Membership of the CPUSA peaked in the late 1940s, with over 75,000 members in 1947.[5] But their influence spanned beyond just their membership as some candidates in national elections garnered over 100,000 votes.
Apparently there were about 143.7 million people in the United States at the time.
Anyway, in all of my life, I’ve only met one person (IRL) that admitted they were a capital-C Communist.
I’ve only met one person (IRL) that admitted they were a capital-C Communist.
I’ve met a few. Most were old and narrowminded Stalinists and Trots, except for some elderly Wobblies I knew. They weren’t just rehashing the Russian revolution, they were engaged in modern politics. Clever old bastards, and hard as nails. But that’s a different kind of commie. Rare birds, those.
Well, there were a couple youngish self-identified Maoists I knew too, back in the early 70s, but they were poseurs. One was even a trust-fund brat. I remember teasing him about his soft hands and how badly he’d fare in a reeducation camp.
What McCarthy really hated was the New Deal. And he really wanted some totalitarian repression in the US. And let’s not forget the lineage: McCarthy to Roy Cohn to Donald Rottenbrain Trumplgrueber.
I mean don’t get me wrong they weren’t a huge movement, but compared to now they were much bigger then.
The Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) hit peak membership in the late 40’s, before being hit hard by the post-ww2 red scare/McCarthyism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Communist_Party_USA
Apparently there were about 143.7 million people in the United States at the time.
Anyway, in all of my life, I’ve only met one person (IRL) that admitted they were a capital-C Communist.
I’ve met a few. Most were old and narrowminded Stalinists and Trots, except for some elderly Wobblies I knew. They weren’t just rehashing the Russian revolution, they were engaged in modern politics. Clever old bastards, and hard as nails. But that’s a different kind of commie. Rare birds, those.
Well, there were a couple youngish self-identified Maoists I knew too, back in the early 70s, but they were poseurs. One was even a trust-fund brat. I remember teasing him about his soft hands and how badly he’d fare in a reeducation camp.
What McCarthy really hated was the New Deal. And he really wanted some totalitarian repression in the US. And let’s not forget the lineage: McCarthy to Roy Cohn to Donald Rottenbrain Trumplgrueber.