The Success of Communist Ideas in the American Government Since the beginning of the Cold War, Americans have felt that the word "communism" had many negative connotations. Our country has focused on preventing the spread of that evil form of government. Wars were fought in foreign lands; American lives were lost protecting the world from communism. Many Americans would be horrified, then, to discover that the right system of capitalism actually incorporates many communist ideas. Indeed, many of Karl Marx's radical ideas have reached the most fundamental institutions of the United States government; the government that did everything in its power to prevent the seeds of communism from taking root in other countries. The government imagined by Karl Marx never saw the light of day. The communist governments we all know, such as those of China and the former Soviet Union, have never come close to achieving true communism. They can best be described as dictatorships, rather than governments for the people. As such, the United States was right in preventing its control of the world. However, following the use of the label "communism", many Americans have equated this noun with "dictatorship". “To be a communist means to be in favor of a totalitarian government,” they say. This simple prejudice led to the era of McCarthyism, which destroyed the lives of supporters of Marx's ideas. So did Marx's communism survive? Then as now, many of the US government agencies are inherently communist, taking their basis almost directly from the Communist Manifesto. One of the most radical... middle of paper... best examples of communism can be found right here, in UnitedStates.Works CitedAir Transportation Association - Industry Information. July 21, 2000. Air Transport Association. http://www.air-transport.org/public/industry/16.aspBoard of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. October 13, 2000. The Federal Reserve Board. October 14, 2000 http://www.federalreserve.gov/Brief Corporate History of AT&T, A. 2000. AT&T Corp. October 17, 2000.http://www.att.com/corporate/restructure/history.htmlMarx, Carlo. "The Communist Manifesto". A world of ideas. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 5th. Boston: Bedford, 1998. 212-232. Index of public transport passenger statistics. October 17, 2000. American Public Transportation Association. October 17, 2000.http://www.apta.com/stats/ridershp/index.htm