communismBritain Culture wars 

Communism isn’t cool; it’s a murderous creed

Communism isn’t cool; it’s a murderous creed

Comrades! You have a funky new star. When the Corbynite lecturer Ash Sarkar appeared last week on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to discuss protests against President Trump’s visit, she told the presenter Piers Morgan: “I’m literally a communist.”

As a result, she’s become literally a media sensation. Interviewed by Teen Vogue, she enlightened its doubtless surprised readers about Karl Marx’s early and obscure critique of capitalism, Die GrundrisseElle magazine declared Sarkar was “literally a communist and literally our hero!” So now you can be a communist and cool. Who knew?

Not, apparently, that she sought such fame. She told the Guardian she had only wanted to bash Trump. To her surprise and gratification, however, her confrontation with Morgan, whom she addressed as “you idiot”, had “accidentally rehabilitated communism”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to need much rehabilitation. For communism is in shocking vogue among many more than just teens.

To read my whole Times column (£), click here.

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