Unlike the bloody Bolshevik Revolution that hastily brought Marxism to Moscow and eventually Eastern Europe, American socialists have sought a different path.
In the United States, socialists have pursued revolution through stealthier, softer, and slower means, what many academics refer to as the “long march through the institutions.”
Whether this strategy should be credited to Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci or German student activist Rudi Dutschke is beside the point.
Suffice it to say, in America, the socialist long march has triumphed.
As many polls show, socialism is more popular than ever in America, especially among young Americans.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), “the largest socialist organization in the United States,” wields more political power than ever.
The DSA has scores of members in political offices throughout the country, with hundreds more on the ballot in November. It has money. It has momentum.
But most importantly, it has the hearts and minds of young people.
Long story short: the Left’s long march has already succeeded.
To understand why the long march has been so successful, one must recognize its cornerstone: education indoctrination.
Not that long ago, I was a public high school social studies teacher.
I want to describe my experience briefly.
Before entering the classroom, I had to earn a degree from an accredited teacher college.
I am not exaggerating when I say that my two-year program at a prominent educator college in Chicago did little to prepare me to be an effective teacher. To my frustration, ample time was devoted to long discourses on far-left political and social ideology.
Social and emotional learning methods were deemed far superior to content mastery. We were told to fixate on academic equity, not academic excellence.
Most of my professors were more concerned with preparing us to become social justice warriors far more than they were concerned that we would be good teachers.
During my student teaching period at a high school in a Chicago suburb, my mentor teacher reinforced this narrative. The teacher groupthink was startling. Frankly, I was afraid to speak out on the grounds that I would be reprimanded somehow.
Unsurprisingly, I encountered this same dynamic during my several years as a social studies teacher in Illinois and South Carolina.
Here is one anecdote. The day after President Trump won the 2016 election, nearly every teacher in the social studies department wore all-black clothing because they “were in mourning.” This happened in ruby red South Carolina.
Parents must understand that the level of Marxist indoctrination occurring in public schools has reached a crisis point.
A generation of American students has been intentionally misinformed about the evil nature of socialism. On the contrary, they have been miseducated into believing that socialism is righteous.
Millions of American students have no idea that socialism has been tried and failed time and time again. They are unaware of the mass poverty, misery, and murder that socialist governments have wrought upon their people.
Even worse, they are being brainwashed into believing that individual liberty and free enterprise are the real enemies.
As a libertarian, I am generally not for government intervention and mandates. However, in the realm of public education, I think the case is so dire that those heavy-handed solutions might be the only way to force change.
To his credit, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saw this problem coming years ago.
In 2024, DeSantis signed SB 1264 into law, which “requires instruction in public schools about the history of communism.”
In 2025, the Florida Department of Education approved “new History of Communism standards” to equip “students with a truthful, in-depth understanding of how communist ideologies suppress individual freedoms, abuse power, and inflict widespread suffering.”
Anastasios Kamoutsas, Florida’s Education Commissioner at the time, emphasized that the “standards will ensure that students learn the truth about the brutal realities of life under communism and gain a deeper appreciation for the blessings of liberty that define our nation.”
“With the resurgence of communist ideologies across the United States,” he added, “it is more important than ever for students to understand the catastrophic failures and human suffering caused by communist regimes.”
I could not agree more.
This fall, Florida public students are learning the truth about socialism. Could this be the beginning of the end of the long march? I sure hope so.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.