I read about this over at the Volokh Conspriracy, it strikes me as a an excellent way to observe May Day:
"Today is May 1, AKA May Day. May Day began as a holiday for socialists and labor union activists, not just communists. But over time, the date was taken over by the Soviet Union and other communist regimes and used as a propaganda tool to prop up their regimes. I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes' millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century's other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so. I suggest that May Day be turned into Victims of Communism Day."
Why do so many still romanticize Communism? I still hear from a dear older friend of mine, "Sure, there were bad things about communism, but it just hasn't been properly implemented." Some Muslims say the same thing about Islamic societies: "We've never seen a truly Islamic society, there hasn't been one yet." And these same people believe that they can create one here in the U.S., with its constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. But totalitarian societies will always fail, because they deny essential truths about human nature, including the idea of freedom and free will, the inherent dignity of the individual, and the innate competitiveness of humans.
You can review the death counts of 20th century wars here.
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