A couple of weeks ago, Jim McAdams became a television star, just about. That is, he was featured in a video that aired during the Notre Dame–Michigan football game. Professor McAdams — A. James McAdams — is a professor of international relations at Notre Dame. In the video, he spoke about freedom and democracy, particularly in Ukraine.
He is one of the world’s leading authorities on Communism, and he is my guest on Q&A, here. His recent book is a very good one, and a very important one — a book built to last: Vanguard of the Revolution: The Global Idea of the Communist Party. It is a summa, the fruit of a lifetime of learning, investigating, thinking, and assimilating. I reviewed the book for Academic Questions, here.
In our podcast, I asked him about his background and education. He went to Earlham College and, for his Ph.D., Berkeley. He loved his time at Berkeley, and still holds it as his favorite academic institution. We then talked about some of the many issues brought up by Communism.
What are the religious aspects of it? Why do Communists have special contempt for liberals (meaning, people who support the whole Western project of pluralism, elections, etc.)? What about the United States? Why did Communism never take root here, much to the frustration of American and other Reds? What about the importance of individuals in history — Gorbachev, to take one? What about Communism in today’s China, and Cuba? Finally, what about the fate of liberal democracy? It cannot be taken for granted, McAdams says. That is, there is no guarantee that this blessing will last.
Reagan used to say, “Freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction.”
At the end of our podcast, Professor McAdams talks movingly about love — an antidote to Communism, fascism, and illiberalism in general. He is a wonderful teacher. Again, here.