It always cracks me up when people equate 'Socialism' with Stalinist Russia. As if Norway is the same as North Korea or Sweden is indistinguishable from the Soviet Union. Socialism comes in a host of 'flavours' some, inevitably, more palatable than others - not helped by the fact that states can *call* themselves Socialist when they're nothing of the sort. Of course any non-Stalinist socialist state will be redefined as not being socialist at all because it calls the original wildly wide disparaging comment into question... But that's what passes for rational debate these days....
Rebublicanism kills people every day, (school) shootings, illegal abortions, people dying becaues they have no health insurance, people going hungry ...
ReplyDeleteI always think back to Capitalism in the 19th century and all of the heartache and destruction of lives that brought. Of course that's often forgotten or hand-waved away by its fan boys.... The emergence of Socialism and other Left-wing thinking was in a *direct* response to the horrors of Capitalism. Lest we forget....
DeleteSome people have a very short memory.
DeleteI used to think this way until God put a friend in my life who identifies as communist. We had some really interesting conversations, and it led me to realize that socialism has ideals worth considering, while neither socialist nor capitalist frameworks are immune to abuse or being co-opted for evil. Making this friend was one of many experiences that saved me from going down the rabbit hole of alt-right thinking.
ReplyDeleteCool. I've never called myself a Communist (although I have been called one!) but I'm definitely a Socialist. I always think (inevitably!) that reading a few books on the subject and doing *actual* research always helps understanding these ideas. Ironically of course the brief period of (largely) unregulated 18th/19th century Capitalism gave rise to Socialism & Communism.... [grin]
DeleteMy grandfather was called a communist because he had advised people in his village not to vote for Hitler. That guy only wants war. Even when the war started, people believed he was wrong.
Delete'Communist' is one of those words that people throw around as a universal pejorative - like the word 'witch' used to be.... Or 'Liberal' in "some" countries.... [lol] I've been called worse! [grin]
ReplyDeleteThey seem pretty happy with all the 'Socialist' programs we already hav though, thanks to FDR in the 30s...
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Funny that....
DeleteThe problem is, they don't actually realize that those programs are literally Socialist programs. Because they hear Socialism and think Marxism and Stalin and have literally no critical thinking skills or any actual knowledge of the world around them.
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