Examine what’s behind political changes

Michael Barone makes an interesting comparison between the rise of the Bolsheviks and some of today’s Democratic Socialists. But I think he misses the more important lesson of the history he cites.

Political movements don’t arise in a vacuum.

If people begin embracing ideas that once seemed too radical, perhaps we should ask why. What has happened that caused so many people, particularly younger people, to lose faith in institutions and an economic system that previous generations largely accepted?

Housing has become unaffordable for many. Health care and education can create enormous financial burdens. Wealth has become increasingly concentrated, while many working people feel they are running harder just to stay in place. Whether one agrees with the solutions offered by democratic socialists is a separate question. I often don’t.

But simply pointing to their ideas and then drawing a line back to Stalin avoids the harder question. Ironically, Barone’s own history demonstrates this. The Bolsheviks didn’t suddenly appear because Russians woke up one morning attracted to radical ideology. War, deprivation, political failure and collapsing faith in existing institutions created the conditions in which radical ideas could flourish.

That may be the more useful warning for America today. When established institutions no longer seem capable of solving ordinary people’s problems, people become willing to consider answers they once would have rejected.

Maybe we should spend less time fearing the symptom and more time asking what created it.

Dan Doviddio

Wheaton