Death of a Heresy

GEORGE WEIGEL

WHAT DIED in the Soviet Union on August 21, 1991, was, in the strict sense of the term, a heresy. For Communism was never just economic foolishness married (in its Leninist form) to draconian methods of social control: Communism was a false doctrine, a congeries of false teachings about human nature, human community, human history, and human destiny. Therein lay its power: its power to attract, and its power to coerce.

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GEORGE WEIGEL

WHAT DIED in the Soviet Union on August 21, 1991, was, in the strict sense of the term, a heresy. For Communism was never just economic foolishness married (in its Leninist form) to draconian methods of social control: Communism was a false doctrine, a congeries of false teachings about human nature, human community, human history, and human destiny. Therein lay its power: its power to attract, and its power to coerce.