In the past century, no ideology has caused more suffering than communism.
The numbers are almost impossible to grasp. Over 100 million men, women, and children killed by regimes that promised equality but delivered incredible suffering and death.
Under Mao Zedong, peasants were forced into collectives, food was seized from the countryside, and dissenters were crushed. Between the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, as many as 70 million Chinese died, many from starvation in a land that could have fed them.
Joseph Stalin declared that individuals didn’t matter, only the collective. He starved Ukraine into submission, sent entire families to Siberian gulags, and executed those who questioned him. The Soviet death toll sits at roughly 20 million souls.
Pol Pot tried to build a “pure” agrarian society by emptying cities and forcing people to work in fields. Teachers, doctors, and anyone with glasses were branded as “intellectuals” and executed. Nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population vanished in less than five years.
And in North Korea, the legacy continues. It’s an entire country trapped in silence, where the state owns your labor, your thoughts, and your future. Whole families are still “disappeared” for the crime of wrongthink.
These examples are not “failures of bad leadership.” They are the inevitable outcome of a belief system that denies human nature and elevates the state above the individual.
I was pleased to see the White House formally acknowledge this reality earlier this month when they proclaimed the first week of November Anti-Communism Week:
“This week, our Nation observes Anti-Communism Week, a solemn remembrance of the devastation caused by one of history’s most destructive ideologies. Across continents and generations, communism has wrought devastation upon nations and souls. More than 100 million lives have been taken by regimes that sought to erase faith, suppress freedom, and destroy prosperity earned through hard work, violating the God-given rights and dignity of those they oppressed. As we honor their memory, we renew our national promise to stand firm against communism, to uphold the cause of liberty and human worth, and to affirm once more that no system of government can ever replace the will and conscience of a free people.
For more than a century, communism has brought nothing but ruin. Wherever it spreads, it silences dissent, punishes beliefs, and demands that generations kneel before the power of the state instead of standing for freedom. Its story is written in blood and sorrow, a grim reminder that communism is nothing more than another word for servitude.
In the 34 years since the end of the Cold War, the world has witnessed both the triumph of democracy and the persistence of tyranny in new forms. New voices now repeat old lies, cloaking them in the language of “social justice” and “democratic socialism,” yet their message remains the same: give up your freedom, place your trust in the power of the government, and trade the promise of prosperity for the empty comfort of control. America rejects this evil doctrine. We remain a Nation founded on the eternal truth that liberty and opportunity are the birthrights of every person, and that no ideology, whether foreign or domestic, can extinguish them.
As we mark Anti-Communism Week, we stand united in defense of the values that define us as a free people. We honor the victims of oppression by keeping their cause alive and by ensuring that communism and every system that denies the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness will find their place, once and for all, on the ash heap of history.”
A lot of us aren’t big fans of President Trump, and there are a lot of reasons that the actions of his government deserve criticism. But I’m happy to see the US government take an official stand against communism.
Somehow what was known to our parents and grandparents as the greatest evil ever to be inflicted on humanity has been transformed through social engineering to become nothing more than another way of thinking about government.
Generations now have been taught that communism is just as viable as any other form of societal organization, and nearly all stigma around it has been removed.
And the results show.
Surveys find that one in three young Americans say they have a favorable view of communism, and nearly two-thirds say the same of socialism. Many can’t identify what those systems did—or how many millions suffered under them—but they are willing to give them a shot here.
That’s what happens when history gets rewritten by powerful people with an agenda. Truth and moral clarity get replaced by nuance and eventually, people accept literal, actual evil without even knowing what it really is.
It’s why we built the Tuttle Twins library of books and resources.
We wanted to help families talk about these ideas honestly. We wanted to teach kids not just what happened, but why it happened, and to remind them that freedom, once lost, is rarely regained without tremendous cost.
Because of your continued support, you’ve gained VIP early access to this year’s Black Friday Sale. It’s our biggest event of the year, and for you, access starts now!
You can choose from:
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The Family Starter Pack 14 children’s books, audiobooks, workbooks, and parent guides, all for a whopping 72% off + free shipping
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The MEGA Bundle the full Tuttle Twins collection, plus our history curriculum, fiction series, and guidebooks for 75% off + free shipping
These books, videos, and curriculum help kids understand the principles that keep societies free—ideas like individual rights, personal responsibility, and the dangers of centralized power.
I know that the only antidote to bad ideas is real education. And there’s no one more qualified than the people who love and know your kids the best to teach them the truth.
The work you’re doing is laying the foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and free future for all of us. Thanks for letting our resources be part of the vital work you do!
— Connor
