The Cold War

[Desperado]

What are your opinions on the cold war?

[Invincible Summer]

What about it? You're asking a very, very, very broad question.

My very, very, very short answer: lots of bullshit that basically set the stage for most of the anti-Communist sentiment found in the world (mainly the West) today.

[RadioRaheem84]

There was never a Cold War in the actual sense of it being communism vs. capitalism. It was always capitalism vs. national liberation struggles, be it nationalist, communist or social democratic. The whole canard of the Cold War starting after WWII is BS because the US invaded Soviet Russia to aide the White Army at the advent of a workers revolution in 1917.

The US invaded or intervened in more nations that were in the Non-Alignment Pact than ones going "communist".

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

There was never a Cold War in the actual sense of it being communism vs. capitalism. It was always capitalism vs. national liberation struggles, be it nationalist, communist or social democratic. The whole canard of the Cold War starting after WWII is BS because the US invaded Soviet Russia to aide the White Army at the advent of a workers revolution in 1917.

The US invaded or intervened in more nations that were in the Non-Alignment Pact than ones going "communist".

Though, often they did this under the guise of "fighting communism", even when there were not much of any commies in the countries in question. They'd just up and call anyone not willing to subject to their attempts at economic colonialism communist, and well, then they more or less were able to do whatever they wanted in terms of PR in the west.

[Ocean Seal]

Cold War hmmm. Imperialist countries take control they later don't want to decolonize yet there are people all over the world who want autonomy. The capitalists don't want to give it to them so they accuse them of being commies. The capitalists enter a bunch of wars while the communists support national liberation. The capitalists use this cold war idea then to make communists in their countries suffer and then relations become tense between American and the USSR. Also I really don't understand what the question asks.

[AK]

The Cold War was period of political repression of communists alongside a series of proxy/actual wars between the blatant Bourgeois states - led by the US - against state capitalist (or socialist and then, later, revisionist - depending on your ideology) states and communist revolutionary groups (generally backed by the USSR or the PRC).

[Martin Blank]

Actually, I have a related question on this: How many here actually lived through the Cold War?

[RadioRaheem84]

If you count the 80s, I lived about 4 years of it. :lol:

[Martin Blank]

If you count the 80s, I lived about 4 years of it. :lol:

I'd like to be ecumenical about this, but I can't. You really needed to live through the pre-Gorbachev period of the Cold War to truly be able to say you lived through it. That's the only way you would have experienced what it really meant for communists in the U.S.

[rednordman]

I'd like to be ecumenical about this, but I can't. You really needed to live through the pre-Gorbachev period of the Cold War to truly be able to say you lived through it. That's the only way you would have experienced what it really meant for communists in the U.S.Dont want to sound stupid, but exactly how bad was it for communists in the USA during the time? I hear alot of stories, but nothing in detail. I always facinated me how despite rampant anti-communism, you still had the communist party of usa.

[Martin Blank]

Dont want to sound stupid, but exactly how bad was it for communists in the USA during the time? I hear alot of stories, but nothing in detail. I always facinated me how despite rampant anti-communism, you still had the communist party of usa.

By the time I experienced the Cold War, most of the McCarthyite repression had died down, but some of the restrictions still remained. For example, an avowed communist could not be a teacher in several states, could not hold an elected or appointed position in any labor union, could not get a passport or visit Canada and Mexico, could not distribute literature in several states, could not possess or fly a red flag in several states, could not cross a state line with any literature, could not hold a public meeting in several states, could not be employed by the federal government (even on a temporary basis), etc. Today, most of these restrictions no longer exist or they have been subsumed into the "anti-terrorist" and "anti-extremist" laws being passed; some Western and Southern states (e.g., Oklahoma, Mississippi) still have anti-communist laws on the books, but they're only enforced by cops looking to make quota or that have a nasty hair up their arse.

And, yes, bear in mind that this was during the "thaw" in the Cold War. At its height in the 1950s and early 1960s, communists were blacklisted in numerous industries (not just entertainment, which is the most well-known of them). In some cities, landlord associations prohibited renting to communists. States enacted loyalty oaths for all public employees (many private companies did too). Students with ties to communist organizations were denied public (and usually also private) financial aid. While it was formally legal to be a member of the Communist Party or any other avowedly communist organization, it was almost impossible to survive while being one publicly. And the only way out was usually to turn stool pigeon and snitch on your comrades (suicide was invariably the other way).

One of the main reasons the Communist Party was able to survive McCarthyism was because of its extensive underground network. Many members just retreated into the underground Communist Party cells; designated members became "snitches" to feed the government misinformation about underground members (affirming they were not communists) and the party itself. It really wasn't until the 1980s that many of these underground members began to resurface.

[Lolshevik]

I've never heard such an intimate first-hand account of the repression Marxists faced in the U.S. during the cold war. I was fortunate enough to be born in 1990, but I sincerely offer my gratitude to all those, including yourself, who braved the repression & hate and managed to keep the tradition of working class politics alive.

[Ligeia]

Actually, I have a related question on this: How many here actually lived through the Cold War?
I didn't but my parents did. I didn't live through it but I guess some second-hand accounts aren't that bad.
My father didn't tell me much about it, only that the USSR was demonized heavily (he lived in Poland).My mother on the other hand told me how the police and military often raided through universities and kidnapped,tortured or killed students and professors(she lived in Mexico).Back in the day you would have been taught stuff by Marx,Mao,Lenin..etc. in political sciences, for example. I've even seen some magazines which were specialized on stories on third world struggles all over the world,....pretty intresting.Books had often censored passages,...I've seen some and even read some but I can't remember what they were about,...(definitely political content though).

[sanpal]

In the USSR all things were going quite the contrary than described in the Miles' post about the USA. It was unpossible to get high post, office, etc. without being a communist, it was for editors and journalists especially for political editions, for teacher of history in the school or university , directors of enterprise, etc. etc. I remember the middle of 60th we, teens, listened "Voice of America" broadcasted songs of "Beatles", "Rolling Stones", "Creadance Clearwater Revival", etc. but this kind of stations were suppressed (jam) with noise to have an aim that soviet citizens had no possibility to listen to bourgeois music and bourgeois propaganda.

And what was a fun: some time ago I found out that John Lennon's songs were quite "red" and were prohibited by soviet censorship as "bourgeois" art:lol: