"Regulation of business and promotion of infrastructure is not, in fact, the international socialism today’s Republicans claim. According to Abraham Lincoln, who first articulated the principles of the Republican Party, and under whom the party invented the American income tax, the 'legitimate object of government, is to do for a communi…
"Regulation of business and promotion of infrastructure is not, in fact, the international socialism today’s Republicans claim. According to Abraham Lincoln, who first articulated the principles of the Republican Party, and under whom the party invented the American income tax, the 'legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities.' Those things included, he wrote, 'public roads and highways, public schools, charities, pauperism, orphanage, estates of the deceased, and the machinery of government itself.'"
When will Republicans -- and Democrats alike -- learn the definition of socialism?! I find it so disconcerting that so many in the US are incapable of making an effort to truly understanding this socio-economic theory. Thank you, Heather, for bringing this issue to the fore.
Another reader also asked when will Republicans learn the definition of socialism.
The far right purveyors of “socialism” and “CRT” as derogatory terms do not care what they really mean. They are co-opting these terms for the purpose of “driving up negative perceptions” and emotionalizing their base. It is a continuation of what Newt Gingrich started in 1990 with the assistance of pollster Frank Luntz: a memo for Republicans titled "Language, a Key Mechanism of Control.”
That's why it's an important part of the GOP agenda to keep people uneducated, so they keep falling for these buzzwords that have been co-opted by the party and turned into different things entirely.
It's just a word like communism and Marxism that Rs like to throw around even though they don't know what it means. I have found that they really get upset when I tell them they don't know what any of these words mean.
Yes, and this week someone wrote no CRT on an elementary school here in Salem. So we the taxpayers will pay to have this nonsense cleaned up. They do have some sort of knowledge that somehow it reflects on their entitlement as white people. Most of them probably do not understand the concept of grad school either. It is just those liberal universities. I am reminded of when I was in grad school at the UO in Eugene. Springfield, next door, was a mill town. First, they had a fit when the UO shut down a street that went through campus as if it would matter to them as it just a part of the campus. I was in a seminar on the Crusades and we had a lady who had worked in the foreign service at one point, but was now a bartender in Springfield. She came to class with her face cut up because some oaf had slammed a glass on to the bar when he was angry about the UO. That was in the late 60s.
Well, here's hoping infrastructure spending is done well and in the next couple of years visibly improves the lives of the average people. In that case, it won't be thought of as socialism, as the Obamacare example has shown. But honestly, infrastructure feels like a Hail Mary to restore trust that there can be good government that is worth funding with our tax dollars.
Even better is "Social Democracy" which sounds less threatening than "Democratic Socialism". While I'm sure HCR or even Google could clearly explain the difference better than I can, I think that to many Americans "Democratic Socialism" sounds like the-USSR-with-some-voting, while "Social Democracy" sounds more like democracy-with-improvements.
Of course if many Americans had better schooling and personal reading habits, they might be less susceptible to the GOP's favorite propaganda tool: The Big Lie.
And it must be consistent. Everyone using the exact same words, every time. They and Faux used to get a list of talking points, and they stuck to them. It worked.
Hi Roshan, as a former Bernie supporter, I always thought he should have called himself a social Democrat - as opposed to corporatist Democrat - and stayed in the Democratic Party.
The key to your question is the word "learn" - there is no need to learn anything when one already knows all of the answers; at least those that serve one's purpose.
"Regulation of business and promotion of infrastructure is not, in fact, the international socialism today’s Republicans claim. According to Abraham Lincoln, who first articulated the principles of the Republican Party, and under whom the party invented the American income tax, the 'legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities.' Those things included, he wrote, 'public roads and highways, public schools, charities, pauperism, orphanage, estates of the deceased, and the machinery of government itself.'"
When will Republicans -- and Democrats alike -- learn the definition of socialism?! I find it so disconcerting that so many in the US are incapable of making an effort to truly understanding this socio-economic theory. Thank you, Heather, for bringing this issue to the fore.
Another reader also asked when will Republicans learn the definition of socialism.
The far right purveyors of “socialism” and “CRT” as derogatory terms do not care what they really mean. They are co-opting these terms for the purpose of “driving up negative perceptions” and emotionalizing their base. It is a continuation of what Newt Gingrich started in 1990 with the assistance of pollster Frank Luntz: a memo for Republicans titled "Language, a Key Mechanism of Control.”
https://twitter.com/strongrob12/status/1455261168747036677?s=21
I remember when Newt was teaching at Kennesaw College here in Georgia, when my daughter attended there. So sorry we let him loose on the country....
Remember, he was a transplant, not a native Georgian.
Unlike Larry McDonald, another force we unleashed for a while.
I remember him (I lived in GA for three years). A John Bircher.
Yes, but it's little relief. He called by here and we let him go....
"BIG GOVERNMENT SOCIALISTS ... are a secular religious movement;
They can't deal with reality;
They can't cope with facts;
If it doesn't fit their narrative,
they just shrug it off and refuse to pay attention to it."
(Newt Gingrich - 10/14/21)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=207&v=OD-PTG4A-wk&feature=emb_logo
\\
Newt is the virus that attacks the brain and makes it unable to compute
... also, a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae ...
Well, now you're getting technical....
So that's what's wrong with me. I thought it was a brain injury or something....
... self portrait ...
100% agree, Ellie. The Rs know exactly what socialism means and they profit from intentionally mislabeling it and lying to their constituents.
That's why it's an important part of the GOP agenda to keep people uneducated, so they keep falling for these buzzwords that have been co-opted by the party and turned into different things entirely.
Exactly, I remember this in the election for Tx Governor in 1994. I thought people wouldn’t be that stupid, I was so wrong…
100% true. Frank has done more damage than most.
Clarification: This doesn't link to Frank Luntz's memo, but gives an example of what he prescribed.
The text is available here:
https://agendatwentytwenty.com/2018/08/17/gopac-memo-language-a-key-mechanism-of-control-gingrichs-declaration-of-war-against-civil-debate-and-respect-for-opponents/
Thanks very much.
It's just a word like communism and Marxism that Rs like to throw around even though they don't know what it means. I have found that they really get upset when I tell them they don't know what any of these words mean.
Including Critical Race Theory as words they don't understand.
Yes, and this week someone wrote no CRT on an elementary school here in Salem. So we the taxpayers will pay to have this nonsense cleaned up. They do have some sort of knowledge that somehow it reflects on their entitlement as white people. Most of them probably do not understand the concept of grad school either. It is just those liberal universities. I am reminded of when I was in grad school at the UO in Eugene. Springfield, next door, was a mill town. First, they had a fit when the UO shut down a street that went through campus as if it would matter to them as it just a part of the campus. I was in a seminar on the Crusades and we had a lady who had worked in the foreign service at one point, but was now a bartender in Springfield. She came to class with her face cut up because some oaf had slammed a glass on to the bar when he was angry about the UO. That was in the late 60s.
From an earlier LFAA post:
“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑,” Humpty Dumpty said [to Alice], in rather a scornful tone, “𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛—𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠.”
"𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑦 '𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦,' " Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡—𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 '𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑘-𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢!'"
"𝐵𝑢𝑡 '𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦' 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 '𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑘-𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡'," Alice objected.
"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛—𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠."
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠," said Alice, "𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠."
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠," said Humpty Dumpty, "𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟—𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙."
“𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚—𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡—𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑠—ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑡! 𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦! 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑦!”
Humpty Dumpty to Alice in Lewis Carroll's classic:
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥,
𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥.
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧
𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.
I’m impressed you got Substack to use a variety of fonts and bold!
I have found a couple of websites to be useful for this:
https://yaytext.com/bold-italic/
and
https://www.piliapp.com/cool-text/bold-italic/
Don't waste your time Michelle. It means what they say it means.
Even (especially) road construction is not socialism. The work is farmed out to private contractors.
Oooh ..., and forced on prison populations ...
Well, here's hoping infrastructure spending is done well and in the next couple of years visibly improves the lives of the average people. In that case, it won't be thought of as socialism, as the Obamacare example has shown. But honestly, infrastructure feels like a Hail Mary to restore trust that there can be good government that is worth funding with our tax dollars.
It's all we have for now....
All that is necessary is to add the word “democratic” in front of the word “socialism “.
Even better is "Social Democracy" which sounds less threatening than "Democratic Socialism". While I'm sure HCR or even Google could clearly explain the difference better than I can, I think that to many Americans "Democratic Socialism" sounds like the-USSR-with-some-voting, while "Social Democracy" sounds more like democracy-with-improvements.
Of course if many Americans had better schooling and personal reading habits, they might be less susceptible to the GOP's favorite propaganda tool: The Big Lie.
Deep literacy has almost completely vanished in this country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy
Thanks, Christine, for the wiki link. Now I can better explain why I prefer the term "social democracy" over "democratic socialism". If anyone asks.
This is interesting, too, David. The Nordic model of social democracy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_model
Agree. More we know and understand, better our messaging.
And it must be consistent. Everyone using the exact same words, every time. They and Faux used to get a list of talking points, and they stuck to them. It worked.
As Hitler explained in Mein Kompf
That's what Bernie has done and they continue to call him a communist
Hi Roshan, as a former Bernie supporter, I always thought he should have called himself a social Democrat - as opposed to corporatist Democrat - and stayed in the Democratic Party.
Excuse me. Rowshan. Damn autocorrect...
Maybe, only wasn't the party that brought Hitler to power "Democratic Socialists" ...?
No, it was the National Socialists - with emphasis on Patriotic Nationalism. Germany First or "Deutschland Über Alles"
Republican pols will never tell the truth. They have Rupert and clones to spew the lies far and wide, at 90 decibels.
What Dave Conan and Ellie Kona said.
Dave Conant, not "Conan." Sorry, Dave.
The key to your question is the word "learn" - there is no need to learn anything when one already knows all of the answers; at least those that serve one's purpose.