The Pilgrims Tried Communism. It Didn’t Work Out.

Quick Overview

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony, who initially experimented with a communal property system akin to socialism, abandoned it after 2 1/2 years due to widespread laziness, resource squandering, mass starvation, and plague, ultimately adopting a system honoring private property which led to survival and abundance, a historical lesson the speaker suggests applies to modern political discourse regarding Marxism.

Key Points: Plymouth Colony, founded in 1620, initially operated under a charter that mandated communal property and labor, which the speaker equates to socialism. After two and a half years, the communal system failed, resulting in resources being squandered, vegetables rotting, mass starvation, and plague, according to William Bradford's writings. The colony's leaders abandoned the socialist mandate and created a system honoring private property, after which the colony survived and thrived, celebrating their abundance at the first Thanksgiving feast. The speaker draws a parallel between the Pilgrims' failed experiment and modern Marxism, arguing that core Marxist tenets—abolishing private property and viewing society as a class struggle between oppressors (capitalists) and the exploited (proletariat)—are fundamentally flawed. The speaker cites the hypocrisy of Marxists who advocate for abolishing private property while simultaneously investing in risk-bearing ventures for personal return, or who demand government services while advocating for austerity. The speaker highlights the ongoing appeal of Marxist ideas, noting recent polling suggesting favorable views among Gen Z, and warns against the danger of this ideology's inherent 'demonic, mystical religion' that denies the importance of risk and reward. The core lesson from Plymouth is that systems which fail to compensate risk and effort (like communal property) lead to ruin, whereas private property and free enterprise incentivize productivity and survival.

Context: The video features John Papola, identified as a road filmmaker and founder of the Emergent Order Foundation, discussing the historical precedent for the failure of communal economic systems, using the early Plymouth Colony as a primary case study. Papola frames the discussion around the perceived rise of Marxist sympathies in modern society, contrasting these ideas with the foundational principles of individual enterprise and private property, which he argues are essential for societal success.