communist symbolism. Communism, after all, is an ideology that has led to the deaths of almost 100 million people. While men like Ernesto “Che” Guevara may have become folk heroes for some on the political Left, they were in reality sociopathic mass murderers. The same holds true, of course, with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong). Democratic National Committee Vice-Chairman Keith Ellison told progressive activists on Friday that North Korean communist leader Kim Jong Un was a more responsible leader than President Trump (he immediately regretted his wording). Kim, however, presides over a system of concentration and death camps that are reminiscent of Nazi Germany or Stalin’s Gulag. The American Friends Service Committee describes itself as a progressive organization dedicated to non-violence, but they were among the chief cheerleaders for the Khmer Rouge, a communist and racist gang responsible for the deaths of over a million people in Cambodia. That the New York Times seeks to glorify sex under communism is no different than had it complimented the matchmaking prowess of the Nazi-era Bund Deutscher Mädel.

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