Communist Goals (1963) or 2013?
5 min read
Communist Art?
The other day, a colleague and I were discussing art. Just basic art conversation…
What makes good art? Is art in the eye of the beholder?
Playing the devil’s advocate–with my trickbag full of straw men and red herrings–the conversation became less of a conversation and more of a debate.
My colleague is of the opinion that modern art is “amorphous, pointless, and talentless.”
And to explain how this came to be, he presented me with a list entitled, Communist Goals (1963). This list was comprised of forty-five goals that the Communist planned to use in overthrowing the United States. On this list, #22 and #23 both offer up an explanation to today’s “repulsive and meaningless art.”
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
So there you have it. Clearly the Communist Party is responsible for abstract art.
This list was presented to Congress, and added to the Congressional record on January 10, 1963. Below is the Congressional record, in its entirety. Think about this as you look at the list.
How many of these have happened? Some are debatable, some are not…
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman’s request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following “Current Communist Goals,” which she identifies as an excerpt from “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen:
[From “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use [“]united force[“] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
To what extent has the “list” ever been documented? And..it apparently was not even in the book’s first edition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Communist
However, the Communist Manifesto said this would happen when the proletariat took power:
0. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form.
Damn communists! Abolish public education! bring back child labor! That’s the capitalist way!
I myself noticed the same thing…
1) that it wasn’t in the first edition
2) that the list isn’t sourced…
I looked everywhere to find where the author got this list, but I was unable to find anything…
I ordered a copy of the book hoping that it might have a footnote or source.. I am doubtful, but I hope to find an answer.
Haha, there is also a section on Wikipedia that makes it sound like his sources were sketchy…
dont know about this list but I have noticed a common denominator, and that is the more wealthy a person the more communist in their ideals. why because communism, socialism and other isms give them the control over everything, when they want to equal the playing field, and redistribute wealth they only do that to the masses wealth not their own, when they speak of centralized control or collectivism, they mean they are the collective that will decide what benefits them or not, not whether the population will benefit. they don’t mean you and me as part of the masses, makes me think of our bodies, the brain is the control, it will do what is in it’s best interests and the rest of thebody must serve it’s interest regardless of harm/burden caused on the body to do so. it will only protect the body to the extent it protects itself. of course the mind/brain is yourself, the hands, feet, muscles heart etc all serve the interest of the brain. the wealthy would like the same scenario, they are the brain and we all are the arms, legs, muscles heart whatever and what we want or need is irrelavent. unless of course it is to their benefit to care. otherwise your just excess baggage.
True enough! There is becoming quite a divide. The “brain” is swelling, and there seems to be too much “excess baggage.” So much so, that it is becoming a burden.