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In [[political jargon]], a '''useful idiot''' (also '''useful fool'''<ref name="rwholder" />) is a person perceived as a [[propagandist]] for a cause the goals of which they are not fully aware, and who is used cynically by the leaders of the cause.<ref name="rwholder" /> |
In [[political jargon]], a '''useful idiot''' (also '''useful fool'''<ref name="rwholder">{{citation|page=394|chapter=useful fool|title=Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|first=R. W. |last=Holder|year=2008|isbn= 978-0199235179|quote=useful fool – a dupe of the Communists. Lenin's phrase for the shallow thinkers in the West whom the Communists manipulated. Also as ''useful idiot''.}}</ref>) is a derogatory term for a person perceived as a [[propagandist]] for a cause the goals of which they are not fully aware, and who is used cynically by the leaders of the cause.<ref name="rwholder"/><ref name="oed"/> The term was originally used to describe non-Communists regarded as susceptible to Communist propaganda and manipulation.<ref name="oed">{{cite encyclopedia |title=useful idiot |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |year=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> The term does not appear to have been used within the Soviet Union.<ref name="oed"/> |
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== Origin of the term == |
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==Reported usage by Lenin== |
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According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms'', the phrase stems from the Russian ''useful fool'' to refer to "a dupe of the Communists" and was used by [[Vladimir Lenin]] to refer to those his country had successfully manipulated.<ref name="rwholder">{{citation|page=394|chapter=useful fool|title=Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|first=R. W. |last=Holder|year=2008|isbn= 978-0199235179|quote=useful fool – a dupe of the Communists. Lenin's phrase for the shallow thinkers in the West whom the Communists manipulated. Also as ''useful idiot''.}}</ref> ''The Dictionary of Espionage'' noted that scholars researching Lenin were unsuccessful in finding direct usage of the phrase by Lenin among his published writings.<ref name=goulden>{{citation|page=239|title=The Dictionary of Espionage: Spyspeak into English|first=Joseph |last=Goulden|series=Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor|year=2012|publisher=Dover Publications|chapter=Useful Idiot|isbn=978-0486483481}}</ref> [[Vladimir Bukovsky]] wrote in 1982 that useful idiot was, "a term in party jargon coined by Lenin himself".<Ref name=lefever>{{citation|chapter=The Soviet Role in the Peace Movement: Moscow's 'Useful Idiots'|page=191|editor1-first=Ernest W. |editor1-last=Lefever|editor2-first=E. Stephen|editor2-last=Hunt|year=1982|isbn=978-0896330627|publisher=University Press of America|first=Vladimir|last=Bukovsky|authorlink=Vladimir Bukovsky|title=The Apocalyptic Premise: Nuclear Arms Debated}}</ref> In a 1987 article for ''[[The New York Times]]'', American journalist [[William Safire]] noted that a [[Library of Congress]] librarian was not able to find the phrase in Lenin's works, and his reporting on the matter was inconclusive.<ref name=safire1>{{cite news| accessdate=19 July 2017|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/12/magazine/on-language.html| first = William| last = Safire| title = On Language: Useful Idiots Of the West| work = [[The New York Times]]| date = 12 April 1987}}</ref> Safire recommended individuals preface with "As Lenin was reported to have said", before usage of the phrase.<Ref name=safire1 /> [[William J. Bennett]] wrote "'Useful idiot' was the term Lenin had used for credulous Western businessmen", giving as an example [[Armand Hammer]], "who helped build up the Soviet Communist state".<ref name=bennett>{{citation|authorlink=William J. Bennett|first=William J. |last=Bennett|page=618|title=America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom|isbn=978-1595550576|publisher=Thomas Nelson}}</ref> Bennett recounted a famous story wherein Lenin was asked, "How will we hang the Capitalists, we don't have enough rope!"<ref name=bennett /> Lenin was reported to have "famously replied" with the rejoinder, "They will sell it to us — on credit."<ref name=bennett /> |
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⚫ | The term is first documented to have appeared in print in a June 1948 [[The New York Times|The ''New York Times'']] article on contemporary Italian politics ("Communist shift is seen in Europe"), citing the social-democratic Italian paper ''L'Umanità''.<ref>"Communist Shift is seen in Europe; Tour of Two Italian Leaders Behind Iron Curtain Held to Doom Popular Fronts", Arnold Cortesi, ''The New York Times'', 21 June 1948, p. 14</ref><ref name="oed"/> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' first employed the phrase in January 1958, writing that some [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Italian Christian Democrats]] considered social activist [[Danilo Dolci]] to be a "useful idiot" for Communist causes, and it has recurred thereafter in the periodical's articles.<ref name=time-slums>{{cite news| url = http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862833,00.html| date = 13 January 1958| title = Italy: From the Slums| publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref name=time-battlefield>{{cite news| url =http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909730,00.html| date = 2 November 1970| title = WORLD: The City as a Battlefield: A Global Concern| publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref name=time-offer>{{cite news| first = Jacob V.| last = Lamar, Jr.| url = http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,966229,00.html| date = 14 December 1987| title = An Offer They Can Refuse| publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref name=time-tv>{{cite news| first = James| last = Poniewozik| url = http://entertainment.time.com/2009/11/03/tv-marks-obama-anniversary-with-documentaries-aliens/| date = 3 November 2009| title = TV Marks Obama Anniversary with Documentaries, Aliens| publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref name=time-israel>{{cite news| first = Joe| last = Klein| url = http://swampland.time.com/2010/11/26/israel-first-yet-again/| date = 26 November 2010| title = Israel First, Yet Again| publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref>[http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/14/wednesday-words-useful-idiots-don-draping-and-more/ "Wednesday Words: Useful Idiots, Don 'Draping' and More", [[Time (magazine)|Time]], 14 March 2012].</ref> |
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In her book, ''Useful Idiots'', author [[Mona Charen]] wrote about Lenin's attributed use of the phrase.<ref name=charen /> She commented, "Lenin is widely credited with the prediction that liberals and other weak-minded souls in the West could be relied upon to be 'useful idiots' as far as the Soviet Union was concerned."<ref name=charen /> Charen commented on the veracity of Lenin's reported usage of the phrase, "Though Lenin may never have actually uttered the phrase, it was consistent with his cynical style. And ... liberals managed, time after time during the Cold War, to live down to this sour prediction."<ref name=charen>{{citation|title=Useful Idiots|first=Mona|last=Charen|authorlink=Mona Charen|page=10|year=2003|isbn=978-0895261397|publisher=Regnery Publishing}}</ref> Author Michael Prell wrote in his book Underdogma, "The term Useful Idiot is largely attributed to Vladimir Lenin, who reportedly used it to describe Soviet sympathizers among the ranks of Western media and intellectual elites."<ref name=prell>{{citation|first=Michael|last=Prell|title=Underdogma|chapter=Chapter 13|publisher=BenBella Books|isbn=978-1935618133|year=2011|pages=259–277}}</ref> |
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The phrase "useful idiot" is often attributed to [[Vladimir Lenin]], although he is not documented as having ever used the phrase.<ref name=safire1>{{cite news| accessdate=19 July 2017|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/12/magazine/on-language.html| first = William| last = Safire| title = On Language: Useful Idiots Of the West| work = [[The New York Times]]| date = 12 April 1987}}</ref> In a 1987 article for ''[[The New York Times]]'', American journalist [[William Safire]] noted that a [[Library of Congress]] librarian was not able to find the phrase in Lenin's works, and his reporting on the matter was inconclusive.<ref name=safire1/> |
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== Useful idiot (English, 1945 onwards)== |
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In the 1945 memoir of actor [[Alexander Granach]], the phrase was used to describe a boyhood incident in a [[shtetl]] in Western Ukraine.<ref>{{cite book| first = Alexander| last = Granach| title = There Goes an Actor| publisher = Doubleday, Doran| date = 1945| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J1BAAAAAIAAJ&dq=useful+idiot&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=useful+idiot| page = 60}}</ref> In June 1948, the term appeared in [[The New York Times|The ''New York Times'']] in an article on contemporary Italian politics ("Communist shift is seen in Europe"), citing the social-democratic Italian paper ''L'Umanità''.<ref>"Communist Shift is seen in Europe; Tour of Two Italian Leaders Behind Iron Curtain Held to Doom Popular Fronts", Arnold Cortesi, ''The New York Times'', 21 June 1948, p. 14</ref> |
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⚫ | ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' first employed the phrase in January 1958 and it has recurred thereafter in the periodical's articles |
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In December 2016, the Editorial Board of ''[[The New York Times]]'' applied the term to [[President-elect of the United States|President-elect]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref name="NYT_12/15/2016">{{Citation |author=The Editorial Board |date=15 December 2016 |title=Donald Trump's Denial About Russia |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=19 July 2017|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/opinion/donald-trumps-denial-about-russia.html |quote=There could be no more 'useful idiot,' to use Lenin's term of art, than an American president who doesn't know he's being played by a wily foreign power. }}</ref> [[Michael Hayden (general)|Michael Hayden]], former director of both the US [[National Security Agency]] and the [[CIA]], writing in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in November 2016, described Donald Trump as a ''polezni durak'', and he cited as translation of the term: "the useful fool, some naif, manipulated by Moscow, secretly held in contempt, but whose blind support is happily accepted and exploited".<ref>{{Cite news | authorlink = Michael Hayden (general)|first=Michael|last=Hayden | title = Former CIA chief: Trump is Russia's useful fool | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/former-cia-chief-trump-is-russias-useful-fool/2016/11/03/cda42ffe-a1d5-11e6-8d63-3e0a660f1f04_story.html | work = [[The Washington Post]] | date = 3 November 2016 | accessdate = 19 July 2017 | quote = We have really never seen anything like this. Former acting CIA director Michael Morell says that Putin has cleverly recruited Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation. I'd prefer another term drawn from the arcana of the Soviet era: polezni durak. That's the useful fool, some naif, manipulated by Moscow, secretly held in contempt, but whose blind support is happily accepted and exploited. That's a pretty harsh term, and Trump supporters will no doubt be offended. But, frankly, it's the most benign interpretation of all this that I can come up with right now.}}</ref> |
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== {{Anchor|Useful innocents}} Useful innocents (English, Serbo-Croat, French, 1946–47) == |
== {{Anchor|Useful innocents}} Useful innocents (English, Serbo-Croat, French, 1946–47) == |
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A similar term, ''useful innocents'', appears in Austrian-American economist [[Ludwig von Mises]]' |
A similar term, ''useful innocents'', appears in Austrian-American economist [[Ludwig von Mises]]' 1947 book, ''Planned Chaos''. Von Mises wrote that the term was used by communists for liberals, whom von Mises describes as "confused and misguided sympathizers".<ref>[http://mises.org/books/plannedchaos.pdf Ludwig von Mises, ''Planned Chaos'', Foundation for Economic Education, 1947, p. 17 in electronic document].</ref> |
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⚫ | The term ''useful innocents'' also appears in a ''[[Readers Digest]]'' article (1946) titled "Yugoslavia's Tragic Lesson to the World", written by a "high ranking official of the Yugoslav Government", [[Bogdan Raditsa]] (Bogdan Radica). "In the [[Serbo-Croat language]]", says Raditsa, "the communists have a phrase for true democrats who consent to collaborate with them for [the sake of] 'democracy.' It is ''Korisne Budale'', or Useful Innocents."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rCgYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22korisne+Budale%22&dq=%22korisne+Budale%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=akPWT7WVO6ag2gWl452OCw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA Bogdan Raditsa, "Yugoslavia's Tragic Lesson to the World", ''Reader's Digest Service'', p. 138 in electronic document].</ref> Note, however, that ''budala'' in Serbo-Croat translates as "a fool", not "an innocent". |
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The French equivalent, ''"Innocents utiles"'' or ''Useful innocents'', was used in the title of a front-page article in the ''Paysage'' newspaper, late in 1946.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.fr/PAYSAGE-1946-LUTILISATION-DEMOCRATES-ANTIFASCISTES/dp/B0046XNZHM |title=Archived copy |accessdate=12 June 2012|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223213312/http://www.amazon.fr/PAYSAGE-1946-LUTILISATION-DEMOCRATES-ANTIFASCISTES/dp/B0046XNZHM |archivedate=23 December 2012}} "Les innocents utiles: l'utilisation democrates-antifascistes", ''Paysage'' (No 72), 24 October 1946.</ref> |
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⚫ | The term ''useful innocents'' also appears in a ''[[Readers Digest]]'' article (1946) titled "Yugoslavia's Tragic Lesson to the World", written by a "high ranking official of the Yugoslav Government", [[Bogdan Raditsa]] (Bogdan Radica). "In the [[Serbo-Croat language]]", says Raditsa, "the communists have a phrase for true democrats who consent to collaborate with them for [the sake of] 'democracy.' It is ''Korisne Budale'', or Useful Innocents."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rCgYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22korisne+Budale%22&dq=%22korisne+Budale%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=akPWT7WVO6ag2gWl452OCw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA Bogdan Raditsa, "Yugoslavia's Tragic Lesson to the World", ''Reader's Digest Service'', p. 138 in electronic document].</ref> Note, however, that ''budala'' in Serbo-Croat translates as "a fool", not "an innocent". |
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== Modern usage == |
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In December 2016, the Editorial Board of ''[[The New York Times]]'' applied the term to [[President-elect of the United States|President-elect]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref name="NYT_12/15/2016">{{Citation |author=The Editorial Board |date=15 December 2016 |title=Donald Trump's Denial About Russia |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=19 July 2017|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/opinion/donald-trumps-denial-about-russia.html |quote=There could be no more 'useful idiot,' to use Lenin's term of art, than an American president who doesn't know he's being played by a wily foreign power. }}</ref> [[Michael Hayden (general)|Michael Hayden]], former director of both the US [[National Security Agency]] and the [[CIA]], writing in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in November 2016, described Donald Trump as a ''polezni durak'', and he cited as translation of the term: "the useful fool, some naif, manipulated by Moscow, secretly held in contempt, but whose blind support is happily accepted and exploited".<ref>{{Cite news | authorlink = Michael Hayden (general)|first=Michael|last=Hayden | title = Former CIA chief: Trump is Russia's useful fool | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/former-cia-chief-trump-is-russias-useful-fool/2016/11/03/cda42ffe-a1d5-11e6-8d63-3e0a660f1f04_story.html | work = [[The Washington Post]] | date = 3 November 2016 | accessdate = 19 July 2017}}</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
Revision as of 17:44, 25 November 2017
In political jargon, a useful idiot (also useful fool[1]) is a derogatory term for a person perceived as a propagandist for a cause the goals of which they are not fully aware, and who is used cynically by the leaders of the cause.[1][2] The term was originally used to describe non-Communists regarded as susceptible to Communist propaganda and manipulation.[2] The term does not appear to have been used within the Soviet Union.[2]
Origin of the term
The term is first documented to have appeared in print in a June 1948 The New York Times article on contemporary Italian politics ("Communist shift is seen in Europe"), citing the social-democratic Italian paper L'Umanità.[3][2] Time first employed the phrase in January 1958, writing that some Italian Christian Democrats considered social activist Danilo Dolci to be a "useful idiot" for Communist causes, and it has recurred thereafter in the periodical's articles.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
The phrase "useful idiot" is often attributed to Vladimir Lenin, although he is not documented as having ever used the phrase.[10] In a 1987 article for The New York Times, American journalist William Safire noted that a Library of Congress librarian was not able to find the phrase in Lenin's works, and his reporting on the matter was inconclusive.[10]
Useful innocents (English, Serbo-Croat, French, 1946–47)
A similar term, useful innocents, appears in Austrian-American economist Ludwig von Mises' 1947 book, Planned Chaos. Von Mises wrote that the term was used by communists for liberals, whom von Mises describes as "confused and misguided sympathizers".[11]
The term useful innocents also appears in a Readers Digest article (1946) titled "Yugoslavia's Tragic Lesson to the World", written by a "high ranking official of the Yugoslav Government", Bogdan Raditsa (Bogdan Radica). "In the Serbo-Croat language", says Raditsa, "the communists have a phrase for true democrats who consent to collaborate with them for [the sake of] 'democracy.' It is Korisne Budale, or Useful Innocents."[12] Note, however, that budala in Serbo-Croat translates as "a fool", not "an innocent".
See also
- Agent of influence
- Congress for Cultural Freedom
- Fellow traveller
- Pawn (chess): Etymology and word usage
- Pinko
- Political warfare
- Quisling
References
- ^ a b Holder, R. W. (2008), "useful fool", Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms, Oxford University Press, p. 394, ISBN 978-0199235179,
useful fool – a dupe of the Communists. Lenin's phrase for the shallow thinkers in the West whom the Communists manipulated. Also as useful idiot.
- ^ a b c d "useful idiot". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2017.
- ^ "Communist Shift is seen in Europe; Tour of Two Italian Leaders Behind Iron Curtain Held to Doom Popular Fronts", Arnold Cortesi, The New York Times, 21 June 1948, p. 14
- ^ "Italy: From the Slums". Time. 13 January 1958.
- ^ "WORLD: The City as a Battlefield: A Global Concern". Time. 2 November 1970.
- ^ Lamar, Jr., Jacob V. (14 December 1987). "An Offer They Can Refuse". Time.
- ^ Poniewozik, James (3 November 2009). "TV Marks Obama Anniversary with Documentaries, Aliens". Time.
- ^ Klein, Joe (26 November 2010). "Israel First, Yet Again". Time.
- ^ "Wednesday Words: Useful Idiots, Don 'Draping' and More", Time, 14 March 2012.
- ^ a b Safire, William (12 April 1987). "On Language: Useful Idiots Of the West". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Ludwig von Mises, Planned Chaos, Foundation for Economic Education, 1947, p. 17 in electronic document.
- ^ Bogdan Raditsa, "Yugoslavia's Tragic Lesson to the World", Reader's Digest Service, p. 138 in electronic document.