Communist Goals (1963)
GrayRiderI found this interesting.
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:
[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
How do you think they're doing?
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Reader Comments (24)
I swear, remove Communist and 1963 and replace it with Democrat and 2010 and this could be the party platform for the November elections.
Precisely Glenn Becks point on a nightly basis TM. Only he ain't just pickin on the dims.
Our country is potentially in real peril right now and for me Glenn Beck is like John the Baptist wailing in the wilderness. Is he a madman? Yes. And a damned good one.
Almost as interesting a list as the 25 points of the Nazi Party platform in 1920.
Ooga booga! There's a bear in the woods!
Innuendo is SO tiresome, especially in the complete absence of any constructive ideas or suggestions. It's really funny that folks on the web were tossing this around back in 2002 and 2004, when our government was ever-so-safely controlled by conservatives (well, Republicans, anyway). It seems that Red-baiting and fearmongering never go out of style.
So then, Wes...none of those things have happened? It's just, "Ooga booga!" and stick your head in the sand?
It's totally irrelevant who was in political power, during each and every move toward any specific goal. Of course, I know that you see political parties in the same vein as sports teams. 'Rah' for our side, 'Boo' to yours.'
Right, GrayRider, it's totally irrelevant who was in political power - that's why you, Machiavelli, and the other folks on the political right were pretty much totally silent on these points until 2009. Uh huh. Sure. Right. Oh, sure, some folks on the right argued (for example) that the Department of Education shouldn't exist, but none of them were raising the spectre of "that's a Communist goal" in our faces, were they?
From Glenn Beck waving his little Communist/Nazi cards while talking about churches and social justice to Liz Cheney and her "al-Qaeda 7" (and even staunch conservatives like Ken Starr were moved to publicly rebuke her actions on that one), it's all about the innuendo. Heaven forbid anyone actually come out and offer a different way of handling our problems; let's just demonize, demonize, demonize.
I can't speak for Machiavelli, but I've been harping on this for decades. It's even referenced in a manuscript that I wrote 25 years ago.
Pointing to the reality of the extent that those proposed goals have been, and are being realized is hardly demonizing.
I can't seem to find a single article on this blog in which you've suggested that Republicans or conservatives have done anything remotely related to "getting us closer" to these Communist goals of 45+ years ago. Even when you've criticized particular actions of conservatives, you've never suggested or implied that said actions were helping Communist or fascist goals. As far as I can tell, the same holds true for Machiavelli's contributions. That kind of heated rhetoric and innuendo doesn't show up in your writings until you discuss Democrats. Perhaps you could give us a few examples of conservative/GOP actions that, in your opinion, have boosted these goals? If none (or very few) such examples exist--and, again, you haven't complained of any that I've seen here to date--then you are pretty much laying all of these at the feet of "the liberals" by implication, aren't you?
Obviously, I haven't read your manuscript--although, in all seriousness, I'm always up for interesting reading *smile*--and I can only base my observations on what you've written in this forum.
You might also find Wikipedia's entry about the source of this list, one Cleon Skousen, interesting reading. (I wish I'd read this first...) Apparently, this was Skousen's list of what he viewed as "Communist goals," not any sort of actual document from a Communist or Communist Party. Of course, Skousen also argued that industrialists and bankers were behind Communism's and Fascism's rises...
"it's totally irrelevant who was in political power - that's why you, Machiavelli, and the other folks on the political right were pretty much totally silent on these points until 2009."
Do I need point out to you again my reaction to Bush's bailoutpalooza a few years ago?
Red-baiting in 2010? Yikes. So this is what modern day McCarthyism looks like. You'd think that conservatives would look back and see just how disgusted Americans were of McCarthy's antics in the 1950's?
I called it fascist.
"So this is what modern day McCarthyism looks like. You'd think that conservatives would look back and see just how disgusted Americans were of McCarthy's antics in the 1950's?"
It didn't seem to bother them when the Left compared Bush to Hitler every other day for 8 years...
Both parties must share the blame. Progressives such as Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Clinton and both Bushes certainly have their fingerprints all over it's expansion. Yet to try and change the original subject from the reality of the aforementioned goals, to which party is more responsible is ludicrous, disingenuous and an overt expression of denial.
When given the choice of only voting for a candidate(s) from one of the two parties, which one's ideals do you think more closely align with the stated agenda?
Its kind of the mentality of people that call themselves conservative methinks. Everybody is wrong except for them, anything that deviates from how they think society and government should operate is inherently communist and/or fascist.
Conservatives are now a constituency that nobody can please, even Karl Rove and Peggy Noonan are beginning to note that the patron saint of Conservatives, Ronald Reagan, could never pass the litany of litmus tests a modern conservative must endure to be considered pure enough.
Anybody who simply doesn't want to turn the clock back to the 1780's is a poor candidate.
Ok, Wes, let's keep it simple, non-verbose and get back on track...DO you, or DO YOU NOT see any of the stated goals in the original post now accomplished in the United States of America?
"In fact, you've never come up with an example of any significant person on the left (e.g. elected official, party leader, etc.) doing that."
How about Howard Dean?
Um...given that "doing that" refers to the 'Bush = Hitler' stuff, Dean's comments don't even come close.
This is the pattern we've seen all along. In the article I linked above, I took issue with elected Republican officials naming Obama (personally) an "enemy of humanity;" your counterexample was Maxine Waters' comment that President Bush was a "dumb-ass." Here, you're apparently suggesting that Dean's generic "Republicans are evil" is, somehow, on the same level as "Bush = Hitler" (from the left fringe) or specific suggestions that the President is looking for an excuse to declare martial law and "take over" (from the elected right).
Even more telling is that, as the previously linked threads show, I have no problem condemning folks like Waters (as I did when you brought her "dumbass" comment to the discussion), yet you can't bring yourself to condemn the "enemy of humanity" and "looking for an excuse to declare martial law" stuff coming from elected officials on the right. Instead, you argue that "dumbass" and "enemy of humanity" are, somehow, equivalent, or that the former somehow mitigates the latter.
As a whole, this "list of goals" is perfect conspiracy theory fodder. If you'd like to suggest certain points, we can certainly discuss them, but on the whole this is pretty much tripe; I don't see Communists in control of anything in this country.
Of course, anyone who considers the American political left Communist is going to say that the list is nigh unto complete. *chuckle*
Gray - Perhaps if we want to keep this topic on track and not be verbose you should actually start off by telling us which of these things you think are coming true and how you think they are related to a communist agenda.
A lot of the things on this list are down right silly. Soviet Satellite states? They are relics of history text books.
Resist attempts to outlaw the communist party? Gosh, what political party wouldn't resist attempts to outlaw it?
Internationalize the Panama Canal? If anything Jimmy Carter enabled Panama to nationalize the canal, US control of a canal in Panama is by definition internationalizing it.
Pornography on Television? Ummm...don't forsee a Jenna James career retrospective on NBC any time in the near future.
Discredit and dismantle the FBI? I guess they haven't gotten around to this one yet huh?
Make getting a divorce easy? Is it the government's responsibility to make getting a divorce hard? Why?
Infiltrate and control big business? Yeah, our CEOs are a bunch of communists.
Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack? Most student riots I see nowadays generally have to do with sporting event.
U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war? Coexistence was the only alternative to atomic war wasn't it?
Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."? So the great monolith that is capitalism shall be brought to its knees by some urine and a crucifix in a jar?
Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents? And this has happened where?
Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government? Gosh isn't the very notion of self government dependent upon to the native populations to decide if they are ready or not?
Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals? Paging Tom Cruise!
Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over? Really? Russian communist history in American textbooks, surely you can provide one example where this has happened?
Do away with all loyalty oaths? If communists are so underhanded as to do all of the things on your list, what good do you think a loyalty oath is?
In all truthfulness this list is nothing more than a 47 year old rant of one mans opinion about what he didn't like about the direction his own country was heading.
Sorry Wes, had my response in the browser window for a bit, so I didn't see your adequate response before I posted mine.