Heaven On Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism (Brief Encounters)

socialism Was Man's Most Ambitious Attempt To Supplant Religion With A Doctrine Claiming To Ground Itself In Science. Indeed, No Religion Ever Spread So Far So Fast. Yet While Socialism Had Established Itself As A Fact Of Life By The Beginning Of The 20th Century, It Did Not Create Societies Of Abundance Or Give Birth To The New Man. Each Failure Inspired New Searches For The Path To The Promised Land: Revolution, Communes, Social Democracy, Communism, Fascism, Third World Socialism. None Worked, And Some Exacted Staggering Human Tolls. Then, After Two Hundred Years Of Wishful Thinking And Fitful Governance, Socialism Suddenly Imploded In A Fin Du Siecle Drama Of Falling Walls And Collapsing Regimes. In Heaven On Earth, Joshua Muravchik Traces This Fiery Trajectory Through Sketches Of The Thinkers And Leaders Who Developed The Theory, Led It To Power, And Presided Over Its Collapse. We See Such Dreamers And Doers As The French Revolutionary Gracchus Babeuf, Whose Conspiracy Of Equals Were The First To Try To Outlaw Private Property; Robert Owen, Who Hoped To Plant A Model Socialist Utopia In The United States; Friedrich Engels, Who Created The Cult Of Karl Marx And Scientific Socialism; Benito Mussolini, Self Proclaimed Socialist Heretic And Inventor Of Fascism; Clement Attlee, Who Rejected The Fanatics And Set Out To Build Socialism Democratically In Britain; Julius Nyerere, Who Merged Social Democracy And Communism In The Hope Of Making Tanzania A Model For The Developing World; And Mikhail Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping And Tony Blair, Who Became Socialism's Inadvertent Undertakers. Muravchik's Accomplishment In Heaven On Earth Is To Tell A Story Filled With Character And Event While At The Same Time Giving Us An Epic Chronicle Of A Movement That Tried To Turn The World Upside Down--and For A Time Succeeded. foreign Affairs an Engaging Narrative Of The Twists And Turns In Socialism's History With A Focus On The Individuals Who Invented, Popularized, Redefined, And Exploited Socialism Across The Eras. The Story Begins With The Early Harbingers Of The International Socialist Movement, Such As Gracchus Babeuf And Robert Owen. The Collaboration Between Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels And The Rise Of Scientific Socialism Is Also Discussed — Even Though The Connection Between Their Writings And The Wider Political Developments In Europe That Made Them Such A Force In History Is Strangely Missing. The Book Then Turns To The Political Triumphs And Fractured Pathways Of Lenin's Revolution, Benito Mussolini's Fascism, Clement Atlee's Labour Party, And The African Socialism Of Julius Nyerere. In Muravchik's View, Socialism Failed Because Of Its Bad Economic Performance And, More Generally, Its Historical Inability To Gain A Foothold In The United States. In The End, The Book's Focus On Colorful Individuals Provides Interesting Reading, But It Fails To Deliver A Satisfactory Account Of How Ideas, Individuals, Industrial Capitalism, And World Historical Forces Combined To Produce Socialism's Great Drama. Nor Is There Any Effort To Explore Its Lasting Legacies Or Offer Lessons For Modern-day Ideological Movements. "Socialism was man's most ambitious attempt to supplant religion with a doctrine claiming to be rational and "scientific." In the century following its birth in the French Revolution, socialism was propounded by writers and organizers until it became the fastest-growing idea in Europe. Then Lenin showed that it could be spread better by the sword than by the word, and soon it spanned the globe. No other political idea, indeed no religion, ever traveled so far so fast.". "The search for the Promised Land took socialists in diverse directions: revolution, communes and kibbutzim, social democracy, communism, fascism, Third Worldism. But none of these paths led to the prophesied utopia. Nowhere did socialists succeed in creating societies of easy abundance or in midwifing the birth of a "New Man," as their theory promised. Some socialist governments abandoned their grandiose goals and satisfied themselves with making slight modifications to capitalism, while others plowed ahead doggedly, often inducing staggering human catastrophes. Then, after two hundred years of wishful thinking and fitful governance, socialism suddenly imploded in the 1990s in a fin du siecle drama of falling walls, collapsing regimes and frantic revisions of doctrine."--BOOK JACKET. Annotation Joshua Muravchik traces the fiery trajectory of socialism with sketches of dreamers and doers who developed the theory, led it to power, and presided over its collapse. Among them are the French revolutionary Gracchus Babeuf, whose "Conspiracy of Equals" wanted to outlaw private property; Robert Owen, who tried to plant a model socialist utopia in the United States; Friedrich Engels, who created the cult of Karl Marx and "scientific" socialism; Benito Mussolini, self-proclaimed socialist heretic and inventor of fascism; Clement Attlee, who set out to build socialism democratically in Britain; Julius Nyerere, who hoped to make Tanzania a model for the developing world; and Mikhail Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping and Tony Blair, who became socialism's inadvertent undertakers. "Heaven on Earth" is an epic chronicle of a movement that tried to turn the world upside down-and for a time succeeded EASTER SUNDAY, 1911, was a glorious spring day in the region of Picardy, with a "superb azure sky" beckoning locals to their gardens and fishing holes, so the newspaper reported. Presents portraits of some of the thinkers and leaders responsible for the development and spread of socialism, as well as those who presided over its collapse in the 1990s