1. JabezZinabu
Heaven on Earth
The 1789 declarationof the rightsof man andcitizenfollowedthe USdeclarationof
independence’stheme of keepingsecure men’srights.Like the U.S.’s “life,liberty,andthe pursuitof
happiness”the rightsof “liberty,property,security”were used,andasthe revolutionunfolded,the
Frenchaddeda fourthright,“equality”.Inthe final daysof the Revolution,Francois-Noel Babeuf tooka
standand arguedthat the revolutionaryagendawascontradictory. He proposedthattomove forward
withthe planof equality,therewouldalsoneedtobe a new institutionof economiclife,where
“individualownershipwouldcease,andeachcitizenwouldbe furnishedanidentical portionof nature’s
bounty”.Althoughhe broughtthe socialist ideasforward,he wasquicktoconfesstheywere ideas
quotedfromRousseauandMably,“In condemningme,gentlemenof the jury..youplace these great
thinkers..inthe dock.”
Thoughhisgoalswere takenfromthe earlierphilosophers,nobodyhadeverorganizedtoseize
power,he tookthose ideas, andbroughtsocialismintopractice. Babeuf came fromahumble beginning,
and washomeschooledbyhisfather. He workedasa “feudist”andhisbusinessgrew until the
Revolutioneventuallyforceditsclosing. Hisfirstarrestwasin Picardy,where he wasdevelopingintoa
leader. Aftercontributingfromjail,he wasreleasedandreturnedtoPicardyasan advocate forthe
peasantsinpetitions,he called himself “the Marat of the Somme”. Aftermakingenemies,Babeuf fledto
Paris,inhopesof escapingarrest,where he joinedthe nationalrevolutionarymovement.Babeuf found
a place in the revolutionaryadministrationbehindRobespierre,but hisforgerychargeswere brought
back up in1793 whenhe foundhimself inprisonforeightmonths.
Once released,he joinedthe “thermidorians”, whooverthrew Robespierre,butwithinthree
months,he turned againstthe Thermidorians. In1795, he foundhimself inprisonagainforanother

2. JabezZinabu
eightmonths.Once released,he continuedpublishinghisjournal, Le Tribundupeople,butwithintwo
months,he foundhimself againawantedmanbypolice.InNovember1793, the ParisCommune
orderedall the churchesinthe city shutdown. Afterthe fall of the Jacobins,the formerConstitutionof
1793 was supplantedbythe Constitutionof 1795. Two daysafterhisarrest he addresseda letterto the
five-memberDirectory. Fromhiscell he proposedtoopennegotiationswith them“asbetweenpower
and power.”Outside the prison,the Equalsretainedenoughof anorganizedfollowingtolaunchone last
desperate attemptatrevolt. InSeptember1796 several hundredradicalsmarchedonthe camp, hoping
to winthe defectionof majorunits.Buttheir approachwasanticipated,and theywere metwith steel.
Babeuf arguedthat itwasn’t“a trial of individuals,[but]of the Republicitself.”
Notonlywas there noconspiracy, “butthere couldn’thave been”he said, “Because there isno
such thingas a conspiracy againstillegitimate authority.”Notonlydid he associate his aimswith
Rousseau,Diderotandotherfiguresof the Enlightenment,buthe that“whenJesusspread Hismessage
of humanequality,he toowastreatedas the ringleaderof aconspiracy.” These tacticsproved
surprisinglyeffective. Regardless,afterathree-monthtrial,the juryreturnedamixedverdict:56 outof
the 65 defendantswere acquitted,7were ordereddeported, and2—Babeuf andDarthé,were
sentencedtodeath.Onthe announcementof the verdict,eachof the twoimmediatelypulleda
handmade andstabbedhimself.Neitherdiedof his self-inflictedwounds,however,andbothwere
deliveredtothe guillotinethe nextday.
RobertOwenwasa renowned Britishindustrialistandvisionary.Whereas“Babeuf’sdoctrine”
had no name, Owenandhisfollowers usedthe term“socialism.”Owen’s approacheswerelater
dismissed byMarx and Engelsas “utopian.”Nonetheless,Engels acknowledged Owen’s influence:“Every
social movement,everyreal advance inEnglandonbehalf of the workerslinksit- self ontothe name of
RobertOwen.”Of the “utopians,”Owenwasbyfar the most respected,he wasalsothe clearest.
Owenwasan advocate of democracyandcollective ownership.He wasalsovery determined toputhis

3. JabezZinabu
ideasintopractice. Afterjusttwoyears of education,fromage five toseven,followedbytwoyears
spentassistingwiththe instructionof youngerstudents,he decidedtostrike outonhisown.But his
parentsmade himwaituntil he turnedten and puthimon board a coach for Londonwiththe forty
schillingsinhispocket.
Owen’ssocialistphilosophywasderivedfromtwo fundamentalpillarsof histhought.The first
was thatno human“is responsible for hiswill andhisownactions.”The second wasa fierce opposition
to religion. Owenfoundinspirationin developingaplanfor “villagesof unityandcooperation.”Owen
designedthe villagesdowntothe lastdetail,andevenhada scale model built.Eachvillage wasto
accommodate twelve hundred people. Withintwomonthsof greeting hisnew followers,Owen
left, givingcommandtohissonWilliam.The village hadabout 160 buildings, rangingfromlogcabins, to
large frame and brickstructuresincludingdwellings,barns, granaries,factories,workshops, atavernand
an immense church. Before returningtoNew Harmony,OwentraveledtoPhiladelphiatolinkupwith
WilliamMaclure,aScotsmanwho hadsettledin Philadelphia.
He had agreedtojoinOweninthe New Harmony ideaand finance it. The projectwas ina
downfall,but Owen’sarrival atNewHarmonyinJanuary1826 broughtgreat rejoicing.However,the
final blowtoNewHarmonywasan angry fallingout betweenOwenandMaclure.The failure of New
Harmonycost RobertOwenmuch of his fortune,butitdid notshake hisfaithinhisideas. For the next
thirtyyearshe continuedhisactivism,serving asthe pioneerorinspirationof numerousprogressive
causes, includingleaderof the earlylabormovement. Owen’sreputationasabusinessmanof the first
orderendured, butdecadesof visionaryactivismseparatedhimfromhisdaysas a prosperous
businessman. Aroundthe time he turnedeighty, he begantoembrace “spiritualism,”thatis,the
practice of communicatingwiththe deadthroughthe assistance of mediums. Owenpassedfromthe
worldunderthe lovingattentionof hisson, RobertDale Owen,whohadcome downfromNaples.

4. JabezZinabu
Friedrich Engelshadgrownupin Barmen ina Germanevangelical movement.The Engelsfamily
owneda textilebusinessthathadbeenpasseddown. Friedrichleftgymnasium atseventeen,ayear
short of completinghisdiploma,butthere isno recordof paternal alarmoverthis.Instead,the father
arrangeda kind of unpaidinternshipforhiminthe officesof abusinessfriend.Engelsrentedaroomand
tookfull advantage of the metropolistoexplore hiscultural andpolitical interests. The youngsoldier
pursuedhisjournalism,attendedclassesatthe Universityof Berlin,and joined of anti-establishment
intellectualsof hisgenerationwhowerecalledthe “YoungHegelians.”The group’sfirst interestwas
philosophy,especiallythe critique of religion.Marx,whodidn’tlike the others,likedEngels, andthe
encountergave noclue of the singularpartnershipthatwastodevelopbetweenthe two.More than
Marx, Engelshadalreadymade a name for himself, andhisstatusgrowing.
Notonlywas the youngEngelsmore accomplishedthanMarx,but he originatedasmanyor
more of the keyideasthatcame to be called “Marxism.”WhenKarl was at university,hisfatherand
thenhisremaining brotherdied, leavinghismotherwithfourdaughters.Karl,thentwenty-four,had
receivedhisdoctorate ayearbefore andlaunchedhiscareerinradical journalism. EngelsandMarx
joinedthe “CommunistLeague”in1847 and At the Novemberconference,he andMarx wonrecognition
as the group’sleadingtheoreticiansandwere authorizedtoprepare afinal versionof the statementby
earlythe nextyear. Atthe endof the year,EngelsreturnedtoParis,while Marx
usedJanuary to complete the Manifesto, whichwaspublished the following
month. The Manifesto waseventually tobecome one of the mostinfluentialpamphletseverwritten.
Marx managedto getnamedto the committee chargedwithdraftingaconstitutionforthe
International Workingman’sAssociation, andhe soonemergedasitsleader. Marx thensecureda
positiononthe group’sgoverningbody,the General Council,whichwasbasedinLondon,andhe quickly
came to dominate thattoo. Althoughhisbrilliance andself-confidence broughtnatural attributesof
leadership,Marx’spoliticalworksufferedfromhissocial insecurity.EduardBernstein,the forty-five-

5. JabezZinabu
year-oldGermanexilewasthe leadingapostle of the new science of Marxism.He was of such high
standingthatEngels askedhimto produce volume fourof CapitalfromMarx’s notes.Unlike mostother
majorfiguresinthe historyof socialism, Bernstein wasactuallyraisedinpoverty.Bornin1850, he was
the seventhof fifteenchildren,tenof whichsurvived.
His parents senthimtogymnasium, orhighschool, until the age of sixteen,whichiswhen he
was called, andtookan apprenticeshipasabank clerk,afterwhich he bothsupportedand educated
himself. Ashe begantodevelopideasaboutthe political world,young Bernstein andsome friends
formeda drinkingand discussionclub whichtheycalled“Utopia,”aname inspiredmore bythe beer
than by the subjectmatter. Bythe time he was twenty-five, Bernstein waswell enoughknown inthe
socialistmovementtobe chosena delegate tothe historic1875 Gotha conference.Bernsteinbeganin
1896 to publishaseriesof articlesinDie NeueZeit titled“Problems of Socialism”which scrutinized
certainMarxistbeliefs. More thanfiftyyearshadpassed since Marx and Engelsformulatedtheir
sociological forecastthatthe richwouldbecome fewer,the poorpoorerandthe middle
classesnegligible,butBernsteinobservedthatsomethingnearlyopposite had occurred.
By repeatedlycitingMarx or Engels,Bernsteindemonstratedthat he wasfar fromwishingto
rejecttheirteachings wholesale.Buthe wantedtotreattheirworkslike those of anyotherwriter,rather
than as scripture. “Lenin”came from the Ulyanovs.Vladimir,hisreal name,wasbornin1870, the third
of sevenchildren,six of whomsurvivedinfancy.In1886 whenVladimirwasfifteen.Hisfather
diedsuddenly,and ayear laterhe foundout thatAnna andAlexander(Sasha),the twooldestchildren,
were beingheldinSt. Petersburg,where theyattendeduniversity,onchargesof plottingto assassinate
the tsar. Despite that,he graduatedwith hisdegree.Soon,powerfulstrikesshookSt.Petersburg.
Althoughitisnot clearhowmuch theycontributedtothisdevelopment,the police undertookasweep
of the Marxists,andin 1895 LeninandMartov were arrested.Leninwasheld inprisonformore thana
yearuntil beingsentencedtothree yearsof internal exile. He continuedtogainanunderstandingof

6. JabezZinabu
Marx, and thisunderstandingof MarxismseparatedLeninnotonlyfrom Bernsteinbutalsofrommany
otherfollowersof Marx.
Leninbelieved,ashe wrote inhisprivate notes,that “not a single Marxist hasunderstood
Marx!” He was the firstto do so,withhissingle-mindedemphasisonrevolution. Leninwasnot
interestedintheoryforitsownsake.He wasabove all a practitioner, andhiswritingwasalmostalways
inthe service of practice. WhenWhatIsto Be Done? waspublished in1902, he was alreadyat workon a
draft programfor the RussianSocial Democratic Workers’Party. Beginningaround1906, Lenin’s
followers carriedoutarmedrobberiesof banksandarmored cars, sometimeskillingthe guards.They
made off withlarge haulsof cash. It was throughhisskill atsuch workthat StalinfirstwonLenin’s
admiration. Lenin’spathtopowerwasclearedwhenKerenskyfell outwith hismilitarycommander.
In May 1922, lessthantwo yearsafterthe adoptionof the statutesof the Comintern,he
sufferedastroke.Aftersome months,he wasable to returnto work,butin Decemberasecondstroke
followed.InMarch 1923 came the third,whichlefthimlargelyincapacitateduntil hisdeathtenmonths
later. A closerdiscipletoLenin, wasItaly’sMussolini,whosestarwas risingin1922 justas Lenin’sbegan
to decline. Mussolini hadbynow abandonedsocialismandwasforginganew ideology thathe
called“fascism,”yethe still feltabondwithLenin. Atage nine Benitowassenttoa strict
boardingschool runby Silesianpriests,but he wasunhappythere andeventuallygotexpelledfortaking
a knife toa fellow student.Hisparents senthimnexttoa secularboardingschool atForlimpopoli,where
he completedhisprimaryandsecondaryeducation.
Despite Benito’scheckeredcareerasa student,hisfirstjob,at eighteen,wasasa schoolteacher
inthe village of Gualtieri,whichhad a socialistadministration. Soon,however,withamilitarycall-
up approaching,he leftItalyforSwitzerland,InSwitzerland,Mussolini begantopublisharticlesand
poemsin socialistpublications,includingasonnetaboutBabeuf. In1905, at age twenty-two,he took
advantage of a general amnesty fordraftdodgersandreturnedto Italytodo hisservice. Mussolini and

7. JabezZinabu
Balabanoff were bothelectedtothe new executive, andfourmonthslaterhe wasnamededitorof the
party’snational. A month afterhisresignationfromAvanti!,ata meetinginMilan,Mussolini was
expelledfromthe SocialistPartyfor“political andmoral unworthiness.”InMay 1915 Italywenttowar,
and withinafewmonths,Mussolini wascalledtoservice. OnOctober30, Mussolini wasappointed
prime minister. The NationalSocialistGerman Workers’Party wasfoundedin1919 by the Munich
locksmithand toolmakerAntonDrexler.
Hitlerjoinedthe partysome monthslater.He insistedinchangingitsname byaddingthe words
“National Socialist”to emphasize the blendingof nationalismwithsocialism. Notonlythe party’s
symbols,butalsoits“eternal”program,drawn up byDrexlerandHitlerin1920, wassocialistic. When
the Nazistookpower,theydid notcarry outall of the provisionsof their1920 program. The final trigger
of worldwarwas the Stalin-Hitlerpact.InJune 1943, AlliedwarplanesbombedRome forthe first
time. Mussolini proposedtoHitlerthattheyseekaseparate peace with Moscow,butHitlerwasnot
interested,anditisinconceivable thatStalinwouldhave relentednow thathe waswinning. Mussolini
was seenbya bandof Partisansinan attemptto cross the border,disguisedasa Germansoldier,and
was takenintocustody.
He and hiswife Claratawere heldovernight,andinan attemptto save himfrombeing shot,
Clarata jumpedinfrontof him,andtheywere bothshot. Two daysafter Mussolini wasexecuted,Hitler
committedsuicide. ClementAttlee,the seventhof eightchildren,wasbornin1883, the same yearas
Mussolini. AfterPublicSchool he spentthree yearsstudyinghistoryatOxford.Clementandhisbrother
Tom examinedmany issuetogether. Attlee joinedthe IndependentLabourPartyin 1908, the same year
of hisfather’sdeath. Withinafewweeksof joininghe wasaskedtoserve as secretaryof the local
branch. ClementMetVioletin1921, and marriedherthe followingyear,thatsame yearhe ran for
Parliament,thistime winningthe ballot.In1937, two yearsafterbecomingparty
leader, he wrote TheLabourParty in Perspective.Attlee wasneveraCommunist,buthe wrote thatthe

8. JabezZinabu
difference betweensocialistslike himself andthe Communistswasone of “method”not“end,”referring
to the conflictbetweenthe Socialist International andthe Cominternas“internecine strife.
Attlee composedhisgovernmentof those whomhaddevotedtheirlivestosocialism, theytruly
believedtheywerecreatinganewworld. Attlee’sbelief thatsocialismandindependenceshouldgo
handin handin the formercoloniesmetwithfew demurralsinthe Socialist International. Julius
Kambarage Nyerere,wasAfrica’soutstandingtheoreticianof socialism.ArrivingatEdinburghin1949
witha fellowshiptopursue adegree in biology,he wasthe firstTanganyikantostudyinthe
country. Whenhe receivedhisdegree in1945, JuliusreturnedtoTaboraand tooka jobteachingbiology
and historyat St.Mary’s College,a Catholicsecondaryschool. In1952 Nyerere completedhisdegree
and returnedtoTanzania. Nowthirty,he marriedMaria, the fiancée he hadleftbehind,and tooka
teachingpositionat St.FrancisCollege,aschool in Pugu.
Aftera yearNyerere returnedtogovernment,winningTanzania’s firstpresidential electionwith
more than 98 percentof the vote. Amonghisfirstacts as presidentwastoappointa commission
to studythe transitiontoa one-partysystem. Nyerere’sstrategyforwinningthe “war” againstpoverty,
ignorance,anddisease, wassocialism. NyererefirstvisitedChinain1965 and believedhe hadfound a
model more suitable forTanzaniathanthatof the West. Onlya yearafter Nyerere’sfirstvisit,the Great
ProletarianCultural RevolutionwasunleashedbyMaoZedong.For most Chinese,itwas a time of great
horrors,when gangsmurderedmillionsandmuchof society’sconstructive activitygroundto ahalt. In
1967, Nyerere announced ata mass meeting,hisplansof the nationalizationof all banks.The
nationalizationswereimmenselypopular,especiallybecause mostof the ownerswhosepropertywas
takenwere white orAsian.
Nationalizationscontinuedoverthe nextfew years,resultinginthe creationof more thanfour
hundredgovernmentcorporations,called “parastatals.”Intermsof influence,itwasthe Chinese model

9. JabezZinabu
that Tanzaniaseemedmostoftentotryto resemble.In1971 a national militiawasformed.Itspurpose,
writesFreyhold, was“ostensiblytoguardthe country’ssocialistachievementsagainst outside
interventionandlocal reaction.Inpractice the militiawasan enforcingagentforgovernment
directives.”Aftercompletinghistenure as chairman,Nyerere retiredto hisbirthplace,Butiama. In1999,
at age seventy-seven,he diedof leukemiainaLondonhospital. Onthe whole,Nyerere succeededin
avertingthe rise of a middle class,thoughthe consequence of repressingeconomicactivitywasnot
sharedprogress,butsharedstagnation.Accordingtoone WorldBank studyissuedin1990, the year
Nyerere steppeddownas party leader, Tanzania’s economy hadshrunk atan average rate of half a
percenta yearfrom 1965 to 1988.
Samuel Gompers,founderof the AFL, was bornin East Londonin1850. His parents,
Solomon andSara, were DutchJewishimmigrants. Samuel attendedthe JewishFree School fromthe
age of six until ten,whenhisfamilyneededhimtogoto work. His familymovedtothe US in1863.
Gompers,Laurrell andAdolphStrasser,a Hungarianimmigrantandveteranof the IWA,beganto builda
new local unionof cigar makers.Gomperswaschosenas itsunpaidpresident,and by1876 it wasthe
largestone of its kind inthe country. The Knightsof Laborwas a secretive,ritualisticfraternal
organizationwithoutaclearpurpose. Gomperssaidthatthe Knightsof Laborthoughtof itself as
something“higherandgranderthana trade union.”
Gompersbelievedthatthe workers of anygiventrade oughtall to belongtoa single union.
Upon his 1912 presidential nominationnamedGompersasone of sevenprominentcitizensconstituting
an advisorycommissiononnational defense.Gompers, ataroundseventyhadhishealthbegintofail,
forcinghimto reduce hiscigar consumptiontotwenty-five aday!In1924, the same year Lenindied,he
collapsedinMexico.Althoughhe hungonlongenoughto be carried back acrossthe borderto die onhis
home soil, ina San Antoniohotel room.Hislastwordswere:“Godblessour Americaninstitutions.May
theygrowbetterday byday.”

10. JabezZinabu
WilliamGeorge wasborninEast Harlemin 1894. At sixteen, afterayearanda half of high
school,he droppedoutand secretly askedone of hisfather’sfriendsforajobplumbing.Once hisfather
foundout,he made it a conditionthatGeorge take nightclasses,whichhe didandalsoplayedsemi pro
baseball. In1916 hisfather,barelypastfifty, diedandtwoyearslaterhisolderbrotherwaskilledinthe
Great War. Thislefttwenty-four-year-oldGeorgethe role of supporterof hismotherandsix surviving
youngersiblings. In1919, he married EugeniaMacMahon, He alsobecame active inhisunion.Ina last
inheritance fromhis father,he gotelectedtothe local executiveboard andin1922 he waselected
businessagent,andin1934 he waschosenNew York laborchief.In1944, the AFLvotedto establisha
Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC) asa vehicle forlabor’sinternational operations.
Meany despisedthe communists.Toheadthe FTUC and the anticipatedbattle
againstinternational communism,Meanyturnedto JayLovestone.Lovestone wasof Jewishheritage,
and moved toeastNewYork withhisfamilywhenhe turned10.Jay joinedthe socialistpartyin1915,
the same year he enrolledatCityCollegeNew York. Bythe endof the war, the AFL became the first
majorAmericanorganizationtodenounce “Sovietsubjugation”of nationsoccupiedbythe RedArmy.
However,whilethe AFLwasfightingthe Communistsoverseas,abacklashwasbuildingathome against
the role of Communistsinside Americanunions. Meanyservedasthe laborfederation’spresidentfor
twenty-sevenyears,havingmore impactthanGreenduringhistime,andhecombinedthe bodiesinto
one name,AFL-CIO. NotonlydidAmericanlaborcontribute more thanitsshare tothe downfall of
communism,italsoprovedtobe one of the great obstaclestothe global movementtosocialism.Some
socialistshave believedthatthe distinctiveabsenceof socialismfromthe Americanscene wasbecause
the doctrine had neverbeenpresentedaccurately.
Like Mao Zedongand manyof the othertop Communists,Denghad beenachildof privilege.He
was born on August22, 1904, in the village of PaifanginSichuanprovince. A Buddhist,Deng’sfather
wishedforhissonto become a manof learning.The name Xianshengmeans“sage,”andwhenthe boy

11. JabezZinabu
was five,hisfirstteacherconvincedthe fatherthatitwasnot an appropriate name fora child,soit was
changedto Xixian,which meansone aspiringtobe a sage. In 1918, at age fourteen,Dengtookoff witha
seventeen-year-olduncle forthe bigcity,Chongqing, whichwasthree hundredkilometersaway. There
theyenrolledinhighschool forafewmonthsbefore learningof aprogram combiningworkandstudy
for Chinese studentsinFrance. Dengspentayearand a half at a special preparatoryschool andthenleft
fromShanghai justafterhissixteenthbirthday. DengbrieflyjourneyedtoBeijingtojoinMao andthe
sevenotherprincipal Communistleadersinproclaimingthe birthof the People’s Republic. Dengwas
namedgovernorof Chongqingandrulerof all of south-westernChina,one of the six administrative
regionsintowhich the Communistsinitiallydividedthe country.
Havingacquittedhimself well asregional chief,Dengwasin1952, nameddeputypremierof the
state administrativecouncil. Between1954 and 1956, he was promotedtoa seriesof highoffices. The
purpose of the “Great Leap Forward”was to gatherall of China’shundredsof millionsof peasantsinto
vast “people’scommunes,”whichcouldcombineindustry withfarming.Afteraspeech that
inadvertentlycame inconflictwithZedong,Dengbeganshowingsignsof leavingthe “Mao’sgoldenboy”
stigmabehind. He wasarrestedlate in1966 and keptinprison, mostof the time insolitaryconfinement,
until October1969. Releasedfromprison,DengXiaopingwasbanishedtoaremote village inJiangxi
province. Asthe Cultural Revolutionloststeam,Dengwrote twoletterstoMao apologizing, andbegging
to be allowedtoreturnto official work.OnMao’sdecision,a Central Committee resolutioninMarch
1973 restoredDengto the leadership,almostasif nothinghadhappened.
The nightof October6, 1976, exactlyfourweeksafter Mao’spassing,Huaconvenedameeting
of the topleadersinZhongnanhai,the meetingwasatrap where the leaderswere takenintocustody,
and the countryrejoicedincelebrationof the endof the terror of the Cultural Revolution. Bythe mid-
1980s, the focusof economicreformsturnedfromagriculture toindustry.As peasants prospered
farmingtheirownplots, manyof themsaved enoughcapital tolaunchsmall businesses. Mikhail

12. JabezZinabu
Gorbachevwas bornin the tinyvillage of Privolnoye,inthe districtof Stavropol inthe northern
Caucasus.At age fourteen,almostassoonas he was eligible,he joinedthe Komsomol,the partyyouth
organization. GorbachevattendedMoscow State University, andwasthrilledbyhisintellectual
surroundings.The lecturesof famous scientistsandacademicians,he said, “revealedanew world,entire
strata of humanknowledgehithertoun- knowntome.”In1962, Gorbachevgot hisfirstjobinthe adult
party,as agriculture chief inthe Stavropol region. WhileGorbachevsucceededatdemocratizingthe
SovietUnion,hiseconomicreformsfell flat.
“Gorbachev and Dengwere the yin and yang of communism’s demise. Eachwashonestenough
to confrontthe fact that the systemhe had come to rule wasnot working,andeachwas patriotic
enoughtofindthisintolerable.”The mostsuccessfulof all the new socialistpoliticians,andthe model
for manyof the others,wasBritain’sTonyBlair.In1997, afterthe Labour Party had fell inoppositionfor
eighteenyears,he ledittoa landslidevictorythatsurpassedevenAttlee’striumphin1945. Like Attlee,
Blairhad come from a comfortable background.He,too,wasthe sonof a lawyer,hadstudiedthe law
himself butfoundlittle interestin it,andhe too, came to politicsandto socialismonlyin full
adulthood. BlairwentontoSt. John’sCollege atOxfordtostudylaw.In contrast to hisfather,whohad
beensopolitical soyoung,Tonyhad shownno interestinpoliticsthroughouthighschool,andthisdid
not change at St. John’s. Whathelda much“firmergrip” onBlair’sattentionwasrock’n’ roll.
It was notuntil he had leftcollege thathe fell inlove.Cherie Boothwasnot as beautiful assome
of hisgirls,butshe wonhimwithherbrainsand personality.In1988 Blairmade hismark as an man of
change by engineeringareversal of Labour’straditionaloppositiontothe openshop.InMay 1994, John
Smithdiedsuddenlyof a heart attack.Blair immediatelydecidedtorunforleader. Blairproposed
replacingthe term“socialism”with“social-ism,”meant“tosuggestageneral spiritof humanempathy
rather thana rigideconomicdoctrine.”Asthe 1997 electioncampaigndeveloped, Blairkeptmovingin

13. JabezZinabu
the right direction,andwasvictorious. Inoffice,Blairshowedthathe hadlearnedfromClinton’s
mistakesaswell as hissuccesses. Blairattemptata theoretical frameworkare in“The Third Way.”
I foundthe Bookto be a great lookat the historybehindthe socialist regimes,andhow they
evolvedsince the daysof Babeuf andRobertOwen.Itwasinterestingseeingthe earlyhintsof asocialist
ideal changingintothe collaborative school we learnedfromMarx andEngels.Itwas alsointeresting
readinghowmuchinfluence Engelshadonthe Marxist idea,despitethe name.The political socialismof
Mussolini andLenin’srevolutionshowedyetanothernew applicationtothe idea,andmovinginto
Nyerere andthe Africanversionshowedyetanotherwaytochange a societythroughthe system.
The lookintothe moderndaysocialistsociety,namelyTonyBlair’s,wasyetanotherperspective
on the Socialistsociety.If the booklackedinanything,itwouldhave tobe the slightlybiasedview of the
system,whichmayhave beendescribeddifferentlybyamore neutral author.His descriptiondoesn’t
give a gooddescriptionof howcapitalism, individualsandotherforceslessenedthe popularityof
Socialism,orthe impactof the U.S. onits growth.Overall Ifoundthe bookto be a good readon the
historyof the system,givingmanydifferentperspectivesandusesof it.