Communism at Masterman

In one of the least diverse schools in a city in which 75% of voters are Democrats, it is no secret that Masterman is overwhelmingly blue. Having said that, some of the students on the far left of the spectrum are starting to identify as anarchists, socialists, and even communists.

Masterman’s socialist book club, started this school year by Malcolm Margasak (11-3) and Shane Cohen-Mungan (12-1), seems to be the closest thing to a communist institution within the student body. The club meets Tuesdays at lunch in the IMC and discusses the books that they are reading, in addition to discussing present-day politics and philosophy outside of their books. They are currently reading Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin, a book outlining how to make a good transition from a revolutionary state to a stable society.

However, Shane, one of the socialist book club’s founding members, makes it clear that he is not a communist. He says that there is a quote from Howard Zinn (A well-respected historian famous for his A People’s History of the United States) that embodies his stance: “I might be something of an anarchist, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist, I don’t know.” He is also open about how he became as far left as he is now. While Shane says he was raised in a relatively far-left household, he says, “I have the views that I have now from reading and thinking on my own.” Malcolm, also not a communist, says that “I have very liberal parents, so I was encouraged to read liberal things at a young age.”

Despite the new presence of the socialist book club, there are seemingly no outwardly “communist” kids at Masterman. Some dare to identify as a democratic socialist, but it seems that the allegiance of the majority of students lies with the moderate democratic portion of the spectrum. This was made apparent by the enormous victory of the student incarnation of Joe Biden in the Masterman Mock Election this past fall. While this Mock Election was definitely influenced by many things other than actual policy (food, dogs on the patio, etc.), it could be a peek into the reluctance of students to support the closest thing to a communist that the U.S. political system has seen in years. Tim Panagoplos (9-3), says that: “I think that it [communism] limits our human potential. I believe that humankind can create great things and communism just limits our ability to progress. They do it in the name of fairness, but in all reality, I don’t think it’s very fair at all. People are born to live free.”