Using a new book, the Left is now teaching kids that communism is the cure-all for capitalism.
The book, titled Communism for Kids, was written by Bini Adamczak, who is from Berlin, and “writes on political theory, queer politics, and the past future of revolutions,” according to The MIT Press; an English-translated version was released by MIT.
As the title suggests, the book is essentially a piece of communist propaganda written in very basic, simple language, accompanied by weird-looking cartoons popping up at odd times throughout in order to appeal to children.
The Daily Wire read through the book so you don’t have to; here’s what you need to know about it.
1. It completely distorts capitalism and communism. Adamczak describes capitalism as a philosophy in which eventually “people begin to serve the things” – in other words, that people become slaves to material goods. Communism is portrayed as the antidote to this supposed form of authoritarianism. The book then provides a fictional example of how the two philosophies play out in society.
2. The book uses a factory as an example of the supposed evils of capitalism. The book frequently treats the factory as a separate entity from the workers of the factory. It is some sort of heartless monster that enjoys the profits it reaps while the workers toil away at menial jobs with little compensation for their efforts. Eventually, the factory puts another factory out of business, and then puts itself out of business because it purchases an excess amount of iron that it can’t sell. The outcome is that there are no factories left and everyone is poor.
To call this a misunderstanding of capitalism would be an understatement. Workers do not get paid slave wages under capitalism because of competition – there is incentive for Firm A to offer just compensation over Firm B. By offering such compensation, workers are more likely to stay at Firm A, and not leave for Firm B. There are factories that go bankrupt, but new ones will take their place if there is a need for the service they are providing. This is what’s known as creative destruction. But such economic literacy would naturally be absent from a book that’s shilling for communism.
3. The people in the society convene and try to determine a form of communism that works. The society goes through five iterations of communism before coming across one that they think works: a society where “everyone should be able to do everything and live everywhere.” The book describes this utopia as one in which people can work and converse with others whenever and wherever they want.
How exactly such a society would be able to function is not mentioned because, of course, it can’t. It’s not possible for people to do everything since people are born with inherently different talents and weaknesses. The beauty of capitalism is that people have the opportunity to utilize their strengths to pursue a successful career. That’s why private property is so crucial – it protects the fruits of people’s labor. Communism, however, does not give people such an opportunity.
The utopian society that Adamczak creates may as well have included unicorns and a Hillary Clinton presidency, as it’s a society that can only exist in a fictional setting.
4. The book has already been well-received by the Left. Per the Washington Free Beacon:
The book has received rave reviews from Rachel Kushner, a novelist who uses revolutionary themes and “scares male critics,” according to Salon.com. Kushner says the book is especially needed now, since Donald Trump won the presidency.
“Communism for Kids, by Bini Adamczak, is in fact for everyone, an inspired and necessary book especially now, a moment when people feel that we are on the verge of the destruction of the world, and without any new world to hope for, or believe in,” Kushner says. “Have two hundred years of capitalism brought us freedom? Or just more inequality than has ever been experienced by humans on earth?”
“Global capitalism is not human destiny, it merely is,” Kushner adds. “To think beyond it, with the help of Adamczak’s primer, is to take a first step toward freedom, at least the freedom to imagine other worlds.”
Fredric R. Jameson, a professor of romance studies at Duke University who has “done more than any contemporary intellectual to rethink and renew the tradition of Marxist cultural theory,” also praised the book as great for kids.
“This delightful little book may be helpful in showing youngsters there are other forms of life and living than the one we currently ‘enjoy’; and even some adults might learn from it as well,” Jameson says. “At a time when our younger generations are not only dissatisfied but active enough to have some new thoughts of their own and to look around seriously for alternatives, political pedagogy has a real function and might well, as here, be reinvented in new ways.”
5. However, the book has gotten poor reviews on Amazon. As of this writing, the book has a one and a half star rating on Amazon and was excoriated in various customer reviews. One commenter wrote that the book “will sell like hotcakes in Venezuela. They need toilet paper.”
Another, B. László, wrote: “I grew up in the communism and believe me, the idea of communism will never works. This idea is based on mass murder. I was a kid and I know what is communism for a kid. My family didn’t do anything against regime, and this is why they was not killed, just imprisoned and abused every day. The police break into our home every week and made a mess and break our stuff – just for fun. And this is communism. Communism for kid is simply: you have no right to have dreams. No matter what talent you have, you will do what Party order you. You cannot study, you cannot choose … you have to obey.”
But the top customer review was naturally the one that dropped the hammer: “If communism is so great why are they selling the book? Isn’t that capitalism?”
While it’s encouraging that the book is getting scathing reviews on Amazon, it’s chilling to think that such a book could be used to mold children into believers of communism. As Benjamin Weingarten noted in Conservative Review, conservatives need to become more involved in winning the culture war to counteract books like Communism for Kids.
Read here for statistics proving that capitalism reduces poverty.