Mona Charen. The
Washington Times. May 29, 2001
If ever a man was destined to become a communist, it was Ron Radosh a
classic Red Diaper baby. Both of Mr. Radosh´s parents were members of the
Communist Party, and Ron, at age 18 months, participated in his first May Day
parade in 1939. Though welcomed, Mr. Radosh had not been planned by his parents
both in their late 30s because "those in charge of preparing for 'the
revolution´ could not afford the frivolity of having children."
Still, enough communists, socialists and fellow travelers succumbed to
the biological imperative that Ron had plenty of like-minded playmates growing
up in New York City. His recollections and they are juicy reading are now
available in his autobiography, "Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left,
the New Left and the Leftover Left." Most of those with whom Mr. Radosh
grew and was indoctrinated have altered their political views only slightly and
these include a healthy number of leading journalists, professors, writers and
musicians. Mr. Radosh, to his credit, has one trait that proves deadly to
ideologies he is open to evidence.
Though Mr. Radosh remained very radical throughout the 1960s and most
of the 1970s (he and his wife Allis volunteered for the McGovern campaign, but
reluctantly, since they regarded him as "too right-wing"), Mr. Radosh,
a professor of history at the City University of New York, felt the first
stirrings of doubt about his religion when he became one of the thousands of
political tourists who trooped to Havana to see the future and how well it
worked. What he saw had the opposite effect.
"While the Cubans were trying to squeeze into overcrowded buses in
the August heat to get to jobs where they had to work an average 12-hour day, my
comrades and I enjoyed a lobster and shrimp luncheon in the best hotel in Cuba."
The group, consisting of American and European communists and fellow
travelers, toured a refrigerator factory. "The air in the plant was fetid,
stinking of fumes and chemicals. The appliances were built with fiberglass
insulation, and the workers wore no masks or protective devices to protect them
from the fumes and fibers, which could potentially cause cancer. The fiberglass
residue was so heavy that it came down like snowfall. When we told the manager
of our concern . . . he told us: 'If it were dangerous, Fidel would have
informed us. Masks would cut down production, and we are certain that what we
are doing is safe.´ "
Later in the trip, the group toured the Havana General Psychiatric
Hospital, a well-maintained and well-appointed showplace of the revolution.
Cuban guides circulated photos of the way the hospital had looked before the
revolution, "a facility akin to that in the famous movie 'The Snake Pit.´
"
At first, the group was suitably impressed. But then Mr. Radosh noticed
a vigorous young man teaching art to some of the inmates. "I asked him how
he was able to deal with those patients who were clearly mentally unbalanced. He
laughed nervously and replied, 'I´m a patient myself.´ " Mr.
Radosh didn´t understand. " 'I´m a homosexual, and that is why I´m
confined here.´ "
Along with political prisoners, Mr. Radosh also noted that many of the
patients seemed "glazed and drugged out." When the hospital director
was questioned about this, he explained: "We are proud that in our
institution we have a larger proportion of hospital inmates who have been
lobotomized than any other mental hospital in the world."
This boast caused consternation even among some of the Castrophiles who
were Mr. Radosh´s traveling companions. One New Jersey therapist grumbled
that it was a "horror." But another member of the group, Suzanne Ross,
glared at him and pronounced the perfect motto of the communist sympathizer: "We
have to understand that there are differences between capitalist lobotomies and
socialist lobotomies."
In time, Mr. Radosh would finally see that most of what he had believed
was based on lies. After examining the Rosenberg case and concluding that Julius
was clearly guilty, he broke ranks with his former colleagues. Later, he would
drift even further away by failing to support the Stalinist Sandinistas.
Mr. Radosh is an honest man a rare commodity in any age. And in "Commies,"
he offers a tale not just of his own awakening to the truth, but also of the
continuing foolishness of many people you know.
Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist. | 