During the Wisconsin protests, we saw Michael Moore show up and urge protesters to fight against Scott Walker’s measures to curtail collective bargaining rights of unions, and to have teachers pitch in for their own pensions. To many on the left, it could seem that Moore’s is a righteous indignation, and an argument in favor of economic, and thus social justice for the “oppressed working class” (as if the tax payers don’t qualify as the “working class”). To the right, justifiably, Moore’s arguments could seem more like populist demagoguery. It seems tantamount to zipping a credit card through the machine at a department store, with no thoughts of the consequences. It smacks of economic irresponsibility, plain and simple, with a state that is $3.6 billion in debt. To those with capitalist sensibilities, it makes sense to cut back in times of economic despair, and to continue with overinvestment in education labor simply creates a looming disaster. It would also seem that it is not economic relief in its truest sense to the “working class” of a country, if it is likely to cause yet another economic disaster, for which they will be on the hook at a later date.

To people like myself, Moore’s tactics would seem reminiscent of the failed state of the Soviet Union, although it can sometimes be hard to verify. However, with a little bit of research, we find that people with capitalist instincts could very well be right on the mark, and that the Tea Party will most likely be on the winning side of history. Capitalists in this argument have a strong ally.

Yuri Maltsev was a high-ranking economist for the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, and he has authored large amounts of literature decrying the socialist/communist policies of his former regime. He has spoken to the failures of socialism time and again, and in a lecture at the Ludwig von Mises Institute last September, he offered a stunning rebuke of Michael Moore and his amateur economic policies. He stated that Michael Moore is

“a communist propaganda hit man in the United States.”

A rebuke such as this coming from the Tea Party or the typical American conservative could easily be washed over by the mainstream media, but to hear it from a Soviet economic expert is an entirely different thing. Maltsev was perhaps the second in command economist, during the 1980s perestroika era of the USSR. (See previous link for all biographic info) He was a first-hand witness to the Soviet Union as it entered into full collapse. As a high-ranking economist, he also had a firm grasp on the reasons behind its collapse. He became disenchanted with the USSR and Marxism and defected to America in 1989. Since then, he has come out strongly in favor of capitalism and Austrian school economics. With inside knowledge of the workings of the Soviet economy, he knows better than perhaps anyone else why it failed.

With his expert insight, he is unafraid to use strong words to speak of his opponents, and with his firsthand knowledge and economic expertise, it is also nearly impossible to label Maltsev a reactionary. His view of the unwinding of the Soviet Union could arguably make him one of the best experts on the failures of socialism and communism, and his evaluations are anything but reactionary, but rather, scientific. To hear him label Michael Moore as “a communist propaganda hit man” makes the world stop and listen. Maltsev knows what he is talking about.

According to Maltsev, the Soviet Union churned out oceans of propaganda since its inception in 1917, in order to keep the entire scheme going. In his lectures, he harps on the notion that much of the Soviet economy’s numbers were fiction, and that the Soviet scheme relied heavily on the shaky pillars of vodka and propaganda. He implies that Michael Moore’s words follow the Soviet pattern of telling economic fairytales and denouncing naysayers.

He cites Moore’s book “Downsize This,” and notices that, on page 27 he states that he would force conservative critic William Safire to shovel manure in North Dakota if he were in power. While this could be an off-the-cuff and innocent remark by Moore, Maltsev realizes that he is unwittingly admiring the tactics of Josef Stalin. To someone who witnessed first-hand the aftermath of Stalin’s brutality, this comment is no joke. The incompetent brutality, I might add. Maltsev realizes, that if Moore’s tactics were implemented, America would be following the same blueprint pattern as the Soviet Union. To Maltsev, these matters are nothing to laugh at-he witnessed firsthand the starvation and poverty caused by communism in the USSR. Although it might be hard for Americans to grasp that Michael Moore’s sentiments are actually equal to communism, Maltsev has no problem believing it, and no problem stating it as such. It would seem that Michael Moore’s “communist propaganda” is the literary vodka required for communism/socialism to make sense. One gets the sense that Maltsev’s words are not hyperbole. In addition, due to the size of its government, he often states that America is frighteningly close to communism already, and it’s closer to communism than it is to the original founders’ notions for our economy. He also tells his audience that being in California is similar to being in the USSR.

It seems that the liberal media would love to capture the statement “Michael Moore is a communist propaganda hit man” on a Tea Party sign, as if it were evidence of the movement’s “misguided zealotry.” However, they would be woefully ignorant that the words were actually stated by a Soviet economic expert, and that the idea factually stands on a very strong foundation.

To be accurate, Maltsev’s original quote is somewhat different, due to his broken English. The original quote word for word states that Michael Moore is a “….communist propaganda kind of hit man in the United States,” and I corrected his English. A direct link to the actual video quote is provided above; it appears in the video around 32:20 sec of the lecture.