Make no mistake, communists do not like liberalism; that is, the genuine liberalism of Western civilization. They denounce liberals (“liberal blockheads” Lenin called them) and attempt by every means to destroy them. The communists realize that true liberalism is a bitter enemy, a fighter for the things that communism opposes. A derisive poem entitled “March of the Liberals” published in the July 16, 1935, issue of _New Masses_ (a now-defunct communist publication) makes clear this communist attitude, depicting liberals as weak, vacillating, and incapable of any affirmative action: a conclusion is something we never can find.... ... One step forward and two steps back: that’s the method of our attack. “You see here,” _New Masses_ comments, “the rhyme and reason of why a liberal looks so poisonous to a sincere and active radical....” The “antidote” for such liberalism? “Weekly doses” of Marxism-Leninism, or, in the words of the editors, “If you know one of these ‘open-minded’ marchers, you can save him! Give him a copy of NEW MASSES quick....” The liberals do not want revolution but genuine social reforms. That is why the communists detest them. But if they can be exploited, so much the better. Like everybody else, they are fuel for the communist engine of revolution. 2. _Communists are not progressives._ “We of the Communist Party are fully and completely in the camp of progress....” A prime tenet of communist propaganda is that communism is the latest word in social progress. All other forms of government, especially our constitutional government, according to the communists are outmoded, old-fashioned, and antique. Communism is the wave of the future, they like to say, bringing all the good things that man has been dreaming about for years. Religion, the “opium” of the people, must be destroyed, God cast out, and the “oppressors” liquidated. The road ahead is clear. Join the Communist Party and see “progress.” Those who do not join are “reactionaries,” “fascists,” and “warmongers.” Everybody likes progress. If you are a farmer, you want to grow better corn and more of it. If you have a lawn, you want to weed out the dandelions and have better grass. If you are a manufacturer, you want to develop a better product. This is a natural human trait. The communists, identifying themselves with this idea, have convinced many people that they are the “progressives” of the twentieth century. The exact opposite is true. Communists are barbarians in modern dress, using both club and blood purge.