Emma Goldman: An Enlightened Fool

I find it laughable that a refugee from a Muslim country has the audacity to lecture American citizens on what it means to be an American. This same woman, Ilhan Omar, proclaims to love our country so much, that she wants to fundamentally change it. Apparently, we’re so flawed, that we’re incapable of fulfilling our promises. One can only guess what that maybe. Afterall, who knows more about the American creed than a Muslim refugee from an Islamic state.

America has a history of foreign radicals coming to our shores with the intention of fundamentally changing it. The Progressive Era is replete with anarchists and communist revolutionaries murdering, bombing and causing mayhem. Some gained notoriety if not outright infamy. Emma Goldman was one of them.

Emma Goldman was a Russian emigrant. It only took her a couple of years to seek out and hook up with anarchists in New York City. There she built a career denouncing the United States and agitating for social justice. Does that sound familiar?

She and her boyfriend, Alexander Berkman - another Russian emigrant and fellow anarchist - plotted to assassinate Henry Clay Frick of Carnegie Steel. He failed and ended up in prison for about 14 years, while she remained free to agitate. After he was freed, they continued to propagate their anti-American screed through publications and a prolific lecture circuit.

But something happened on the way to utopia. The United States entered WWI and shortly thereafter, the Bolshevik Revolution happened in Russia. Guess who were fans of the Bolsheviks? That’s right, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. But they weren’t alone. There were thousands of other immigrants who subscribed to this foreign ideology.

President Wilson realized something had to be done about the enemy from within. Beginning in 1919, Federal, state and local agents began to round up foreign radicals then sent them to the Bureau of Immigration for deportation. Amongst them, were Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman and a coterie of their fellow buddies. They were sent to Finland with an armed escort to that dreamed of paradise known as Bolshevik Russia.

Now, you’d think that would be a happy ending for these “American” revolutionaries, but you’d be wrong. Come to find out, socialist/communist don’t believe in free speech. Moreover, they don’t tolerate anarchists. Lenin massacred thousands of them. Wow. I guess the United States doesn’t look so bad afterall. Hindsight is 20/20. That’s too bad for our anarchist duo.

I watched a documentary about Emma Goldman. Towards the end, I noticed a common refrain: Emma Goldman was an enlightened fool. Correspondence between these two anarchists affirm this acknowledgment. Berkman later committed suicide.

President Trump maybe onto something when he hinted that Ilhan Omar should go back to her native country and fix it. Maybe then, she’ll begin to understand what a fool she is for denigrating her adopted country.

Source:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emma-Goldman

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palmer-Raids