B. Sympathy

Furthermore, communism is not really the antithesis of what many anticommunists believe; rather, it is merely the ultimate expression ‑ more consistent and daring ‑ of certain principles they themselves accept. Liberalism, which triumphed with the French Revolution, sowed the seeds of communism throughout the West.³ As a consequence, the fear of communism is often accompanied by a certain sympathy for some of its aspects. There are ardent anticommunists who are more revolted by the violent methods and the dictatorial character of present‑day Bolshevik regimes than by the final goals of communism. They naively feel that if the West attains such goals by bloodless methods, thereby achieving complete equality of wealth and social standing, then justice, affluence, and peace will finally reign in the world.⁴