I grew up in Ontario and became anti-communist in my university years (I know, it sounds like a fantasy), but it was because I met people from Prague just newly escaped from Czechoslovakia, as well as fellow students who were libertarians. Before that, I was never exposed to any ideas that were remotely conservative, let alone anti-communist. It was the late 60s and early 70s, anti-Vietnam rallies and communes, etc etc. I wanted none of it and began to read up on U.S. politics and history, as I knew nothing about it (Canadian education basically ignored the elephant next door but we did learn a lot about medieval Europe). It is probably worse now, but at least learning about Stalin’s excesses will be useful if probably presented in a distorted way (the typical Ontario h.s. teacher is about as far left as a Portland ANTIFA organizer, only a touch less dangerous).
“I don’t want to tell you this, but socialists once, long long ago, did a bad thing.”
But more likely, it will all be Trump’s fault.
The nephew of the Czech owner/cook of the favourite local diner of my family during my childhood escaped Prague after thee Red Army tanks rolled in and was in Canada within months. He both the diner and hired himself as cook when his uncle retired sometime before the Berlin Wall came down. By 1997 when the voters in the diner’s neighbourhood finally got around to lifting Prohibition in their part of the city, the Kid from Prague had more than enough capital to shut down the diner, gut the building, and reopen as a pub with a patio out back. The only aspects of the diner he kept were his job as cook, his unccle’s menu. The all-day breakfast was cut back from seven days a week to one (Sunday) and he kept most of the profit he made from the food (his uncle’s pork schitzel was inexpensive but more than enough to feed anyone from lunchtime until bedtime while skipping dinner because it was delicious enough to finish it off while it was still warm) while booze profits were a windfall. Don’t get me started on the open-face roast beef sandwich special at lunch of the roast beef dinner special in the evening or my stomach will keep me up all night with its growling.