The left’s fondness for autocratic regimes is well chronicled. Seminal works such as Friedrich Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” (and a briefer indictment, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”) analyzed totalitarianism’s appeal to Western elites, while George Orwell’s “1984” captured the dystopian reality of the mass surveillance state.
Yet despite these (and numerous other) compelling indictments, the progressive movement’s fascination with central control has been an undeniable calling card for generations. Simply put, our academic, political, entertainment and cultural leadership regularly falls in love with the latest iteration of socialism — Soviet gulags, Cambodian killing fields, Cuban prisons and Chinese reeducation camps notwithstanding. A common refrain: the next autocratic regime’s assault on personal freedom will be more benign … just trust us.
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