INVESTIGATIONS: Facing Life

What kind of American becomes a Communist or a fellow traveler? Persistently, both right and left tend to answer the question by referring to a type that logically emerges from the writings of Marx; the pro-Communist is expected to be a poverty-driven, culturally disinherited proletarian rebel. But increasingly the U.S. is aware of another type—not poverty-stricken, not rebellious by temperament, not disinherited by external economic forces but created by a subtle psychological rejection of the values upon which Western civilization has been built. In short, an idealist gone wrong.

Last week...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!