Today’s leftists are dangerously wrong about communism. Just listen to the survivors

When Americans defend free markets, they analyze real-world outcomes and quote economists.

When radicals defend communism, they ignore history and those who experienced it firsthand.

The omissions are deliberate.

Survivors of communist regimes are dangerous to the argument because they are proof of its outcome.

They know what happens after the government acquires the power it promised to use only for the public good.

I recently gathered survivors of communist regimes in the Capitol to hear their stories.

They came from Cuba , Venezuela, the Soviet Union and China.

One endured torture in prison.

Another watched grocery shelves empty as his community decayed.

Others saw schools converted into instruments of indoctrination and churches treated as enemies of the state.

THE MEN WHO FLED THESE SOCIALIST REGIMES HAVE A TERRIFYING WARNING José Daniel Ferrer spent more than 12 years in Cuban prisons.

He endured physical and psychological torture, and watched fellow citizens die from the same abuse and malnutrition he experienced.

He understands the deception communists employ that made those prisons possible.

"It’s the best evidence that the communists who try to get to power in democratic nations are scam artists," Ferrer said.