Re: Richard Baehr's article today:There is one more major difference between Europe and America that bears mentioning, and it has to do with the nature of the organized labor movement, which of course had tremendous effect on the working classes  in both continents.While the early organized labor movements in both Europe and America included quite a few communists and socialists, in America that changed in the 1950's.  As America assumed the role as the Free World's defender against Soviet Communism, America's organized labor movement, the AFL-CIO, responded favorably by expelling Communists from its ranks (something that didn't happen much in Europe).  In fact, the leaders of the postwar organized labor movement, like George Meany and Lane Kirkland, were staunch anti-Communists who both favored a strong national defense and who actively aided labor movements like Solidarity in Poland behind the Iron Curtain.  In the West, that was practically unique--an...(Read Full Post)