Dear Professor Boudreaux,

When I was a young Air Force officer stationed in England in the early 1970’s, the University of Arkansas sent professors from Fayetteville to Europe to teach graduate level classes. I got an MA in international relations over a period of two years by going to night school on base. Great professors. Some were what we today would call liberal and some conservative, but discussion was open and challenging. In any event, for one of the classes I wrote a paper on Russian propaganda. There was a Russian information outlet in London. I picked up all their propaganda, which was not restricted to English citizens in any way. I had purchased at the base exchange a nice Sony multi-band radio. It included all the short-wave bands. (I still have it!) I easily found radio Moscow and listened each night for the duration of the course.

My point is that I found both the written and broadcast propaganda to be almost childish. There was no threat from this quarter that anyone, no matter how sympathetic to socialism, would be spurred to revolution. The bigger threat to English well-being came from their adoption of socialist practices after WWII. Major industries had been nationalized. All were failing to deliver the promised abundance, and all were racked by trade union strikes. I recall that the ship building industry was plagued by several unions for specific skills. One or more were always on strike and the others would not cross the picket lines. The worst threat was the stranglehold that the coal miners held over coal production. The union was run by an avowed communist, Arthur Scargill. The country suffered two very long strikes. One lasted so long that the country was placed on a three-day work week among rolling blackouts. The Air Force came very close to sending dependents of American servicemen back to the States.

My insight, whether correct or not, was that the nationalized coal industry was susceptible to strikes. Had the industry been in private hands and had the owners had the right to hire non-union workers without the threat of union violence, the strikes would have had little impact.

Just my two cents worth.

Warmest regards,

Pat Barron