Although I agree wholeheartedly with the premise that we should work to stop American military aggression overseas, I find the argument espoused by the Sparticist League to be one that has long ago been discredited (‘Remember Vietnam, BU anti-war group says,’ Feb. 28, pg. 1). Like many movements throughout world history, the communist movement was born in the mind of an intelligent, well-meaning intellectual. Marx was a great philosopher who was trying to right a wrong. Unfortunately, he did not understand the need of human beings to be free of the intrusive power of ‘Big Brother’ governments.

I was a very dedicated anti-war activist during the Vietnamese-American war, as well. I even flirted with the idea that socialism and communism were appropriate alternatives to the excesses of capitalism. Now I live in Vietnam, and I see firsthand what evils communism has wrought. I see the hopes and dreams of countless men and women of my generation lost to a ruthless application of Marx’s philosophy.

Those of you who attended the Sparticist League lectures, please understand that good intentions should not be translated into violent action. Violent protests of this or any other violence is subverting the very spirit of the anti-war movement. Just as communists are wrong about the nature of society and the individual, they are also wrong about the nature of protest. The proper role models for protest are not Lenin, but Gandhi, Nelson Mandela (a socialist, but not a communist) or Martin Luther King, Jr.