Men's Group

"the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents." Then he wheels out the heavy rhetorical artillery. The typical socialist, according to Orwell, "is either a youthful snob-Bolshevik who in five years time will quite probably have made a wealthy marriage and been converted to Roman Catholicism, or, still more typically, a prim little man with a white-collar job, usually a secret teetotaler, and often with vegetarian leanings … with a social position he has no intention of forfeiting. … One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words 'Socialism' and 'Communism' draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, 'Nature Cure' quack, pacifist and feminist in England." (Think "organic food lover," "militant nonsmoker," and "environmentalist with a private jet" for a more contemporary list.)

BINGO!

I think the real problem emerged in during the Vietnam War. Young college-bound kids telling hard-hats that they personally were to blame for sexism, racism, and empire is no way to gain hearts and minds. Burning and shitting on the American flag after the working class came back from WW2 and Korea, again, very counter-productive.

Liberals still haven't outlived the blown opportunity that was the 1960 counter-culture.