Leftists Love The "Bad Boys" Of The World

   

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Why The Left Loves Totalitarians Like Fidel Castro

I pity people who celebrate the life of Fidel Castro in a knee-jerk reaction to salve their consciences for having committed themselves to failed and morally bankrupt ideas.

By Paul Bonicelli

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

Progressives’ and leftists’ outpouring of praise for Fidel Castro at his death was to be expected, although it has been more fulsome, tone-deaf, and cloying than I expected. For just a few examples see President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

Rational and moral people, however, will rightly ask, “How would anyone aware of Castro’s more than 50 years of human rights abuses mourn the death of a tyrant who was both an intellectual and moral idiot, much less praise his legacy?”

The Left Loves Collectivism

I have a few possible answers. First, many people on the Left sold their intellects to socialism and statism long ago. Great numbers of academics, politicians, and entertainers embraced Castro as he rose to power then ruled for decades as a socialist dictator, because he represented the practical application of their ideas.

Also, he clearly irritated the same people who irritated them: conservatives, Republicans, Cold Warriors, etc. Every human rights violation, every social and economic disaster that resulted from his foolish socialist policies, and every military adventure he launched with his oversized Soviet-backed military, was forgiven if not outright praised.

As a graduate student in the early 1990s I marveled at highly educated, decent, and kind men and women in academia forgiving Castro every sin and justifying everything he did because, I suppose, “He’s our guy.” It seemed so childish to me. After all, I thought Gen. Augusto Pinochet was better for Chile than a Soviet-allied Marxist politician would have been, but I hardly excused Pinochet’s human rights crimes or pretended he was perfect. I also wasn’t confused about who was better for U.S. national security interests.

Pretending Science Can Govern Is Attractive

Second, many on the Left seem to have an affinity for any leader—dictator or democrat—who claims to govern according to science, whether that be “scientific socialism” or just plain old numbers-based public policy. Rather than work out a view of anthropology and seek to truly understand human beings according to our nature, it is far easier for some to default to the materialist view of humankind.

Assume “economic man,” and then crunch numbers. That way you can avoid moral judgments and just keep stressing that the right amount of technical tweaks and educated guesses will produce economic viability and social peace. Above all, ignore the “moralizers” who keep harping about all those eggs being broken without the appearance of an omelet.

Trump Derangement Syndrome

Third, and this is a more immediately relevant reason for celebrating Castro, maybe the Trump derangement syndrome that affects so many on the Left has enhanced their desire to praise whatever they think is the opposite of the people and ideas that just won the 2016 presidential election.

Remembering how Trump galvanized the Cuban-American vote with his articulation of views that lined up with Castro’s critics, and knowing who his advisors are, the Left was ready for his statement at Castro’s death on Friday. Sort of a “If he’s for it then I’m agin’ it!” attitude prevailed upon them.

Add to that their innate understanding that Castro always represented the leftists’ elitist ideas about the paramount role of the state and that Trump’s victory represents the uprising of their opponents, they had to over-praise and ignore any failings of their champion. Take your pick, but these answers probably cover most of Castro’s fans.

The Cold War Is Back

Finally, Castro’s death and the outpouring of praise from his fans should remind us about the essence of the Cold War: it will never really be over, because it was always more than a geopolitical struggle between two nation-states. It was and is a struggle between those who value the liberty of the individual above all else versus those who embrace utopian dreams of a state than can solve all problems and make everyone happy, as long as the “right people” are in charge.

I pity people who celebrate the life of Fidel Castro in a knee-jerk reaction to salve their consciences for years of having committed themselves to failed and morally bankrupt ideas. They are not ignorant or stupid: they know Castro was a murderous tyrant who built a slave-state and ruined his country and has handed on that legacy to his brother who is even now planning to leave it to their heirs, helped along by the foolish policies of the American president and others in the West who always think their goodwill gestures and magnanimity will bring everyone around to a better way. Pity them or not, however, we cannot absolve them of accommodating the Castro brothers’ crimes.

I hope that the Cuban democracy movement will be emboldened and that with a new U.S. administration we can return to policies and declarations that support what has always been the North Star of the morally and intellectually correct side of the Cold War: individual human liberty.

Paul Bonicelli serves as director of programs at the Acton Institute. His career includes a presidential appointment with Senate confirmation as assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development; as a professional staff member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives; and as an official delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

Iran Takes Steps To Increase Killings As They Do Not Fear Worldwide Condemnation. Iran Now Understands That The World Is Not Going To Stop Them From Doing ANYTHING Inside Their Country. For Them Its "Damn The Torpedoes (They--World Leaders-- Are All Duds), Full Speed Ahead!

Executions Surge in Iran after Nuclear Talks, Iran off U.S. Terror List

by Shadi Paveh
April 20, 2015 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5583/iran-executions-surge

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Comment

"Terrorism is not only achieved by bombs but also by terrorizing citizens for generations through executions. Is the hanging of 700 persons since the beginning of the 'moderate' Mr. Rouhani's presidency... not a form of terrorism?" — Mina Ahadi, Founder, ICAE.
"During the P5+1 nuclear talks there was absolute silence with regards to the high rate of executions and human rights violations in Iran. Because of this silence, this matter has taken a turn for the worse." — Mina Ahadi, Founder, ICAE.
"We would like to request that the Islamic Republic of Iran be held accountable by the International community and... sanctions to be placed on the regime for the high rate of executions." — Mina Ahadi, Founder, ICAE.
As this article was going to press five more people were hanged in the Central Prison of Karaj.

After Iran's "nuclear talks," and after it was comfortably removed as a terrorism threat from the "Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Communities," the International Committee Against Executions (ICAE) reported approximately 55 executions in fewer than three weeks across Iran.
According to Mina Ahadi, Founder of ICAE, various prisoners or their families had contacted her office weeks before the killings. Prison authorities, they said, had told the prisoners that they had received orders from "above" to "cleanse" a large of number of the prisoners rapidly after the P5+1 talks. The vast majority of these prisoners had been sentenced to death for non-lethal offences in trials that, according to activists, often fell dramatically short of international standards.
In an interview with Gatestone, Ms. Ahadi stated:

"Those of us who know the regime well speculate that the government feels as if it has somehow surrendered to the West during the nuclear agreements, and fears appearing weak domestically. As a result, it is flexing its muscles by increasing the number of killings— an escalation that is staggering even for the Islamic Republic, which already holds the record for the highest number of executions per capita throughout the world. The authorities also may want to create fear so that the unhappy population dare not revolt, or even speak out against the regime, during the regime's perceived time of weakness. It is important to note that this government has stayed in power for 36 years solely by systematically killing its opponents both inside Iran and abroad.
"We recently received a report that strongly disturbs even the most seasoned human rights activists; it came from Zabol prison in the Baluchistan Province of Iran. Reliable sources told us that prisoners condemned to death are tied to a pole, and are left without food or water the day before they are hanged. No one ever heard of this sort of treatment before. The regime is becoming more barbaric with each day that the world remains silent and refuses to hold them accountable for human rights violations. I am not sure how much more has to happen or be documented before the world starts to take notice. The question I would like to ask the P5+1 negotiators is: Can a country with such extensive, grotesque human rights violations be trusted in any way?"

Ms. Ahadi also wrote to Mr. Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General, and to Mr. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, regarding this matter:

Your Excellencies Mr. Ban Ki Moon and Mr. Schulz:
A few days after Iran's nuclear agreement in Lausanne; a new and broader wave of executions began in Iran.
On April 11, 2015, in the Central Prison of Karaj, the Iranian authorities had planned to transfer 40 prisoners to solitary confinement to await execution at dawn the next morning. As a direct result, there was an uprising inside prison to protest these executions. The following day on April 12^th, the families of the condemned prisoners gathered in a demonstration in front of the city of Karaj's courthouse; which was filmed. On April 13^th, eight prisoners were executed at this prison.
On April 13, 2015, prisoners from another prison in Karaj, Raja-Shahr prison, contacted ICAE to inform us that 11 prisoners were taken to solitary confinement to be executed the next morning. A report the next day indicated that those prisoners along with some others, estimated to be 19 in total, were executed on April 14, 2015.
In Zabol prison [in Eastern Iran province of Baluchistan] one person was hanged and 3 are awaiting imminent execution. On April 10, 2015, two prisoners were tied to pillars without food and water while awaiting execution.
In the past the regime has been known to increase the number of executions in the aftermath of surrendering to a perceived enemy. For example, after the cease fire of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988; which the then Supreme Leader and the Leader of the revolution Ayatollah Khomeini saw as surrendering to then enemy Iraq; Khomeini ordered the mass cleansing of political prisoners, most of which did not have death sentences and were in fact near the end of serving their sentence. For a more in depth report of the 1988 massacres, please see attached 145 page report by Mr. Geoffrey Robertson QC in collaboration with the Boroumand Foundation. This method is being continued by the present leader Ali Khamenei after what the regime and the Iranian public may see as surrendering to Western influences with regards to the nuclear talks. As such, the regime avoids appearing weak internally by increasing executions, arrests and the like in order to keep an unsatisfied population in constant fear to avoid a revolt. Those who have studied this regime believe that this is the way the regime chooses to show strength and power inside Iran.
During the P5+1 nuclear talks there was absolute silence with regards to the high rate of executions and human rights violations in Iran. Because of this silence, this matter has taken a turn for the worse.
The International Committee Against Executions requests your immediate response to this urgent matter. We ask that you strongly object to these executions. Terrorism is not only achieved by bombs but also by terrorizing citizens for generations through executions. Is the hanging of 700 persons since the beginning of the 'moderate' Mr. Rouhani's presidency, which translates to 2 hangings per day, not a form of terrorism?
We would like to request that the Islamic Republic of Iran be held accountable by the International community and furthermore we ask for political sanctions to be placed on this regime for the high rate of executions. Your silence in this matter is not acceptable to those sentenced to death, their families and human rights organizations around the globe.
Please help us stop executions in Iran. History, as always, shall remain witness.
Mina Ahadi
www.icae-iran.com
Tel: 0049 (0) 1775692413
Letter translated from Farsi for ICAE by: Shadi Paveh

As this article was going to press five more people were hanged in the Central Prison of Karaj.

Public hangings in Iran.