Few historical events can compare to the stark contrast between boundless optimism and harsh reality and grand aspirations and futile delusions, as seen in socialism’s proliferation. Its ascent and decline represent one of the most sorrowful chapters of the past century.

Socialism as a political movement took root in 1848 when Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto.” In a nutshell, socialism is a philosophy of economic equality that promotes a doctrine of universal poverty. True economic equality can only be attained in a state of poverty, as the concept of equal wealth is inherently contradictory. Nevertheless, the illusory ideas of socialism transcend time and continue intoxicating people of all colors and races.

Even the Soviet Union’s dramatic collapse and Eastern Europe’s emancipation did not diminish the vitality of socialism and its Marxist ideology. In one of the most dramatic reversals in history, Marxism evolved with a new strategy and found a new home in the United States, gaining renewed vigor and influence within the Democrat party.

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The architect of the new strategy was Barack Obama, an ardent Marxist who possessed a deeper understanding of Marxism than most of his modern counterparts. Obama has challenged fundamental tenets of the ideology.

Contrary to Karl Marx’s dogma that the transition to socialism must be accomplished through violent struggle by the organized working class—the proletariat who had “nothing to lose but their chains”—Obama recognized that the traditional proletarians no longer existed in the United States. Capitalism transformed them into the bourgeoisie or middle class with home ownership and two cars in their garages. Unlike Marx’s proletarians, they had a lot to lose and no motivation for revolution.

Obama also confronted Marxists’ postulate that the prime goal of socialism—abolishing private property and concentrating means of production in the hands of government—is wealth redistribution. Instead, Obama accepted Leon Trotsky’s interpretation: “In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.”

Obama ascertained that the main purpose for expropriating the means of production was not to redistribute wealth—in fact, no wealth has ever been distributed—but, instead, to take control of the economy and then to subjugate the population.

He concluded, quite correctly, that as long as government controls the economy, it controls profits. Most importantly, Obama concluded that to control the economy, the government must control only three vital sectors—health care, finance, and energy. Thus, by controlling profits, the government can gradually impose socialism. Hence, neither revolution nor expropriation is necessary.

The Dodd-Frank Act successfully placed the financial sectors under government oversight. Similarly, Kamala Harris’s desire for “Medicare for All” aims to place healthcare under government management. Additionally, her other proposal to set price control on groceries represents the first direct step to regulate corporate profits.

Augmenting these plans are the pseudo-scientific theories of global cooling, warming, or climate change—whichever is currently in vogue—which are designed to suffocate the energy sector by imposing draconian environmental regulations.

Some of those measures, especially given the high costs of medical care (driven in significant part by the way in which government spending warps the marketplace), will be very popular. Furthermore, the other initiatives—which get support from a heavy dose of demagoguery and lies—could also gain support from the poorly educated American populace.

Obama made a gigantic leap forward in the theory of Marxism, rendering the transition to socialism in the United States theoretically feasible. Moreover, given that the Democrat party’s current leadership does not include figures akin to Lenin or Trotsky and that the leaders lack the visionary intellect and organizational skills necessary for a transition to socialism, it is evident that Obama still remains the intellectual driving force implementing his strategy within the Democrat party.

As we know from history, building socialism is an organized and disruptive artificial process associated with ideological polarization, cultural and political confrontations, and violations of the existing moral order. Gradually, the socialists undermine established institutions—such as marriage, religion, the free-market economy, the judicial system, and the principle of individual liberty—by depicting them as outdated, unjust, and discriminatory. They relentlessly advocate for woke culture, promote homosexuality, and challenge traditional family values, aligning with Lenin’s assertion that “Destroy the family, and you destroy the society.”

To widen its support base and ensure the triumph of socialism in America, the Democrats are in the process of dismantling the established constitutional order by offering suffrage to foreigners. Backing up this malicious concept, some states, such as California, have been automatically registering illegal aliens to vote when they obtain or renew a driver’s license. Indeed, the Democrats are vehemently against voter IDs and cleaning the voter rolls. Consequently, we should anticipate, as it has been the case historically with the socialists, that fraud will be used as the most effective weapon in the socialists’ arsenal.

Paradoxically, in the last twenty years, Russia and America reversed places regarding socialism. While Russia has ended its love affair with socialism, the United States contracted this infectious disease. The communist leaders, ranging from Lenin to Brezhnev, who are watching from the Great Beyond, are incredulous. They observe with sardonic smiles that what the Soviet Union could not achieve through its formidable military and nuclear capabilities is now being realized by duly American presidents and legislature, backed by the American electorate.

Alexander G. Markovsky is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, a think tank that examines national security, energy, risk analysis, and other public policy issues. He is the author of Anatomy of a Bolshevik and Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It. Mr. Markovsky is the owner and CEO of Litwin Management Services, LLC. He can be reached at alexander.g.markovsky@gmai.com.