In political jargon, the term useful idiot was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in western countries and the attitude of the Soviet government towards them. The implication was that though the person in question naïvely thought themselves an ally of the Soviets or other Communists, they were actually held in contempt by them, and being cynically used.
The term is now used more broadly to describe someone who is perceived to be manipulated by a political movement, terrorist group, hostile government, or business, whether or not the group is Communist in nature.
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Origins
Lenin
The term is commonly attributed to Vladimir Lenin, sometimes in the form "useful idiots of the West", to describe those Western reporters and travelers who would endorse the Soviet Union and its policies in the West. In fact, the earlist known usage is a 1948 New York Times on Italian politics. In the spring of 1987, Grant Harris, senior reference librarian at the Library of Congress, said "We have not been able to identify this phrase [useful idiots of the West] among [Lenin's] published works."[1] [2].
Modern usage
In the United States, the term is used as a pejorative to describe a naive person manipulated to produce propaganda for a malign cause.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the term "useful idiot" has also been used by some commentators to describe individuals they believe to be too 'soft' against Islamism and terrorism. For example, Anthony Browne wrote in the United Kingdom newspaper, The Times:[3]
| “ | Elements within the British establishment were notoriously sympathetic to Hitler. Today the Islamists enjoy similar support. In the 1930s it was Edward VIII, aristocrats and the Daily Mail; this time it is left-wing activists, The Guardian and sections of the BBC. They may not want a global theocracy, but they are like the West’s apologists for the Soviet Union — useful idiots. | ” |
Similarly, Bruce Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno wrote:[4]
| “ | Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam. | ” |
See also
External links
Further reading
- Mona Charen, Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong In The Cold War And Still Blame America First, HarperCollins, 2004, ISBN 0060579412
- William Safire, Safire's Political Dictionary, Oxford University Press US, 2008, ISBN 0195343344, Google Print, p.773-774
References
- ^ Boller, Jr., Paul F.; George, John (1989). They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505541-1.
- ^ Times of London article also asserting that Lenin did not say the quote
- ^ Fundamentally, we're useful idiots - Comment - Times Online
- ^ FrontpageMag.com
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