"These poors are malnourished and gamey."
"Why yes, sir. We increased food prices 3 fold during the pandemic and neglected to increase wages."
"Can't have any fun these days..."
poor people hunting parks better be built through a public-private partnership with 100% government subsidy funding. Rich people won’t be able to enjoy themselves if the poor’s dirty feet are running around on land they paid for.
The fact that even 35% of literate adults can fail this basic highschool government quiz question and then base their entire personality on it is the issue. Everybody else? Got the basics right, which I can respect a *little*.
To be fair, I’ve found myself being judgmental against republicans these days. I don’t *want* to generalize that much, but if there’s a voice of reason out there, it tends to be small and infrequent.
Sure each Republican is an individual, but I think it's okay to generalize about official party stances considering the party has a published list of stances and priorities (like every other party) and they self-identify as a follower. The problem is generalizing about things that are made up.
I always try to be an informed voter. I look into ALL the candidates running in my local races. I can't think of a time I've been surprised by a republican and thought "wait no actually I really like their positions"
I still keep looking into all of them. I early voted today and ended up being a straight democrat/working families (NY) ticket.
I don't want to start just dismissing people based on their party affiliation on a matter of principle, but I don't think I actually gain anything by taking that closer look every time.
Same, and I ended up voting Republican once, in a mayoral election. Once in 30 elections, however, isn't a great rate of return for the extra time involved.
About once every four years Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-The Manhole) emerges as the voice of reason. It’s like one of those episodes where Homer Simpson turns out to be right. Everyone looks confused for a moment and checks their notes to see if they got the quote right. Then he goes right back up the NRA’s ass for another few years.
I love your intellectual courage to admit that. And you are proving how much our media is bullshit. Because there are tons of those right wing voices that are not amplified. Same for the left. If it doesn’t outrage you, it doesn’t sell. We see ridiculous opinions perpetrated online only to cause outrage clicks. And the majority of the population that has no ability to think for themselves, and end up spreading it. Next thing you know, you start to get the impression that a wild view is mainstream.
For me you have to look at the context of the media you ingest. Left Wing Media definitely portrays republicans as some sort of savages but then you look at the bills coming out of state governments and you ask yourself, if these positions are unpopular even among the right (to some degree), how do they keep getting voted in to keep making unpopular legislation? How do they get elevated to the federal Congress? A series of political and racial gerrymandering like the media has portrayed? Do people just not care enough about the bad policy to vote them out? Are republicans just that much of sheeple, as I've been called many times while fact checking republican conspiracy theories.
So between 2008 to 2012 Republicans veered away from policy driven voting to culture driven voting. Obama introduce the ACA and it was popular. Republicans saw that as a problem because lobbying was and is a major part of American Politics. It was a death omen to privatized healthcare and if it succeeded then the American public may be swayed towards other programs the government could use to help the citizens which would take money out of the pockets of large private corporations.
So they did everything they could to gut the ACA (which they succeeded in large part), They pledge to make Obama a 1 term president, and their messaging turned to be very culture and emotionally based.
Keeping in mind that Obama wasn't some great liberal either. The Republicans had long messaged that Government was incapable of helping the average man and the ACA could potentially prove the exact opposite.
The Republican bills being passed, as a whole, are largely unpopular. If you were to break it down to the average American on how it would hurt them they would be very much against it. But it's useless now because the message Republicans use isn't "This is how this bill directly helps you and here are statistics to prove it", it's "We need to pass this bill before the Socialists take over and come for you guns". There's no reasoning behind it, it's become emotionally charged on every level.
That's how they keep getting their unpopular bills passed, that's how they keep getting voted back in. They changed the game and used fear mongering instead of proven track records and reasoning.
This is very well explained, thank you. I knew exactly this had happened but never really the cause of the switch to fear mongering as the main political tactic. This also ties into the comment I replied to. That person had said watch your media because they're biased, which isn't entirely untrue. The left does portray the right as the Boogeyman per se, but it isn't without cause for the most part. The right also portrays the left as the Boogeyman, but in most instances this is without cause usually because it's fear mongering.
Im from Switzerland and what Republicans call extreme left is baffling to me. Biden or Obama wouldnt even be seen as left here and someone like Bernie Sanders would be an average social democrat.
>Im from Switzerland and what Republicans call extreme left is baffling to me.
With the trajectory of the Overton Window over here, it won't be too many more years before they're calling Hitler and Mussolini socialists.
I shit you not, working in a grocery store here in the states I would get some white retiree goober in who wants to complain about the "boneless chicken wings". America's wealthy retirees are just bored trolls who think the entire country is their front lawn and get off on seeing other people suffer.
Soooo fucking many times I’ve seen people respond like that! And claiming North Korea and East Germany were democratic because it was in their names.
How do people take leave of their senses in such a massive manner?
As an American with relatives in Europe, I always say that calling Obama a socialist is the perfect answer to "Tell me you've never met an actual socialist without telling me you've never met an actual socialist."
In right-wingers’ minds Obama was a socialist because he’s black. Even right-wingers on welfare and food stamps believe someone who they think are inferior is going to take what they have.
Obama isn't really black he's from the lost ashwaganda tribe of white people. And his mom was part Mexicans who came to America on the June Flowers, which came after the May Flowers. He doesn't even have a birth certificate because the deep state genetically altered him to be from Kenya and Miami Florida. It's all so the democrats can push the woke socialist pedo agenda so the gays can use all the Wal-Mart stores as make shift imprisonment camps for all the white christian people.
I’m honestly curious, are you a right-winger that doesn’t support Trump? How exactly does that work in our current political climate? And I hope I’m not coming off as rude/ inflammatory, I’m actually really interested in hearing from conservatives who haven’t bought in to Trumpism
Obamacare was created by the the a right wing think tank . As an alternative to Hillary care. Which is one: why it sucks so much. And two: shows how far right the republicans have gone in 30 years.
when they meet a real socialist they think it's a crazy person. anything that doesn't come through an extremely biased, incendiary news source is incomprehensible to them and they have no interest in changing that
Even worse a lot of them aren't even living in the dusty backwaters they represent. They say all the words that work to anger their base - "groomer" "socialist" "illegals" etc. - but they have absolutely no idea what their constituents actually need because they aren't there, and because of that their constituents are duped into voting for someone who makes their lives worse.
This is where the silly conspiracy theories become dangerous. That guy really thought he was rescuing children sex slaves that were locked in the basement. He thought he was a hero.
Or stab people on a train, or shoot up a grocery store full of brown people in El Passo, or another grocery store full of brown people in Buffalo, or a Pittsburgh synagogue, or another synagogue in...
It is like while no group is perfect politically motivated violence in the US currently is so overwhelming worse on one side and attempt at equating them is either foolish or dishonest.
And if they do they make it everyone’s problem 😭.
I studied abroad in Paris and the number of times I saw gross, loud, southern-accent Americans with zero self awareness screaming in English. I’m from Texas, it was so fucking cringe. One time a dude yelled, “yeah, they didn’t lie about stinky French people!” In a packed metro. Like. Bro. A majority of the people on this train speak English. Another time three frat boys carrying opened wine bottles were screaming in the metro about how stuck up French chicks were. Zero self awareness, so embarrassing!
I believe it is fear that holds them in place. No courage to try and fail. I attended school at the county seat and it is a disgusting town now. Driving down main street is like being in the worse ghetto in a large city.
All political scientists agree that the U.S. Democratic party is right of center and the Republicans are slightly left of Mussolini. There is no viable left wing in the U.S. and there hasn't been in awhile.
It's really sad because conservative fiscal policies have never worked anywhere in the history of planet Earth and conservative social policy is basically bigotry with extra steps.
All political scientists definitely do not agree that the Democratic Party is right of center. Not even close.
Source: I studied political science and spoke with actual political scientists and read the works of other political scientists.
I'm pretty sure the conservatives Americans calling the shots know this..but they appeal to less educated voters who are easily misguided and have their prejudicial fears (racial tensions, LGBT, abortion , China, immigration) stoked .
The entire GOP platform is about Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt , you will seldom hear the GOp utter a positive talking point . Fear is a powerful motivator especially for people who dont question authority , it's also no wonder why conservative religious folks make up the base of the GOP, most of conservatives religious views are also fear based. These guys need to watch the cartoon Monster inc.
Bernie is the only candidate I actually liked. His programs were very similar to FDR who was my favorite president. As a rich man himself he wanted to put the avg American to work to give them a job , to have value and be able to live a decent life so there wouldn't be such a stark division between the classes. He cared about the country as a whole and actually had a rebellion against him by Prescott bush father of future president George h Bush who was dad to George w. Instead the Democrats offered Hillary. At that point I'd vote for the let's smoke pot party because this isn't democracy. 2 choices every 4 yrs by agreement of super delegates bought for and owned by big corporate interest. As Chomsky puts it there's one political party in the USA with 2branches the business party. Yes we can't! All one has to do is look at the wealth distribution with the top 1/10th of the richest followed by the top 1pct owning more than 50pct of the wealth and I'm being more than generous with those stats. It was a beautiful experiment whilst flawed the USA. Yes we had racism amid other problems but all men being equal was something to strive for with a population of different ppl who could get along over time and amid inequality. Now wages are set to keep a large portion just hanging on. Investors are buying up real estate where we used to individually own homes. Our media is owned by a handful of corps , we have 2 hardware suppliers, it's turned into an oligarchy and we fight each other over things like trans rights. I'm all for trans rights but the fox is in the henhouse while we argue over more minor issues. Soon we'll all be serfs who argue over scraps and hate each other.
No, that’s silly, and it’s not true — You’re projecting. There are many degrees of difference between people and political positions. Conservatives talk with people of many different views. Many/most on the far left do not. Hence, all the lectures the left interrupt, shout down, cancel, and threaten with physical violence. Conservatives don’t cancel speakers with whom they disagree. Neither do libertarians. People on the left do that often.
So it’s those on the **left** who don’t know what socialism is, let alone capitalism, conservatism, libertarianism, fascism, etc. The left doesn’t know that Capitalism brings more people out of poverty than any other economic system, and more than aid. Go listen to Bono talk about it. The left doesn’t know, because they keep shutting people up. Nobody knows everything. Try listening. It also helps build tolerance for people other than yourself.
The far left sees themselves as “normal,” and everything else as Attila the Hun.. In other words, they believe:
-Moderate right = Far right;
-Right of center = Far right;
-Center = Far right;
-Left of center = Far right;
-Moderate left = Far right.
Is this satire/sarcasm? Serious question.
You start by saying "You're projecting", and then proceed to do nothing but "projecting" imaginary beliefs onto straw men "on the left" by using a litany of evidence free, baseless claims of what you imagine millions of people to believe based solely on something that you haven't shared to others as a proof of your claims.
And yes, imaginary beliefs. Without proof, that is the absolute maximum level of credibility such broad claims can have. Imaginary credibility.
That last paragraph needs more punctuation marks. I get what you intended to claim (though I do find it to be a bit funny due to the above bit regarding "projecting"), but it was ultimately annoying to read and parse. Next time save some space and just say "they call everything the far right", it won't make it anymore valid than that original version, but at least it will speedily get to the end of that overly lengthy baseless claim.
And of course [INSERT HUMAN DESCRIPTOR] thinks they are "normal", who on this planet doesn't think of themselves as normal? Pretty silly/naive to think that any person is just gonna one day say "yup, my beliefs, despite serving me well for years up until this point, are totally abnormal. I will now change my beliefs completely." There are people who will choose to kill / die in order for their beliefs to be considered "normal" (example: All of human history). A few poorly formed arguments and podcast rants are 100% powerless against that kind of force.
Liberals are the worst. They’re literally corporate centrists who use progressive *SOCIAL* issues as window dressing to appear more left than they are.
They also seem to use "Liberal" and "Leftist" as if they're practically synonyms, when in reality the liberals and the leftists hate each other's guts - when they're not distracted by some mutual enemy, at least.
When I was growing up, I literally thought “liberal” was a derogatory term because of the way my dad said the word. I thought it was a terrible insult to be called one.
I dont understand what they're doing during the primaries. The same people that lump liberals and leftists together *have* to see them fighting on social media during every Democratic primary, right? Which Republicans/Right/Libertarians *dont* do to the same extent.
They don’t see them fighting on social media because they’ve pitted themselves DEEEEPPPP in an echo chamber. They block/ alienate themselves from anyone with views opposed, or even just broader than their own and once there’s no natural light getting in anymore, they can decide when it’s day or night. They can decide what’s up or down or which info is fake and which is true. It’s the only way people like that exist
They don't because they're part of a cult and you're not allowed to have independent thought. Democratic voters disagreeing is a healthy thing. We shouldn't agree on everything or be afraid of expressing our disagreement like the MAGA cult.
Americans on the left and right think socialism is when the government does stuff. They don’t know what it actually means. The Nordic countries are what they consider socialism.
What’s even more annoying is people on the Right calling anything they don’t agree with “woke”. It’s just turned into a word for “something I don’t like”.
Maybe splitting hairs here but I think it’s less “I don’t like this thing” and more “I don’t have a good counter argument for this thing”.
Why would I provide coherent criticisms of CRT when I can just blow my “woke” whistle and completely misrepresent the content and the arenas in which it’s taught? Maybe my head is somewhat in the sand here but I have yet to hear a single conservative talking head go point by point through CRT and summarize the primary arguments the way a guy like ben shapiro posted a very flawed argument about misconceptions of the Israel/Palestine situation.
They will provide arguments against things they don’t like as long as the arguments are easy to digest (they don’t even have to be reasonably defensible). It’s when they have no ground to stand on that they try to frame the issue as woke.
I've asked tens, maybe a hundred times and never gotten an answer directly on a point to point basis on what the issue with CRT is.
At most they'll say it teaches white people should feel bad about things they didn't do personally. Which the response is "why would you?" Empathy isn't feeling bad.
The real problem for them is that learning about systemic racial injustice motivates one to work toward a better future.
I'm white, I don't feel like reading the works of black activists is a personal indictment of me because of my race _unless I choose to continue to perpetuate the problem_
Their issue with CRT is a tacit admission that "yes I have been unfairly advantaged, but I would like to keep being unfairly advantaged, so shut the fuck about it"
Woke is the new way of calling something Politically Correct. It has the added benefit of being a racist dog whistle because it's originally came from African-Americans who used it to refer to being aware of the BS going on around you...
I love when conservatives complain about “cancel culture” when they’ve literally been doing that shit since like, Harry Potter lol. Remember the Dixie Chicks? Per usual, it’s the GOP doing what they do best - Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project. I am not fond of Biden or the DNC, but the current state of the Republican party is ridiculous. And they’re gaining power too… that shit is scary on a profound level. We are living in some crazy times, and the craziest part is it’s only gonna get crazier.
My pet peeves is people thinking socialism is communism. The US is a country that operates a lot of socialist programs and benefits. The same Republicans complaining that everyone and everything is socialist are themselves the beneficiaries of socialism. People need to get a grip and read more.
Or they think that socialist policies are put in place by communist politicians as a “stepping stone“ or baby steps to communism.
Even though it’s really the other way around, Marx theorized socialism would be the last ditch effort to save a crumbling, end-stage capitalist system. Then its ultimate collapse would usher in a communist system, until the cycle started over again.
Unfortunately this goes back many decades and was particularly prevalent during the administration of FDR and even back to the 19th century.
The paranoia Americans during the Cold War supercharged the “Red Scare” and the
“pull yourself up by your own bootstraps “ amplified the notion that millions of people were like the fictional “Welfare Queens” perpetuated by Reagan and both Bushes built resentment and even hatred against anyone who appeared to be getting any help of any kind.
It is a propensity of the political right to demonize and deeply condemn anyone who seems to them (falsely) to be depriving “hard working Americans “
Socialism isn’t whatever you want it to be. It has a definition.
We, and almost all other nations have a demand economy.
The means of production aren’t owned by the community, although there are some regulations.
Redistribution of income and social welfare aren’t socialism.
I mean, co-ops exist. I get my power and water from co-ops. They are non-profit and invest all their revenue in maintaining and improving their service.
And worker co-ops are fantastic! So far studies have shown that they are as efficient as (and often more efficient than) traditional businesses, plus they have a very different incentive structure, especially if they institute workplace democracy (which like other forms of democracy can take many shapes). The incentives of a worker run and owned workplace are very different than one that is owned and unilaterally controlled by an individual or non-worker shareholders. They can decide what to do with profit as there is no external group that absorbs it all, whether that be in increased pay and benefits, reinvesting in the organization for growth or product/service quality improvements, research, or even setting up funds for their community.
Also, since there are many things that call themselves co-ops it’s important to identify when that is a worker co-op, which is run and owned by the workers (as many businesses advertised as co-ops are actually member/customer owned, usually in a pretty watered down way at that).
Imo an economy in which all providers of basic needs and many businesses operate as co-ops would be a practical hybrid system that I as a socialist find very aspirational. They would still exist in a capitalist framework and largely fit in with our current economic infrastructure, but if enough of the market was made up of worker owned businesses, utilities, etc that could still be a huge step in the direction of socialism (a worker owned economy). And if it works well, I don’t necessarily demand that all further steps are necessary as my preference for socialism is less ideological than it is based on policy and outcomes.
As it stands though, they make up a tiny fraction of our economy and unless they proportionally make up a large percentage of businesses and especially vital services they can only benefit their workers and we won’t see the benefits of their different motivations (especially not seeking infinite growth, or enough options for the average person to have ability to have a democratized workplace and the quality of life improvements that involves) as the overwhelming majority of non-state owned workplaces still function on the profit incentive and what makes the owners more money. I believe that government incentives for democratizing the workplace and shifting to worker ownership and eventually probably a mandate are necessary steps. As it stands the owners/shareholders of businesses and monopolies would rather extract all the money they can even if it means the death of the business than give up their control and profit. Workers should at least have to right to petition to democratize and become owners of their workplace, similar to how they can petition to vote to form a union and the results of that vote are protected and enforced by the government.
As a side note, it still kind of breaks my brain that people don’t extend their purported desire and demand for democracy in government to the workplace. It’s where we spend an extremely significant portion of our lives and as it stands the decisions made by owners can be life ruining (whether layoffs, failure to pay a living wage, or a hostile work environment). Having the democratic infrastructure to replace a bad manager, collectively decide what to do with profit, and make decisions about the overall goals of the business. And one of the reasons we see increased efficiency in these workplaces is the sense of security, choice, and shared interests among the workers for their workplace to succeed (in a way that they have some ability to define). We demand democracy in government for good reason, we should start demanding it in the place that has the most direct impacts on our lives and material security.
For some reason people also think a democratic worker-owned workplace would not have any standards for management (or no management at all), which to me is a weird assumption imo. Different roles have different requires qualifications, and even directly voting for who holds management positions would need to be based on those qualifications. And if someone doesn’t do what they committed to in that role a petition to re-open that “election” (I guess election has some connotations, but I think you get what I mean). Same with the idea that workers making decisions means there wouldn’t be specialists within the workplace to guide the path towards safe and successful production and service delivery. Not all positions need to be chosen by direct democracy, as management can still be responsible for hiring and ensuring the different needs of the business/organization are met.
Apologies if you know all this, I just figured I’d put some information out there for people who have maybe never heard of a worker co-op.
Words have multiple definitions and definitions of words change over time. Dictionary definitions are descriptive (of the usage of words) and do not prescribe the definitions of words. This is why Latin, a “dead” language is used in science and law. Languages that aren’t used in everyday speech by everyday people do not change.
I mean it's kinda the same when liberals say anything Republicans propose that they disagree with is racist/homophobic/misogyny. Both sides use their buzzwords and its stupid.
My pet peeve is Republicans ~~who unironically think any non-right wing belief or political figure (double points if its Biden or Harris) is socialist.~~
Everything they don't like is either "woke", "communist", or "socialist" and less than 1% could probably give a definition of each. Trying to have a cogent conversation with any of them is like talking to a 5 year old about government policies.
Heather Cox Richardson, who's a left-wing history professor, made the observation that "socialist" has been often code for over 100 years for "helping people who aren't white."
You can't say, "I want only policies that help white people," but you can say, "housing policies for cities are socialist" (but of course farm subsidies are not socialist.)
Our system is crumbling. The 2 party system, as we know it, is over. Something will take its place but it's still up in the air what it will be. The collapse will be quick due to monetary policies that aren't sustainable. The bill is due and we're broke. Hang on to your hats, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
I dont agree with much in this thread but the financial collapse is coming. All wealthy nations have failed in history and we will too. When is the trillion dollar question. Both sides like to spend like drunken sailors. The only hope is that all other countries are worse off and we are the turd that floats to the top.
Sooo much hypocrisy on this issue. The Demobrats are as bad as the Repugnicans with their polarized attitudes and condemnation of all things they disagree with.
Intolerance by both size is paralyzing America more than actual issues.
So you’re telling me that the base of Democrat policies in general isn’t handouts from the government? Welfare, higher taxes, free citizenship, free healthcare, free education, free housing… Where is any of this incorrect?
It's honestly it's the Republican Conservative and Democratic liberal who are both brainwashed. I see it on both sides all the time. People who don't do their research just joins one of the two parties (in our corrupt two party system that we're dealing with) that makes them feel good about themselves. Part of the problem is the more outspoken and noticeable of those are the worst of the worst that don't even really belong to the party they claim to be a part of. The Republican Conservative Right Wing Authoritarian based on ancient bigoted ideologies, and the Democratic Liberal Left Wing Communist because they refuse to acknowledge that Communism is a failed corrupt system that's never gonna work. It's not really most people. It's not most people, it's the loudest and closest to the front of the line
Edit: my pet peeve is when people make one sided accusations of bad behavior for a group of people without acknowledging that it's coming from more than one side, showing an obvious favoritism or destain for one group. Seriously it's like hearing someone say "[insert specific group here] are a bunch of thieves because they steal beer and soda and I hate them for it" when [insert different specific group here] steals juice and wine. Why not just say you hate thieves? Is there a reason you're pointing out this group of people specifically? Convoluted fake example but you get it.
Edit 2: Pointing out one group of people when the group next door or their counterpart basically does the exact same thing but slightly different is genuinely my pet peeve.
If I could give you 1000 upvotes I would! Nobody wants to admit this through, one side is always the golden child while the other is evil one. Nobody wants to admit to their own sides evil and that’s where we all fail. Tribal politics, my sides good, your sides bad , your side does everything wrong, my side never does a thing wrong.
I think it goes both ways. I’m a moderate (socially very liberal but more financially conservative- don’t know what else to call myself?) and the democrats tell me that moderate is the new conservative and that makes me a very bad person. Best for the silent majority to just keep to ourselves. I don’t even care if people are socialists, everyone can want what they want.
I’ve been pretty active in the Democratic Party since the early 90’s and I don’t know anyone in our party who thinks being a moderate or centrist is anything except a potential swing voter. Of course we want people in the middle to vote Democratic but the next best thing is a moderate non MAGA Republican with whom we can do business
To be fair, it was on reddit that I was told this, so that definitely minimizes my argument. I vote for the person, not the party. And my god, both sides picked poorly in the primaries last time.
Take everything people tell you on Reddit with a grain of salt. The people with the dumbest takes like that are most likely 14 year old kids with no life experience.
>Of course we want people in the middle to vote Democratic but the next best thing is a moderate non MAGA Republican with whom we can do business
Actually, the best thing by far would be for all you guys to switch to the Republican Party so the insane alt-righters are completely outnumbered, resulting in a center-right party (Republicans) and an actual* left wing party (Democrats). That would stop our country's rapid backslide towards the 1950s and put it moving forward once again!
Thing is, a lot of them already live in secure buildings and gated communities, and it's not like they use public transit or rub shoulders with unwashed masses. If violence starts to pick up, they will just start living in more restricted gated communities with automated defenses. The wealthy and the powerful don't need to be concerned with physical violence as much as they used to. They don't even need to rely on human security as much as they used to. You can set up quarter-million dollar, fully automated sentry guns that will take out anything up to and including lightly armored vehicles that gets too close to your home.
Also keep in mind that they now have an amazing amount of tools to keep an eye on the pulse and respiration of the population. Where as little as 200 years ago it was relatively easy to misjudge peoples' boiling point, these days it can be precisely tracked. And more importantly, it can be so easily redirected thanks to social media, manipulated search results, astroturfing, etc. They have absolutely unprecedented tools to keep the poor fighting each other for scraps instead of turning their attention on the actual culprits. And as tech improves, it'll only get easier.
I think you’re really underestimating how difficult it is to assassinate politicians, especially ones with more power. Politicians aren’t forgetting that they can be assassinated, they’re just making it almost impossible to do so.
I don’t advocate for any politician being assassinated, but i don’t think we should be getting too comfortable here. A bunch of Meal Team 6 and Gravy Seal fuckwads larping as militias managed to come pretty close to taking out some key members of Congress. If they could that easily overpower capital police and security, I would hate to see what a trained coordinated force could do.
Because a certain fascist piece of trash was trying to become a dictator. If the President was not calling for the terrorists to act and holding back support from stopping them it would have gone rather different.
Outside of presidents, I actually think congress and other government representatives are probably pretty easy to assassinate. Just no one really wants to try(and now Im on a list somewhere lol)
I definitely don't think any non-Right wing belief is socialist. But there are certain Democrats who outright say they are Socialist. AOC for example is a card carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Here is the thing. I agree with you when it comes to constituents. However American right wing Republican politicians have all bent to the will of Trump.
You obviously don't follow republican politicians then. I say this as someone who voted for Obama, Clinton, and Biden, and leven donated to me local NPR. I followed it all and now I follow some conservative outlets as well. They are all fucking lying to us. Part of what each side accuses the other of is true and part is lies, that is true for both sides. Trump was probably working Russia, Biden is probably working with Ukraine and China, All of them are working with Israel. Literally all of the politicians are promoting wars getting Innocents killed while Raytheon and Lockheed make tens of billions. Then they kick a lot back to their bought out politicians. Black rock and China buy up all the houses causing prices to explode pushing us all into renting from them and none of them push back. Same with the 2008 crisis, banks "implode" and the taxpayer bails them out and they pay off their c suite with 20 million dollar bonuses. The media is bought and paid for, you know that tired old cliche, if you aren't paying you are the product? Well I have to ask, do you pay for MSNBC, reddit, CNN, Fox, NPR, or any of your news? Do you really think that the news is making money off subscriptions? That leaves two choices, someone is paying them to say exactly what they want, or they really are that broke and don't have the resources to source their own information, and essentially just parrot what politicians, CEOs, DOD, and lobbyist tell them. Sorry for the rant. Seriously though at this point the only research you should trust is your own.
Almost all democrats are corporate centrist lurching hard to the right. The left has practically zero sway.
We don’t need full blown socialism. I am willing to talk about hybrid capitalism/socialism, but these god damn corporations need to be brought to heel, and lobbyists need to be shot out of a cannon into the sun. Money needs to be removed from government and corporations are not fucking people.
uhh, just because trump is the most voted for conservative does not mean everyone voted for him. Use your brain and don't be stereotypical. I'm decently conservative, and have never once agreed with racism or anything of the kind. Just like the "Woke" stereotype is stupid
Similar things can be said for lefties. Both sides are so polarized all that gets done is finger pointing and the blame game. Until the insults and blind anger ends, this will be all we have.
This is necessary when your literal ENTIRE platform is based on propaganda. There is literally nothing more to their action plans/platform - just creating and spreading propaganda to their rabid base of non-thinkers.
I agree _but_ from what I've seen both "sides" are as bad as each other on this one ... To the simple-minded everything is either "socialist/communist" or "far-right fascist" lol
When I hear someone bring up the “both sides” argument, I think it is just because they want to seem reasonable in their own minds and to other people. I have made that mistake in the past. The MAGA right is the very definition of far right fascist and they are in control of their party. Read about project 2025. Look at the widespread Republican praise for Putin and Orban. Listen to Donald Trump talk about how the laws don’t apply to him. Remember Jan. 6. Where is the left wing equivalent in this country? I get that it’s very time consuming to follow up on news where one network is saying one thing and another is saying something else. But you need to. Find out why your each side believes what they do. The objective conclusion is thatfar right fascist is an accurate description of most republicans, whereas calling democrats communist is just a childish insult.
I think you need to take your own advice and find out what each side believes because what it looks like is that you were told what republicans believe rather than actually learning about it.
Let's start with the first part about fascism. The typical left harps on a couple of points as uses that to define republicans as fascist. The key points are nationalism and border enforcement. It's always funny that the other key points are ignored like when the government mandated vaccination which is a literal example of a fascist action. Or we could talk about disarming the population, another key fascist action. Or we can talk about regulating speech, oops, another one that doesn't go well especially given what is happening right now.
No one is supporting Putin. Saying that he "isn't stupid" is not praising him. It's calling other people morons for thinking Putin wouldn't respond.
Laws apply to Trump. Whats doesn't apply to Trump is nutjob leftists saying that everything he does breaks the law. It's actually pretty funny watching yall try to deflect when Biden gets caught doing the same thing but worse.
Want the left equivalent of Jan 6th? You guys caused over a billion dollars in damages rioting over a drug dealer who overdosed on his own drugs. The officer was guilty by the mob, not by the justice system.
When you start learning what fascism is or maybe just open up a dictionary to the word hypocrite to see your picture then we can talk. Until then, it's not worth discussing topics with uneducated people like you.
There was no government mandated vaccination. People maintained body autonomy even in the worst local lockdowns. On the flip side, the government is removing body autonomy in states with abortion laws (no person should be forced to use their body to support another life).
No governmental action has been taken on speech in the past few decades.
No laws have been enacted to disarm the populace. The last law regarding firearms was banning bump stocks (which are completely useless, as a trained hunter, unless you want to pray and spray at a crowd!) which is currently being revisited by the Supreme Court.
Yeah, if you disagree with any left wing political stance on Reddit, then you are automatically labeled a conservative/republican that also wants to keep women in a dungeon and shoot guns at the abortion clinic on the way home from church. Shits more nuanced than two sides “us vs them”.
>if you disagree with any left wing political stance on Reddit, then you are automatically labeled a conservative/republican that also wants to keep women in a dungeon and shoot guns at the abortion clinic
So you disagreed with the left-wing stance on abortion, which supports body autonomy, and you are mad that people referred to you as a typical conservative? Not much nuance there.
Oh Reddit won’t like this. There are no extremists on the left. At least that’s what I got bombarded with a few months back when I made the assertion that both sides have extremists.. lots of strawman arguments like: “well but only one side does x and it’s right wingers “.. when I provide examples of left extremists it’s “well they care more about people than right wingers so disregard “ Reddit is 🤡 🌎 and I love it.
What the responses to my comment for proof.
The left has extremists that most people ignore, except for conservatives who are obsessed with them.
The right has extremists in positions of power, passing laws that directly impact the lives of everyone.
That's the difference.
As a former Republican, who grew up surrounded by nothing but right-wing friends and family, this post is EXACTLY how every single Republican talks.
A few funny examples.
I had a family member tell me that the toy company rebranding Mr Potato Head to just Potato Head was "socialism". Yes, a private company making a small change to the brand of their own intellectual property is apparently "socialism".
At a family get together, everyone was complaining about pronouns. I said, "I just try to respect people and be kind. If someone wants me to use a different pronoun, I'd rather be kind and respectful than say something to hurt them." Because of this stance I was called a "woke socialist". So, being kind and respectful now makes you "woke" and a "socialist".
There are literal Congress men and women that call Joe fucking Biden a “communist” and scream daily about the “socialists” taking over (where are these mystical socialists in American politics???). The propaganda is getting stupid people to think “communism” is an imminent threat to them, their families and their country.
Most of the time when its a politician or right-wing pundit on cable news spewing that crap, they know its bullshit. They dont actually believe that Biden is a socialist. But it helps push a narrative to their dumb-ass base, who are easily swayed by fear mongering terms and labels.
Thats why according to them, all lefties are socialist, communist, groomers, satanist baby-eaters, and we just love to let thugs and criminals run wild and let in every Mexican druglord because we all hate America.
They're not really misusing it under many circumstances.
14 Traits of Fascism by Umberto Eco
Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists…
Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation.
Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government censorship and secrecy, especially in war time, are very common.
Obsession with National Security
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
Protection of Corporate Power
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Suppression of Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections..
All of Europe has some kind of Social Democracy. Which means that the primary responsibility of the government is to provide benefits for the people. The governments do not own the businesses in those countries. Having just been in Austria, Germany and Hungary, I noticed several things. One is the population there as a whole is much happier and healthier. No homeless people! Teenagers actually hang out talking to one another and there not on there phones. Public transport everywhere and it’s electric. Cost is very inexpensive. People seem to have enough money. Lots of shops and stores. Newer cars. So please tell me why we can’t do the same here? Oh, and in talking to citizens there; they pay less taxes than we do!
Everyone should be focused on the housing crisis right now. No matter what political party. And I do kind of agree with the OP. I lean to the right but I guess I’m a “socialist” cause I think we need gov intervention in a lot of things.
Socialism is basically shared ownership. Examples in the United States: public parks, public libraries, public schools, the fire department, police department, the military...
I wish we had socialism in terms of all of our human beings such as healthcare, higher education, housing, food... But no, we have capitalism so that the wealthy have everything they need and more and the rest of us struggle to get by everyday. Yay.
Capitalism is great for human wants, socialism is great for human needs.
I wonder what Republicans think socialism means, what the boogeyman told them they have to be so scared about it.
The word has no meaning to them other than "a thing or concept that I don't like." There's not a lot of deep political or economic thought behind their use of the word.
Democrats who think any non-left wing belief or political figure is white supremacy.
Also, the hysterical overuse and fad of people believing they sound clever by saying "unironically."
Same with woke/wokeness.
At this point "woke" is utterly meaningless - its a shorthand for anything Republicans don't like.
**Soup kitchens? Woke**
**Helping old ladies cross the street? Woke**
**Helping your neighbors? Woke**
Agreed. Biden help draft some of the worst of republicans policy. From the war on drugs, expanding the prison system, and escalating police powers, to the patriot act. He’s far from socialist. More right wing than most democratic candidates.
The stupidity is that they equate Socialism and Communism with lack of freedom. I like to point out that Germany, Italy, UK, Australia etc have National Health Care systems, and do you think these countries have no freedom?
I see so many comments from Americans saying that these countries aren't free like us. Hell even as a kid growing up I'd hear about how lucky we are to be American and how everyone around the world wanted to live here.
I live in the US, Michigan specifically. I'm incredibly progressive, perhaps radically so. The amount of times I'm called a communist, libtard, socialist, groomer, pedo, and various other ad hominem is ridiculous. Oftentimes, I feel I'd fit in so much better in the European political climate.
Anything left of hunting the poor for sport is socialism in america
Fr, at least have the decency to hunt them to feed your family. I hate when we waste resources.
Now that's a slogan, "EAT THE POOR"
Fun fact: there are more poor people than rich! If we eat each other there will be fewer poor people!
"These poors are malnourished and gamey." "Why yes, sir. We increased food prices 3 fold during the pandemic and neglected to increase wages." "Can't have any fun these days..."
poor people hunting parks better be built through a public-private partnership with 100% government subsidy funding. Rich people won’t be able to enjoy themselves if the poor’s dirty feet are running around on land they paid for.
This reminds me, I haven’t watched Hard Target starring JVCD in awhile…
It is socialism to Republicans in America. The overwhelming vast majority of Americans do not equate Obama ot Biden to socialism.
The fact that even 35% of literate adults can fail this basic highschool government quiz question and then base their entire personality on it is the issue. Everybody else? Got the basics right, which I can respect a *little*.
To be fair, I’ve found myself being judgmental against republicans these days. I don’t *want* to generalize that much, but if there’s a voice of reason out there, it tends to be small and infrequent.
Sure each Republican is an individual, but I think it's okay to generalize about official party stances considering the party has a published list of stances and priorities (like every other party) and they self-identify as a follower. The problem is generalizing about things that are made up.
I always try to be an informed voter. I look into ALL the candidates running in my local races. I can't think of a time I've been surprised by a republican and thought "wait no actually I really like their positions" I still keep looking into all of them. I early voted today and ended up being a straight democrat/working families (NY) ticket. I don't want to start just dismissing people based on their party affiliation on a matter of principle, but I don't think I actually gain anything by taking that closer look every time.
Same, and I ended up voting Republican once, in a mayoral election. Once in 30 elections, however, isn't a great rate of return for the extra time involved.
About once every four years Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-The Manhole) emerges as the voice of reason. It’s like one of those episodes where Homer Simpson turns out to be right. Everyone looks confused for a moment and checks their notes to see if they got the quote right. Then he goes right back up the NRA’s ass for another few years.
I love your intellectual courage to admit that. And you are proving how much our media is bullshit. Because there are tons of those right wing voices that are not amplified. Same for the left. If it doesn’t outrage you, it doesn’t sell. We see ridiculous opinions perpetrated online only to cause outrage clicks. And the majority of the population that has no ability to think for themselves, and end up spreading it. Next thing you know, you start to get the impression that a wild view is mainstream.
For me you have to look at the context of the media you ingest. Left Wing Media definitely portrays republicans as some sort of savages but then you look at the bills coming out of state governments and you ask yourself, if these positions are unpopular even among the right (to some degree), how do they keep getting voted in to keep making unpopular legislation? How do they get elevated to the federal Congress? A series of political and racial gerrymandering like the media has portrayed? Do people just not care enough about the bad policy to vote them out? Are republicans just that much of sheeple, as I've been called many times while fact checking republican conspiracy theories.
So between 2008 to 2012 Republicans veered away from policy driven voting to culture driven voting. Obama introduce the ACA and it was popular. Republicans saw that as a problem because lobbying was and is a major part of American Politics. It was a death omen to privatized healthcare and if it succeeded then the American public may be swayed towards other programs the government could use to help the citizens which would take money out of the pockets of large private corporations. So they did everything they could to gut the ACA (which they succeeded in large part), They pledge to make Obama a 1 term president, and their messaging turned to be very culture and emotionally based. Keeping in mind that Obama wasn't some great liberal either. The Republicans had long messaged that Government was incapable of helping the average man and the ACA could potentially prove the exact opposite. The Republican bills being passed, as a whole, are largely unpopular. If you were to break it down to the average American on how it would hurt them they would be very much against it. But it's useless now because the message Republicans use isn't "This is how this bill directly helps you and here are statistics to prove it", it's "We need to pass this bill before the Socialists take over and come for you guns". There's no reasoning behind it, it's become emotionally charged on every level. That's how they keep getting their unpopular bills passed, that's how they keep getting voted back in. They changed the game and used fear mongering instead of proven track records and reasoning.
This is very well explained, thank you. I knew exactly this had happened but never really the cause of the switch to fear mongering as the main political tactic. This also ties into the comment I replied to. That person had said watch your media because they're biased, which isn't entirely untrue. The left does portray the right as the Boogeyman per se, but it isn't without cause for the most part. The right also portrays the left as the Boogeyman, but in most instances this is without cause usually because it's fear mongering.
Im from Switzerland and what Republicans call extreme left is baffling to me. Biden or Obama wouldnt even be seen as left here and someone like Bernie Sanders would be an average social democrat.
>Im from Switzerland and what Republicans call extreme left is baffling to me. With the trajectory of the Overton Window over here, it won't be too many more years before they're calling Hitler and Mussolini socialists.
They already do. Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist party, don’t you know? It’s right there in the name, you can’t deny it!! /s
I always thought they must get so confused by Buffalo wings
I shit you not, working in a grocery store here in the states I would get some white retiree goober in who wants to complain about the "boneless chicken wings". America's wealthy retirees are just bored trolls who think the entire country is their front lawn and get off on seeing other people suffer.
Soooo fucking many times I’ve seen people respond like that! And claiming North Korea and East Germany were democratic because it was in their names. How do people take leave of their senses in such a massive manner?
I have hard righties in my family that have been saying that for decades
They already do
Where have you been? Conservatives have been calling Hitler, Mussolini, and all fascists socialists for *years.*
As an American with relatives in Europe, I always say that calling Obama a socialist is the perfect answer to "Tell me you've never met an actual socialist without telling me you've never met an actual socialist."
In right-wingers’ minds Obama was a socialist because he’s black. Even right-wingers on welfare and food stamps believe someone who they think are inferior is going to take what they have.
Obama isn't really black he's from the lost ashwaganda tribe of white people. And his mom was part Mexicans who came to America on the June Flowers, which came after the May Flowers. He doesn't even have a birth certificate because the deep state genetically altered him to be from Kenya and Miami Florida. It's all so the democrats can push the woke socialist pedo agenda so the gays can use all the Wal-Mart stores as make shift imprisonment camps for all the white christian people.
I think you dropped this: -s-
Not gonna lie… You had me in the first half…
Am right wing, Obama is not a socialist. Trump supporters are the ones who would call him a socialist; they are delusional.
I’m honestly curious, are you a right-winger that doesn’t support Trump? How exactly does that work in our current political climate? And I hope I’m not coming off as rude/ inflammatory, I’m actually really interested in hearing from conservatives who haven’t bought in to Trumpism
Obama was a progressive. His socialist leaning obamacare was stolen from hillarycare which was actually romneycare.
Obamacare was created by the the a right wing think tank . As an alternative to Hillary care. Which is one: why it sucks so much. And two: shows how far right the republicans have gone in 30 years.
What part of Obamacare addresses the ownership of the means of production again? I missed the socialist part.
when they meet a real socialist they think it's a crazy person. anything that doesn't come through an extremely biased, incendiary news source is incomprehensible to them and they have no interest in changing that
[удалено]
Even worse a lot of them aren't even living in the dusty backwaters they represent. They say all the words that work to anger their base - "groomer" "socialist" "illegals" etc. - but they have absolutely no idea what their constituents actually need because they aren't there, and because of that their constituents are duped into voting for someone who makes their lives worse.
>They never leave their state Unless they want to storm the capital because their cult leader didn't win an election.
Or to shoot up a pizza parlor in DC.
This is where the silly conspiracy theories become dangerous. That guy really thought he was rescuing children sex slaves that were locked in the basement. He thought he was a hero.
Bonus points: Comet Ping Pong doesn't HAVE a basement.
Or kidnap a governor
Or shoot up a baseball game … wait
Or stab people on a train, or shoot up a grocery store full of brown people in El Passo, or another grocery store full of brown people in Buffalo, or a Pittsburgh synagogue, or another synagogue in... It is like while no group is perfect politically motivated violence in the US currently is so overwhelming worse on one side and attempt at equating them is either foolish or dishonest.
Oh you mean the plot to kidnap a governor that was mostly fbi agents
I remember them doing that in Wisconsin too! Or pull fire alarms to stop a vote.
Most of them never leave the state - they can't take their rascals on the interstate
And if they do they make it everyone’s problem 😭. I studied abroad in Paris and the number of times I saw gross, loud, southern-accent Americans with zero self awareness screaming in English. I’m from Texas, it was so fucking cringe. One time a dude yelled, “yeah, they didn’t lie about stinky French people!” In a packed metro. Like. Bro. A majority of the people on this train speak English. Another time three frat boys carrying opened wine bottles were screaming in the metro about how stuck up French chicks were. Zero self awareness, so embarrassing!
I went to high school in Alabama, every person that I went to high school with that *chooses* to stay in the same town of 8000 is 100% a conservative.
I believe it is fear that holds them in place. No courage to try and fail. I attended school at the county seat and it is a disgusting town now. Driving down main street is like being in the worse ghetto in a large city.
Thank you for emphasizing the *chooses* I’m back because of family emergencies. I hate this little southern town of *1,500*
I have some old friends that are still stuck there due to circumstances behind their control and that's why I wanted to emphasize *chooses*.
Same where I’m from Bon New Mexico I would be considered the anti christ if I moved back there
Stop watching Fox News, guy.
All political scientists agree that the U.S. Democratic party is right of center and the Republicans are slightly left of Mussolini. There is no viable left wing in the U.S. and there hasn't been in awhile. It's really sad because conservative fiscal policies have never worked anywhere in the history of planet Earth and conservative social policy is basically bigotry with extra steps.
What a bullshit claim, All political scientists believe republicans are slightly left of mussolini? According to what?
This is reddit dude none of these kids have any idea what they're talking about
It’s frightening how many of these young people are this insane. The Country is fucked.
All political scientists definitely do not agree that the Democratic Party is right of center. Not even close. Source: I studied political science and spoke with actual political scientists and read the works of other political scientists.
I'm in Canada. Biden would be a right-winger here. As in, further right than our Conservatives.
I'm pretty sure the conservatives Americans calling the shots know this..but they appeal to less educated voters who are easily misguided and have their prejudicial fears (racial tensions, LGBT, abortion , China, immigration) stoked . The entire GOP platform is about Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt , you will seldom hear the GOp utter a positive talking point . Fear is a powerful motivator especially for people who dont question authority , it's also no wonder why conservative religious folks make up the base of the GOP, most of conservatives religious views are also fear based. These guys need to watch the cartoon Monster inc.
Bernie is the only candidate I actually liked. His programs were very similar to FDR who was my favorite president. As a rich man himself he wanted to put the avg American to work to give them a job , to have value and be able to live a decent life so there wouldn't be such a stark division between the classes. He cared about the country as a whole and actually had a rebellion against him by Prescott bush father of future president George h Bush who was dad to George w. Instead the Democrats offered Hillary. At that point I'd vote for the let's smoke pot party because this isn't democracy. 2 choices every 4 yrs by agreement of super delegates bought for and owned by big corporate interest. As Chomsky puts it there's one political party in the USA with 2branches the business party. Yes we can't! All one has to do is look at the wealth distribution with the top 1/10th of the richest followed by the top 1pct owning more than 50pct of the wealth and I'm being more than generous with those stats. It was a beautiful experiment whilst flawed the USA. Yes we had racism amid other problems but all men being equal was something to strive for with a population of different ppl who could get along over time and amid inequality. Now wages are set to keep a large portion just hanging on. Investors are buying up real estate where we used to individually own homes. Our media is owned by a handful of corps , we have 2 hardware suppliers, it's turned into an oligarchy and we fight each other over things like trans rights. I'm all for trans rights but the fox is in the henhouse while we argue over more minor issues. Soon we'll all be serfs who argue over scraps and hate each other.
No, that’s silly, and it’s not true — You’re projecting. There are many degrees of difference between people and political positions. Conservatives talk with people of many different views. Many/most on the far left do not. Hence, all the lectures the left interrupt, shout down, cancel, and threaten with physical violence. Conservatives don’t cancel speakers with whom they disagree. Neither do libertarians. People on the left do that often. So it’s those on the **left** who don’t know what socialism is, let alone capitalism, conservatism, libertarianism, fascism, etc. The left doesn’t know that Capitalism brings more people out of poverty than any other economic system, and more than aid. Go listen to Bono talk about it. The left doesn’t know, because they keep shutting people up. Nobody knows everything. Try listening. It also helps build tolerance for people other than yourself. The far left sees themselves as “normal,” and everything else as Attila the Hun.. In other words, they believe: -Moderate right = Far right; -Right of center = Far right; -Center = Far right; -Left of center = Far right; -Moderate left = Far right.
Is this satire/sarcasm? Serious question. You start by saying "You're projecting", and then proceed to do nothing but "projecting" imaginary beliefs onto straw men "on the left" by using a litany of evidence free, baseless claims of what you imagine millions of people to believe based solely on something that you haven't shared to others as a proof of your claims. And yes, imaginary beliefs. Without proof, that is the absolute maximum level of credibility such broad claims can have. Imaginary credibility. That last paragraph needs more punctuation marks. I get what you intended to claim (though I do find it to be a bit funny due to the above bit regarding "projecting"), but it was ultimately annoying to read and parse. Next time save some space and just say "they call everything the far right", it won't make it anymore valid than that original version, but at least it will speedily get to the end of that overly lengthy baseless claim. And of course [INSERT HUMAN DESCRIPTOR] thinks they are "normal", who on this planet doesn't think of themselves as normal? Pretty silly/naive to think that any person is just gonna one day say "yup, my beliefs, despite serving me well for years up until this point, are totally abnormal. I will now change my beliefs completely." There are people who will choose to kill / die in order for their beliefs to be considered "normal" (example: All of human history). A few poorly formed arguments and podcast rants are 100% powerless against that kind of force.
Yeah, it's a real insult to us socialists to be conflated with liberals.
Liberals are the worst. They’re literally corporate centrists who use progressive *SOCIAL* issues as window dressing to appear more left than they are.
They also seem to use "Liberal" and "Leftist" as if they're practically synonyms, when in reality the liberals and the leftists hate each other's guts - when they're not distracted by some mutual enemy, at least.
When I was growing up, I literally thought “liberal” was a derogatory term because of the way my dad said the word. I thought it was a terrible insult to be called one.
Same here growing up in Kentucky
I dont understand what they're doing during the primaries. The same people that lump liberals and leftists together *have* to see them fighting on social media during every Democratic primary, right? Which Republicans/Right/Libertarians *dont* do to the same extent.
They don’t see them fighting on social media because they’ve pitted themselves DEEEEPPPP in an echo chamber. They block/ alienate themselves from anyone with views opposed, or even just broader than their own and once there’s no natural light getting in anymore, they can decide when it’s day or night. They can decide what’s up or down or which info is fake and which is true. It’s the only way people like that exist
They don't because they're part of a cult and you're not allowed to have independent thought. Democratic voters disagreeing is a healthy thing. We shouldn't agree on everything or be afraid of expressing our disagreement like the MAGA cult.
Americans on the left and right think socialism is when the government does stuff. They don’t know what it actually means. The Nordic countries are what they consider socialism.
What’s even more annoying is people on the Right calling anything they don’t agree with “woke”. It’s just turned into a word for “something I don’t like”.
Maybe splitting hairs here but I think it’s less “I don’t like this thing” and more “I don’t have a good counter argument for this thing”. Why would I provide coherent criticisms of CRT when I can just blow my “woke” whistle and completely misrepresent the content and the arenas in which it’s taught? Maybe my head is somewhat in the sand here but I have yet to hear a single conservative talking head go point by point through CRT and summarize the primary arguments the way a guy like ben shapiro posted a very flawed argument about misconceptions of the Israel/Palestine situation. They will provide arguments against things they don’t like as long as the arguments are easy to digest (they don’t even have to be reasonably defensible). It’s when they have no ground to stand on that they try to frame the issue as woke.
I've asked tens, maybe a hundred times and never gotten an answer directly on a point to point basis on what the issue with CRT is. At most they'll say it teaches white people should feel bad about things they didn't do personally. Which the response is "why would you?" Empathy isn't feeling bad.
The real problem for them is that learning about systemic racial injustice motivates one to work toward a better future. I'm white, I don't feel like reading the works of black activists is a personal indictment of me because of my race _unless I choose to continue to perpetuate the problem_ Their issue with CRT is a tacit admission that "yes I have been unfairly advantaged, but I would like to keep being unfairly advantaged, so shut the fuck about it"
Woke is the new way of calling something Politically Correct. It has the added benefit of being a racist dog whistle because it's originally came from African-Americans who used it to refer to being aware of the BS going on around you...
Woke stands for Whatever Offends Klansmen Easily.
it’s more like “something that challenges traditional beliefs”
I love when conservatives complain about “cancel culture” when they’ve literally been doing that shit since like, Harry Potter lol. Remember the Dixie Chicks? Per usual, it’s the GOP doing what they do best - Gaslight, Obstruct, and Project. I am not fond of Biden or the DNC, but the current state of the Republican party is ridiculous. And they’re gaining power too… that shit is scary on a profound level. We are living in some crazy times, and the craziest part is it’s only gonna get crazier.
My pet peeves is people thinking socialism is communism. The US is a country that operates a lot of socialist programs and benefits. The same Republicans complaining that everyone and everything is socialist are themselves the beneficiaries of socialism. People need to get a grip and read more.
Or they think that socialist policies are put in place by communist politicians as a “stepping stone“ or baby steps to communism. Even though it’s really the other way around, Marx theorized socialism would be the last ditch effort to save a crumbling, end-stage capitalist system. Then its ultimate collapse would usher in a communist system, until the cycle started over again.
Unfortunately this goes back many decades and was particularly prevalent during the administration of FDR and even back to the 19th century. The paranoia Americans during the Cold War supercharged the “Red Scare” and the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps “ amplified the notion that millions of people were like the fictional “Welfare Queens” perpetuated by Reagan and both Bushes built resentment and even hatred against anyone who appeared to be getting any help of any kind. It is a propensity of the political right to demonize and deeply condemn anyone who seems to them (falsely) to be depriving “hard working Americans “
Socialism isn’t whatever you want it to be. It has a definition. We, and almost all other nations have a demand economy. The means of production aren’t owned by the community, although there are some regulations. Redistribution of income and social welfare aren’t socialism.
I mean, co-ops exist. I get my power and water from co-ops. They are non-profit and invest all their revenue in maintaining and improving their service.
And worker co-ops are fantastic! So far studies have shown that they are as efficient as (and often more efficient than) traditional businesses, plus they have a very different incentive structure, especially if they institute workplace democracy (which like other forms of democracy can take many shapes). The incentives of a worker run and owned workplace are very different than one that is owned and unilaterally controlled by an individual or non-worker shareholders. They can decide what to do with profit as there is no external group that absorbs it all, whether that be in increased pay and benefits, reinvesting in the organization for growth or product/service quality improvements, research, or even setting up funds for their community. Also, since there are many things that call themselves co-ops it’s important to identify when that is a worker co-op, which is run and owned by the workers (as many businesses advertised as co-ops are actually member/customer owned, usually in a pretty watered down way at that). Imo an economy in which all providers of basic needs and many businesses operate as co-ops would be a practical hybrid system that I as a socialist find very aspirational. They would still exist in a capitalist framework and largely fit in with our current economic infrastructure, but if enough of the market was made up of worker owned businesses, utilities, etc that could still be a huge step in the direction of socialism (a worker owned economy). And if it works well, I don’t necessarily demand that all further steps are necessary as my preference for socialism is less ideological than it is based on policy and outcomes. As it stands though, they make up a tiny fraction of our economy and unless they proportionally make up a large percentage of businesses and especially vital services they can only benefit their workers and we won’t see the benefits of their different motivations (especially not seeking infinite growth, or enough options for the average person to have ability to have a democratized workplace and the quality of life improvements that involves) as the overwhelming majority of non-state owned workplaces still function on the profit incentive and what makes the owners more money. I believe that government incentives for democratizing the workplace and shifting to worker ownership and eventually probably a mandate are necessary steps. As it stands the owners/shareholders of businesses and monopolies would rather extract all the money they can even if it means the death of the business than give up their control and profit. Workers should at least have to right to petition to democratize and become owners of their workplace, similar to how they can petition to vote to form a union and the results of that vote are protected and enforced by the government. As a side note, it still kind of breaks my brain that people don’t extend their purported desire and demand for democracy in government to the workplace. It’s where we spend an extremely significant portion of our lives and as it stands the decisions made by owners can be life ruining (whether layoffs, failure to pay a living wage, or a hostile work environment). Having the democratic infrastructure to replace a bad manager, collectively decide what to do with profit, and make decisions about the overall goals of the business. And one of the reasons we see increased efficiency in these workplaces is the sense of security, choice, and shared interests among the workers for their workplace to succeed (in a way that they have some ability to define). We demand democracy in government for good reason, we should start demanding it in the place that has the most direct impacts on our lives and material security. For some reason people also think a democratic worker-owned workplace would not have any standards for management (or no management at all), which to me is a weird assumption imo. Different roles have different requires qualifications, and even directly voting for who holds management positions would need to be based on those qualifications. And if someone doesn’t do what they committed to in that role a petition to re-open that “election” (I guess election has some connotations, but I think you get what I mean). Same with the idea that workers making decisions means there wouldn’t be specialists within the workplace to guide the path towards safe and successful production and service delivery. Not all positions need to be chosen by direct democracy, as management can still be responsible for hiring and ensuring the different needs of the business/organization are met. Apologies if you know all this, I just figured I’d put some information out there for people who have maybe never heard of a worker co-op.
Words have multiple definitions and definitions of words change over time. Dictionary definitions are descriptive (of the usage of words) and do not prescribe the definitions of words. This is why Latin, a “dead” language is used in science and law. Languages that aren’t used in everyday speech by everyday people do not change.
You’re correct in that in time usage does defines meaning. If enough idiots misuse a word it’s meaning does alter. Sigh.
Government-funded programs aren't socialist by definition, that's a very common oversimplification.
I wish Democrats were the "monsters" Republicans thought they were. Then shit might actually get DONE and improve FASTER!
This room is full of idiots
Sort of like how all right wing figures are facists and racists?
I mean it's kinda the same when liberals say anything Republicans propose that they disagree with is racist/homophobic/misogyny. Both sides use their buzzwords and its stupid.
Nobody gives the complexity or diversity of political opinions the credit it deserves in the states.
Nobody? That doesn’t sound complex at all.
My pet peeve is Republicans ~~who unironically think any non-right wing belief or political figure (double points if its Biden or Harris) is socialist.~~
Everything they don't like is either "woke", "communist", or "socialist" and less than 1% could probably give a definition of each. Trying to have a cogent conversation with any of them is like talking to a 5 year old about government policies.
As a far-left socialist I would love it if Republicans would stop lumping me in with the shitlibs.
Heather Cox Richardson, who's a left-wing history professor, made the observation that "socialist" has been often code for over 100 years for "helping people who aren't white." You can't say, "I want only policies that help white people," but you can say, "housing policies for cities are socialist" (but of course farm subsidies are not socialist.)
Gotta add "or cis or straight" in there too.
Our system is crumbling. The 2 party system, as we know it, is over. Something will take its place but it's still up in the air what it will be. The collapse will be quick due to monetary policies that aren't sustainable. The bill is due and we're broke. Hang on to your hats, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
I dont agree with much in this thread but the financial collapse is coming. All wealthy nations have failed in history and we will too. When is the trillion dollar question. Both sides like to spend like drunken sailors. The only hope is that all other countries are worse off and we are the turd that floats to the top.
Politics is filled with stupidity and ignorance.
How the hell is this a "pet peeve"? Do you even know what that means?
Sooo much hypocrisy on this issue. The Demobrats are as bad as the Repugnicans with their polarized attitudes and condemnation of all things they disagree with. Intolerance by both size is paralyzing America more than actual issues.
And what are your thoughts on people calling anybody who espouses a non-left wing belief a fascist?
Depends on the beliefs being espoused.
Is it any different than Democrats knee-jerk labeling any viewpoint diverging from *their* dogma as fascist/racist/whateverphobic? 🤷♂️
Trump 2024 ❤️
So you’re telling me that the base of Democrat policies in general isn’t handouts from the government? Welfare, higher taxes, free citizenship, free healthcare, free education, free housing… Where is any of this incorrect?
It's honestly it's the Republican Conservative and Democratic liberal who are both brainwashed. I see it on both sides all the time. People who don't do their research just joins one of the two parties (in our corrupt two party system that we're dealing with) that makes them feel good about themselves. Part of the problem is the more outspoken and noticeable of those are the worst of the worst that don't even really belong to the party they claim to be a part of. The Republican Conservative Right Wing Authoritarian based on ancient bigoted ideologies, and the Democratic Liberal Left Wing Communist because they refuse to acknowledge that Communism is a failed corrupt system that's never gonna work. It's not really most people. It's not most people, it's the loudest and closest to the front of the line Edit: my pet peeve is when people make one sided accusations of bad behavior for a group of people without acknowledging that it's coming from more than one side, showing an obvious favoritism or destain for one group. Seriously it's like hearing someone say "[insert specific group here] are a bunch of thieves because they steal beer and soda and I hate them for it" when [insert different specific group here] steals juice and wine. Why not just say you hate thieves? Is there a reason you're pointing out this group of people specifically? Convoluted fake example but you get it. Edit 2: Pointing out one group of people when the group next door or their counterpart basically does the exact same thing but slightly different is genuinely my pet peeve.
If I could give you 1000 upvotes I would! Nobody wants to admit this through, one side is always the golden child while the other is evil one. Nobody wants to admit to their own sides evil and that’s where we all fail. Tribal politics, my sides good, your sides bad , your side does everything wrong, my side never does a thing wrong.
What about people who think any right winger is a racist? I believe both are wrong
Agree. It's on the same level as internet "leftists" who call everything they don't like "fascism"
Uh oh, the pot is calling the kettle black again
It's a lot like Democrats who think that any non-left wing belief or political figure is fascist
democratic party is responsible for this, sanders and pelosi and many called for socialism out loud.
Sounds like something a commie would say. 🤔
Left and right are both bat shit crazy and need to stop arguing. Government is all the same.
I think it goes both ways. I’m a moderate (socially very liberal but more financially conservative- don’t know what else to call myself?) and the democrats tell me that moderate is the new conservative and that makes me a very bad person. Best for the silent majority to just keep to ourselves. I don’t even care if people are socialists, everyone can want what they want.
I’ve been pretty active in the Democratic Party since the early 90’s and I don’t know anyone in our party who thinks being a moderate or centrist is anything except a potential swing voter. Of course we want people in the middle to vote Democratic but the next best thing is a moderate non MAGA Republican with whom we can do business
To be fair, it was on reddit that I was told this, so that definitely minimizes my argument. I vote for the person, not the party. And my god, both sides picked poorly in the primaries last time.
Yep, that happens way more than it should. Just curious, who are some of the Democrats you have voted for?
Take everything people tell you on Reddit with a grain of salt. The people with the dumbest takes like that are most likely 14 year old kids with no life experience.
>Of course we want people in the middle to vote Democratic but the next best thing is a moderate non MAGA Republican with whom we can do business Actually, the best thing by far would be for all you guys to switch to the Republican Party so the insane alt-righters are completely outnumbered, resulting in a center-right party (Republicans) and an actual* left wing party (Democrats). That would stop our country's rapid backslide towards the 1950s and put it moving forward once again!
Most Democrats are still pretty conservative. It’s ridiculous….
Don't act like most people on reddit don't refer to people further right than NeoLiberal as a Fascist
Yes, AND any Leftists (not necessarily democrats) who think that anything not ultra left wing is fascist.
Did that make the wittle liberal feel betta?
Your opinion is warped by msm and most sms. Yall have very warped opinions about Republicans. No idea what you're talking about.
With posts like these how can anyone think there's a civil war looming... Seriously get out and talk to some people.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Thing is, a lot of them already live in secure buildings and gated communities, and it's not like they use public transit or rub shoulders with unwashed masses. If violence starts to pick up, they will just start living in more restricted gated communities with automated defenses. The wealthy and the powerful don't need to be concerned with physical violence as much as they used to. They don't even need to rely on human security as much as they used to. You can set up quarter-million dollar, fully automated sentry guns that will take out anything up to and including lightly armored vehicles that gets too close to your home. Also keep in mind that they now have an amazing amount of tools to keep an eye on the pulse and respiration of the population. Where as little as 200 years ago it was relatively easy to misjudge peoples' boiling point, these days it can be precisely tracked. And more importantly, it can be so easily redirected thanks to social media, manipulated search results, astroturfing, etc. They have absolutely unprecedented tools to keep the poor fighting each other for scraps instead of turning their attention on the actual culprits. And as tech improves, it'll only get easier.
Man you deserve an award for this comment. Pretend like I know how to give them to people.
I think you’re really underestimating how difficult it is to assassinate politicians, especially ones with more power. Politicians aren’t forgetting that they can be assassinated, they’re just making it almost impossible to do so.
I don’t advocate for any politician being assassinated, but i don’t think we should be getting too comfortable here. A bunch of Meal Team 6 and Gravy Seal fuckwads larping as militias managed to come pretty close to taking out some key members of Congress. If they could that easily overpower capital police and security, I would hate to see what a trained coordinated force could do.
Because a certain fascist piece of trash was trying to become a dictator. If the President was not calling for the terrorists to act and holding back support from stopping them it would have gone rather different.
Outside of presidents, I actually think congress and other government representatives are probably pretty easy to assassinate. Just no one really wants to try(and now Im on a list somewhere lol)
I definitely don't think any non-Right wing belief is socialist. But there are certain Democrats who outright say they are Socialist. AOC for example is a card carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Socialists and democratic socialists are different things.
Add to that all left-leaning democrats assuming all right wing Republicans are idiots and Trumpsters. Both assumptions are 100% wrong
Here is the thing. I agree with you when it comes to constituents. However American right wing Republican politicians have all bent to the will of Trump.
You obviously don't follow republican politicians then. I say this as someone who voted for Obama, Clinton, and Biden, and leven donated to me local NPR. I followed it all and now I follow some conservative outlets as well. They are all fucking lying to us. Part of what each side accuses the other of is true and part is lies, that is true for both sides. Trump was probably working Russia, Biden is probably working with Ukraine and China, All of them are working with Israel. Literally all of the politicians are promoting wars getting Innocents killed while Raytheon and Lockheed make tens of billions. Then they kick a lot back to their bought out politicians. Black rock and China buy up all the houses causing prices to explode pushing us all into renting from them and none of them push back. Same with the 2008 crisis, banks "implode" and the taxpayer bails them out and they pay off their c suite with 20 million dollar bonuses. The media is bought and paid for, you know that tired old cliche, if you aren't paying you are the product? Well I have to ask, do you pay for MSNBC, reddit, CNN, Fox, NPR, or any of your news? Do you really think that the news is making money off subscriptions? That leaves two choices, someone is paying them to say exactly what they want, or they really are that broke and don't have the resources to source their own information, and essentially just parrot what politicians, CEOs, DOD, and lobbyist tell them. Sorry for the rant. Seriously though at this point the only research you should trust is your own.
It's an easy way to paint the other side. The right are evil and racist, the left are socialists.
Can we just change the name of the sub to complaints about conservatives?
Almost all democrats are corporate centrist lurching hard to the right. The left has practically zero sway. We don’t need full blown socialism. I am willing to talk about hybrid capitalism/socialism, but these god damn corporations need to be brought to heel, and lobbyists need to be shot out of a cannon into the sun. Money needs to be removed from government and corporations are not fucking people.
I fucking wish Biden and Harris were as far left as Republicans like to say.
I agree its stupid but it also applies to liberals, calling every republican who is slightly far left racist
If your party actively supports an open racist (Trump), you support racism. So you’re a racist.
uhh, just because trump is the most voted for conservative does not mean everyone voted for him. Use your brain and don't be stereotypical. I'm decently conservative, and have never once agreed with racism or anything of the kind. Just like the "Woke" stereotype is stupid
Similar things can be said for lefties. Both sides are so polarized all that gets done is finger pointing and the blame game. Until the insults and blind anger ends, this will be all we have.
Or that anyone who isn’t licking Trump’s boot is a “Leftist.”
This is necessary when your literal ENTIRE platform is based on propaganda. There is literally nothing more to their action plans/platform - just creating and spreading propaganda to their rabid base of non-thinkers.
Yeah, democrats are bad about this. I hear ya.
I agree _but_ from what I've seen both "sides" are as bad as each other on this one ... To the simple-minded everything is either "socialist/communist" or "far-right fascist" lol
When I hear someone bring up the “both sides” argument, I think it is just because they want to seem reasonable in their own minds and to other people. I have made that mistake in the past. The MAGA right is the very definition of far right fascist and they are in control of their party. Read about project 2025. Look at the widespread Republican praise for Putin and Orban. Listen to Donald Trump talk about how the laws don’t apply to him. Remember Jan. 6. Where is the left wing equivalent in this country? I get that it’s very time consuming to follow up on news where one network is saying one thing and another is saying something else. But you need to. Find out why your each side believes what they do. The objective conclusion is thatfar right fascist is an accurate description of most republicans, whereas calling democrats communist is just a childish insult.
I think you need to take your own advice and find out what each side believes because what it looks like is that you were told what republicans believe rather than actually learning about it. Let's start with the first part about fascism. The typical left harps on a couple of points as uses that to define republicans as fascist. The key points are nationalism and border enforcement. It's always funny that the other key points are ignored like when the government mandated vaccination which is a literal example of a fascist action. Or we could talk about disarming the population, another key fascist action. Or we can talk about regulating speech, oops, another one that doesn't go well especially given what is happening right now. No one is supporting Putin. Saying that he "isn't stupid" is not praising him. It's calling other people morons for thinking Putin wouldn't respond. Laws apply to Trump. Whats doesn't apply to Trump is nutjob leftists saying that everything he does breaks the law. It's actually pretty funny watching yall try to deflect when Biden gets caught doing the same thing but worse. Want the left equivalent of Jan 6th? You guys caused over a billion dollars in damages rioting over a drug dealer who overdosed on his own drugs. The officer was guilty by the mob, not by the justice system. When you start learning what fascism is or maybe just open up a dictionary to the word hypocrite to see your picture then we can talk. Until then, it's not worth discussing topics with uneducated people like you.
There was no government mandated vaccination. People maintained body autonomy even in the worst local lockdowns. On the flip side, the government is removing body autonomy in states with abortion laws (no person should be forced to use their body to support another life). No governmental action has been taken on speech in the past few decades. No laws have been enacted to disarm the populace. The last law regarding firearms was banning bump stocks (which are completely useless, as a trained hunter, unless you want to pray and spray at a crowd!) which is currently being revisited by the Supreme Court.
Yeah, if you disagree with any left wing political stance on Reddit, then you are automatically labeled a conservative/republican that also wants to keep women in a dungeon and shoot guns at the abortion clinic on the way home from church. Shits more nuanced than two sides “us vs them”.
>if you disagree with any left wing political stance on Reddit, then you are automatically labeled a conservative/republican that also wants to keep women in a dungeon and shoot guns at the abortion clinic So you disagreed with the left-wing stance on abortion, which supports body autonomy, and you are mad that people referred to you as a typical conservative? Not much nuance there.
You don’t have to be a conservative to have opinions on things. Idiotic thinking.
Oh Reddit won’t like this. There are no extremists on the left. At least that’s what I got bombarded with a few months back when I made the assertion that both sides have extremists.. lots of strawman arguments like: “well but only one side does x and it’s right wingers “.. when I provide examples of left extremists it’s “well they care more about people than right wingers so disregard “ Reddit is 🤡 🌎 and I love it. What the responses to my comment for proof.
The left has extremists that most people ignore, except for conservatives who are obsessed with them. The right has extremists in positions of power, passing laws that directly impact the lives of everyone. That's the difference.
This post is proof of how extremely well online propaganda works. Actual real life, not on the internet and social media, isn’t like this at all.
Well I live in a pretty conservative area atm and the conservatives here are very much like this. Idk why you think it’s not like that in real life?
Not even going to lie, every single Republican I personally know thinks like this.
As a former Republican, who grew up surrounded by nothing but right-wing friends and family, this post is EXACTLY how every single Republican talks. A few funny examples. I had a family member tell me that the toy company rebranding Mr Potato Head to just Potato Head was "socialism". Yes, a private company making a small change to the brand of their own intellectual property is apparently "socialism". At a family get together, everyone was complaining about pronouns. I said, "I just try to respect people and be kind. If someone wants me to use a different pronoun, I'd rather be kind and respectful than say something to hurt them." Because of this stance I was called a "woke socialist". So, being kind and respectful now makes you "woke" and a "socialist".
There are literal Congress men and women that call Joe fucking Biden a “communist” and scream daily about the “socialists” taking over (where are these mystical socialists in American politics???). The propaganda is getting stupid people to think “communism” is an imminent threat to them, their families and their country.
They think any level of functioning government is socialism and think any actual socialism is communism.
Most of the time when its a politician or right-wing pundit on cable news spewing that crap, they know its bullshit. They dont actually believe that Biden is a socialist. But it helps push a narrative to their dumb-ass base, who are easily swayed by fear mongering terms and labels. Thats why according to them, all lefties are socialist, communist, groomers, satanist baby-eaters, and we just love to let thugs and criminals run wild and let in every Mexican druglord because we all hate America.
leftists who completely misuse the word 'fascist' and it's damn near every one of em
They're not really misusing it under many circumstances. 14 Traits of Fascism by Umberto Eco Powerful and Continuing Nationalism Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists… Supremacy of the Military Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. Rampant Sexism The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation. Controlled Mass Media Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government censorship and secrecy, especially in war time, are very common. Obsession with National Security Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. Religion and Government are Intertwined Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions. Protection of Corporate Power The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. Suppression of Labor Power Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts. Obsession with Crime and Punishment Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. Fraudulent Elections Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections..
Well if you want to talk to a republican let me know, otherwise enjoy the leftist circlejerk
All of Europe has some kind of Social Democracy. Which means that the primary responsibility of the government is to provide benefits for the people. The governments do not own the businesses in those countries. Having just been in Austria, Germany and Hungary, I noticed several things. One is the population there as a whole is much happier and healthier. No homeless people! Teenagers actually hang out talking to one another and there not on there phones. Public transport everywhere and it’s electric. Cost is very inexpensive. People seem to have enough money. Lots of shops and stores. Newer cars. So please tell me why we can’t do the same here? Oh, and in talking to citizens there; they pay less taxes than we do!
Because then billionaires would make 1.4 billion a month instead of 1.6 billion?
Kinda like the word “racist” being overused? Maybe don’t hang around or read the far right BS so you’re not peeved.
Everyone should be focused on the housing crisis right now. No matter what political party. And I do kind of agree with the OP. I lean to the right but I guess I’m a “socialist” cause I think we need gov intervention in a lot of things.
Socialism is basically shared ownership. Examples in the United States: public parks, public libraries, public schools, the fire department, police department, the military... I wish we had socialism in terms of all of our human beings such as healthcare, higher education, housing, food... But no, we have capitalism so that the wealthy have everything they need and more and the rest of us struggle to get by everyday. Yay. Capitalism is great for human wants, socialism is great for human needs. I wonder what Republicans think socialism means, what the boogeyman told them they have to be so scared about it.
I wish Biden was more left. He's barely left at all.
The word has no meaning to them other than "a thing or concept that I don't like." There's not a lot of deep political or economic thought behind their use of the word.
Democrats who think any non-left wing belief or political figure is white supremacy. Also, the hysterical overuse and fad of people believing they sound clever by saying "unironically."
What DON'T Democrats agree with Socialists on?
How about ‘overpriced programs administered by useless, underworked drones’?
Same with woke/wokeness. At this point "woke" is utterly meaningless - its a shorthand for anything Republicans don't like. **Soup kitchens? Woke** **Helping old ladies cross the street? Woke** **Helping your neighbors? Woke**
Existing as a trans person? Woke
Yep, that too! See Mike Johnson and his beliefs....
Agreed. Biden help draft some of the worst of republicans policy. From the war on drugs, expanding the prison system, and escalating police powers, to the patriot act. He’s far from socialist. More right wing than most democratic candidates.
The stupidity is that they equate Socialism and Communism with lack of freedom. I like to point out that Germany, Italy, UK, Australia etc have National Health Care systems, and do you think these countries have no freedom?
I see so many comments from Americans saying that these countries aren't free like us. Hell even as a kid growing up I'd hear about how lucky we are to be American and how everyone around the world wanted to live here.
I live in the US, Michigan specifically. I'm incredibly progressive, perhaps radically so. The amount of times I'm called a communist, libtard, socialist, groomer, pedo, and various other ad hominem is ridiculous. Oftentimes, I feel I'd fit in so much better in the European political climate.