Immigrants, communists, socialists and terrorists are tried and true good old American words to whip up fears and stir hatreds. We have always had the old immigrants are gonna take our jobs and trash the neighborhood talk. After World War II Communists became public enemy number one. There were reds in every town and under our beds, including yours! Don't like somebody, call them a Commie and watch their career spin into the ground. Don't like a movement? Call it Communist and a threat to our Holiest of Holy, National Security. Reap the bloom of beatings, police brutality, bombings and assassinations. Real Communists murdered? Watch the killers go free! We recoil away from our darker selves choosing instead to hide away in a land of myth and make believe where soldiers defend our freedom from evil aggressors like the North Vietnamese, Panama, Grenada, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh wait, those last three were to fight terrorists and evil doers who hate us for our freedom. Hate us for our freedom? In what universe does that make any sense? Here more recently we have the latest scary word, Socialism.
Socialism according to Merriam Webster:
Definition of Socialism
1 : any
of various economic and political theories advocating collective or
governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods
2a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
Yup, sounds scary. Getting rid of private property changes everything. What, I cannot sell my house or plant a garden? Well that sucks! Let's look at a bigger picture. I can't discharge toxic waste into the stream running through the land my paper plant sits on? Sounds like old fashioned Communism to me! It is all in perspective. What exactly is "the state?" The state is supposed to be us, the people. Then along came Ronnie and Margaret in the '80's. The state was changed into nameless, faceless bureaucrats who were in our way and holding us back via over regulation. Ronnie and Margaret helped replace democracy with something seldom if ever mentioned in polite company or on prime time TV, Neoliberalism. Now we have a truly terrifying word and concept that almost no one ever talks about.
Is Authoritarian Communism what Bernie supports? No, I don't think so. He supports something called Democratic Socialism. If you take a few minutes to read the linked information, you can see a clear difference. It goes something like this; people run things, not a handful of oligarchs. It is more Democratic. But those in power will stick to the scary socialism definition to discredit Bernie. The Cold war trained us to lump Socialism in with Authoritarian Communism (old Soviet Union).
We've already talked about terrorism. That's old news. The Donald and company now want us afraid if immigrant caravans coming to pick fruit and vegetables near you...
Yup, sounds scary. Getting rid of private property changes everything. What, I cannot sell my house or plant a garden? Well that sucks! Let's look at a bigger picture. I can't discharge toxic waste into the stream running through the land my paper plant sits on? Sounds like old fashioned Communism to me! It is all in perspective. What exactly is "the state?" The state is supposed to be us, the people. Then along came Ronnie and Margaret in the '80's. The state was changed into nameless, faceless bureaucrats who were in our way and holding us back via over regulation. Ronnie and Margaret helped replace democracy with something seldom if ever mentioned in polite company or on prime time TV, Neoliberalism. Now we have a truly terrifying word and concept that almost no one ever talks about.
Is Authoritarian Communism what Bernie supports? No, I don't think so. He supports something called Democratic Socialism. If you take a few minutes to read the linked information, you can see a clear difference. It goes something like this; people run things, not a handful of oligarchs. It is more Democratic. But those in power will stick to the scary socialism definition to discredit Bernie. The Cold war trained us to lump Socialism in with Authoritarian Communism (old Soviet Union).
We've already talked about terrorism. That's old news. The Donald and company now want us afraid if immigrant caravans coming to pick fruit and vegetables near you...
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