Raymond Aron on Leftists

Raymond Aron in The Opium of the Intellectuals: 

“An honest and intelligent person can never become a leftist. An honest leftist is bad-headed, and a smart leftist is dishonest. If you don't know the contradictory essence of socialism, you're stupid, and if you know and follow it, you're a liar.” 

            Null Set II

Honest, intelligent, and a leftist,

You know what’s occurred to me?

Such is the nature of socialism,

It’s impossible to be all three. 

This poem is my update of "Null Set," which I posted in June of 1998: 

Null Set

Decent, intelligent, and a journalist,

You know what's occurred to me?

In what has become of America,

It's impossible to be all three. 

David Martin

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