Fascism or Socialism

[Lily Adler]

If we had a theoretical election where one candidate was a potential authoritarian that could turn us into an autocracy against one who was for socializing healthcare, college, energy, and more, who would you vote for?

 

[InCali]

Oh.....gee.....let me think for a minute.

 

[Lily Adler]

Oh.....gee.....let me think for a minute.

It appears to be a tougher choice than you think in this country.

 

[Green Goblin]

Socialism, as long as it wasn't authoritarian like the Soviet Union or North Korea.

If Cuba embraced democracy and human rights and the U.S ended the blockade it would actually be an alright place to live. Their education and healthcare opportunities for citizens are better than you'd expect.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Whichever one ends up with humanity in Next Gen uniforms whizzing through space as part of a stellar wide pluralistic representative democracy that has knit together alien beings of infinite variety into a society of ideals as well as action, allowing for both the support and lionizing of individual drive alongside a strong sense of responsibility to the community as whole. A culture that thrives on deep thinking, free flow of information and vigilance against corruption in any form. And having these standards and goals the government and policies that flow almost naturally provide an environment of the widest distribution of general prosperity, personal freedoms, social order and the active self perpetuation of good governance.

...

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Of course right now, I'm way more... Mad Max/Escape From New York than any one of us should rightly be feeling.

 

[InCali]

It appears to be a tougher choice than you think in this country.

True, but to be fair, you asked me who "I" would vote for.

Still mulling over my vote.....

TBH, the thing that I find confounding is people's focus on labels. Let's take "Communism" for example. It's an economic structure and people seem intent on overlaying it with a political structure. While there surely is some correlation between political upheaval and the ensuing political structure, economic organization and political structures do not necessarily go hand in hand. Call it "Socialism" and, by a degree, people find that more acceptable, but it's all based on their concept of the word. Ultimately, the question comes down to whether you think private ownership of production is the most effective way of economic organization. We can have that discussion, but a capitalist economy is every bit as vulnerable to a corrupt political takeover, and I would argue "more" vulnerable, as any other economic system due to the fact that the media (to mention just one aspect) is in the hands of people whose interest's are different from workers.

I know this is going to shock some people, but, after listening to me, I think I'll go for the one wanting to provide a social safety net when it comes to the basic necessities of life.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

So basically the dystopia from V for Vendetta versus modern day Scandinavian countries?

The latter of course.

This was too easy, Lily.

I think Trump supporters choose neofascism because they just think it will be like the 1950's again which they believe was America at it's peak.

And the Obama years were hell on Earth for...reasons.

I'm not sure why anyone would trade a free meritocracy for a racist police state but here we are.

 

[Prison Mike]

How about neither?

 

[InCali]

How about neither?

Hey you. No messing with the rules.

 

[Gothamsknight]

The denial of the existence of fascism from Trump supporters is pretty pathetic. Replace the america flag with a black and blue flag? check. openly calling for a police state by shouting "law & order"? check. Praising the idea that peaceful protestors should be hurt for exercising their american rights? check. The list goes on and on. So this shouldn't even be a serious question at this point.

 

[InCali]

The denial of the existence of fascism from Trump supporters is pretty pathetic. Replace the america flag with a black and blue flag? check. openly calling for a police state by shouting "law & order"? check. Praising the idea that peaceful protestors should be hurt for exercising their american rights? check. The list goes on and on. So this shouldn't even be a serious question at this point.

And it makes me laugh when people talk about Socialist/Communist countries having dictatorial/corrupt political superstructures. It's true that has happened, but folks should also look in their own backyard. The fact is that ANY form of economy is susceptible to this sort of political takeover if you have an ignorant populace or are facing real challenges. It's akin to giving everyone a hammer and telling them every problem is a nail. Nazi Germany, no matter what that banned @$$.... said, was not a socialist country. In fact, there was a very powerful left leaning movement in Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s that Hitler basically wiped out after he came to power. If you can stomach it, I suggest reading about Karl Liebknecht (assasinated in 1919 I believe) and Hitler's rise to power. It might scare the hell out of you.

 

[Gothamsknight]

And it makes me laugh when people talk about Socialist/Communist countries having dictatorial/corrupt political superstructures. It's true that has happened, but folks should also look in their own backyard. The fact is that ANY form of economy is susceptible to this sort of political takeover if you have an ignorant populace or are facing real challenges. It's akin to giving everyone a hammer and telling them every problem is a nail. Nazi Germany, no matter what that banned @$$.... said, was not a socialist country. In fact, there was a very powerful left leaning movement in Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s that Hitler basically wiped out after he came to power. If you can stomach it, I suggest reading about Karl Liebknecht (assasinated in 1919 I believe) and Hitler's rise to power. It might scare the hell out of you.

This is a perfect reason why the saying "history repeats itself" is so relevant in every day of our lives. The fact is, Trumpers in particular are falling victim to the same thing those people did in the 40s out of fear. That's what drives these people. They don't even know the real definition of socialism, they just parrot Trumps talking points. And again, this is all out of fear. every single thing they do is because they are afraid.

 

[InCali]

This is a perfect reason why the saying "history repeats itself" is so relevant in every day of our lives. The fact is, Trumpers in particular are falling victim to the same thing those people did in the 40s out of fear. That's what drives these people. They don't even know the real definition of socialism, they just parrot Trumps talking points. And again, this is all out of fear. every single thing they do is because they are afraid.

And kept intentionally ignorant by "the system". I can't tell you how afraid corporate america is of a real discussion/education about worker's rights and ownership. It's what drives them to make concessions when strong worker movements arise. 5 day work week, (used to have ) pensions, health and safety protections, etc. are all the result of strong labor unions. Better to make some minimal concessions and stay wealthy and powerful, than the alternative.