Peter the Anarchist, Marx the Communist, Lenin the Bolshevik, and Adam Smith the free-market liberal: these are some of the most iconic images of modern Western political philosophy. They are the figures whose names have become symbolic of the opposing political traditions and schools of thought on the left and right.

We, as the radical left, are often accused of being idealist. This accusation is often leveled against us by political conservatives who have been indoctrinated into the idea that capitalism is a necessary condition for democracy and civil rights. These claims aren't new - they have a long and complex history in the US, being made of the cold war propaganda deported into public conscious through the state department.

The anticommunists and reacitonaries want people to believe that socialism is a form of government that will produce despotism. The problem is, they can't really prove it. After all, they can't provide a systematic critique of the philosophy of Marx and Engels, or a rigorous, detailed treatment of Marxism as a socioeconomic system. In fact, the best they can do is appeal to emotion and strawman the actual arguments of their opponents.

To the contrary, Socialism has in fact been a remarkably effective tool for the building of a more egalitarian, democratic and just society. There are plenty of examples - the Paris Commune, the Yugoslavia of Tito, Chile under Allende, Cuba today. Socialism, by its very nature, must be rooted in community, in the practice of solidarity and the collective struggle for justice and equity.

Yet, even this very basic assertion of Socialism's political efficacy is met with fierce resistance by the right. It's true, Socialism did fail miserably in a few instances. But that failure was not inherent to Socialism itself. It was rather the result of the right's ruthless imperialism, foreign military interventions and economic exploitation.

Capitalism is an inherently repressive system - it always depends on coercion and violence, usually from the state and the police. For its very success lies in the fact that it is a hierarchical and stratified system that benefits those at the top, at the expense of everyone else.

Capitalism is not a system that allows for the freedom of the individual or the collective. Indeed, it's the opposite: it demands total obedience to the logic of profit.

When the right argues that Socialism would not work, they really mean that they want to retain their privileges, their power and their hegemony, not only in the economic realm but also in the cultural one. Socialism is therefore not only an economic and political project, but a cultural one as well. Socialism seeks to liberate the human potential and creative energy that dwells within each and every one of us.