Marx betrayed

It is staggering to read James Carroll claim that “Marxism has yet to be really tried,” (Labor's failure, 9/3/07) blaming Marxism’s 100% failure rate on the “betrayal” of “tyrants.” Marxism has been “really tried” in dozens of states. The invariable result is tyranny and great human suffering—according to “The Black Book of Communism” as many as100 million deaths in the 20th century.

The culpability for this legacy of murder lies not with tyrants who hijack a valid system; it lies with Marxism itself. Radical redistribution of wealth requires placing absolute power in the hands of a central planning boards, which unfortunately are governed by corruptible human beings. Marxism, as Hayek wrote in 1944, is a “road to serfdom.”