The Anti-Communist Impulse

by Michael Parenti

An examination of how our obsession with anti-communism has warped our national commitments to freedom and prosperity, immobilized us in our efforts to remedy national ills, and caused the pursuit of a foreign policy that has led to the death and maiming of hundreds of thousands of young Americans.

Genres: Politics, Theory, Nonfiction, History

333 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Michael John Parenti, Ph.D. (Yale University) is an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who writes on scholarly and popular subjects. He has taught at universities as well as run for political office. Parenti is well known for his Marxist writings and lectures. He is a notable intellectual of the American Left and he is most known for his criticism of capitalism and American foreign policy.

Reviews

[Adam Schendel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Anti-communism is the most powerful political force in the world. Endowed with an imposing ideology...it commands the psychic and material resources of the most potent military-industrial arsenal in the history of mankind. Its forces are deployed on every continent, its influence is felt in every major region, and it is capable of acts which - when ascribed to the communists - are considered violent and venal. Our fear that communism might someday take over most of the world blinds us to the fact that anti-communism already has. If America has an ideology, or a national purpose, it is anti-communism. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been expended, and hundreds of thousands of lives have been sacrificed on its behalf."

-Michael Parenti, debunking the myths and arguments of anti-communism in his first book in 1969 that proved disturbingly prophetic of the next fifty-plus years of American foreign policy and is just as relevant today as the U.S. and its anti-communist warmongers gear up for another Cold War with China amidst desire for yet more conflict and bloodshed. An underrated must-read.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written in 1969, and Parenti says very early on that he has been a liberal up until a few years ago, which definitely shows in his analysis. Most of his good arguments in this book are made clearer and better in Inventing Reality. Nonetheless, it‘s a remarkable book to have been written in the US in the 60s, and by somebody so young.

[John Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent early work of political analysis by Michael Parenti. Though dated, it is still relevant to the present moment, if only because "red baiting" is still an ubiquitous part of the American political landscape, particularly (though not exclusively) on the American Right. A former co-worker of mine uploaded a selfie after early voting stating he was "voting..." (in 2018!) "...to stop communism/socialism", as if anything of the sort were actually on offer from the establishment Left this season. So called Anticommunism (real and more often imagined), like anti-intellectualism, is part and parcel of the American political landscape and a still-potent animating force in American political life.

[Robert Roys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book. This was the first book that Parenti wrote, and it seems like some of the analysis are not as fully fleshed out as they become later in his career, but it is a generally wonderful resource and sadly still relevant to contemporary society. It is very impactful and accessible writing, full of those wonderful Michael parenti quotes.

No one is more inclined to counsel patience and moderation to the ill-fed, exploited, and oppressed than those who are well-fed, self-sufficient, and powerful.
But the appeal to nonviolent gradualism bears little relation to the reality faced by severely deprived peoples.
-Michael Parenti

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book of Parenti I read: it is pretty good.

His political analysis is on point. USA as the bastion of anti-comunism and everything is valid to stop the red menace.

He is sometimes naive but I'm guessing that applies to everyone.