Most people know fuck-all about socialism. This quote is intended to communicate that:
- Socialism = treating people well
- We treat the rich well
- We tell the poor to go pound sand
Seems like an understandable tactic for softening people's opposition to mere mention of the word "socialism."
Giving rich people money is just capitalism. "Socialism for the rich" is just capitalism and I wish people would start saying that instead
The pithy saying quoted above is effective counter-propaganda though. People in the US still have a strongly negative perception of socialism. Suggesting that some aspects of it are here already is useful, albeit false.
If we want to get people to like socialism, it would probably be a good idea if we don't say that it's when the government gives money to corporations.
yeah agree, kinda reinforces that socialism is the incorrect idea of just giving people free stuff. I definitely agree it should be phased out for better catch phrases or talking points cause it's not doing us the favor people think it is in reaching more indifferent people
Because we need to make at least tens of millions of more American socialists or else we lose. And losing in the context of the climate crisis is apocalyptic.
Reach out, radicalize people, educate the ones willing to learn out of liberalism and bigotry, and then tell the incorrigibles to fuck off.
There are a million other ways to reach the public without completely misrepresenting the thing we're fighting for.
One of the biggest obstacles we have to reaching the public is the massive gap between their understanding of what socialism is and what it actually is. We need to address that if we're going to get there. We can just explain that it's when the capitalists, people who don't work, own everything.
But, like, we can't run away from Marx and Lenin if they're integral to our political theories and strategies.
it’s important to remember that socialism existed as a movement before the term was assigned and defined on paper to identify the movement.
If it's not worker or common control of the means of production, it's not useful to us. That fundamental change in the mode of production that Marx described is what we need; it's what every one of our other demands hinges on.
there is no “one true” perception of material reality just as there is no “one true” leftist.
Inasmuch as we believe in the reality of science and in scientific socialism, there is a true material reality that we should try to perceive as accurately as possible.
i think it is more effective for socialist/communist groups to build community trust and organize communities so as to foster discovery of socialism by the people themselves, whatever form it may take as is informed by their relationship with material reality. this is why the mass line is such an effective strategy, since it empowers the people in the context of their own concerns. this was also used to some effectiveness by some door knockers for the sanders campaign by consulting people on their concerns and offering solutions through the policy framework set forth by the campaign. of course, the campaign lacked a pre-existing solid social basis of organization and trust, which was a severe issue, but i think it was being built for a little bit there. i sincerely doubt that the gap can be bridged on a large scale by other means, particularly ones that amount to screaming definitions into the void.
Obviously, but clarifying people's conceptions of socialism isn't mutually exclusive with any of that. Asking people to not use this one quote, because it obfuscates what our goals are and the natures of capitalism and socialism, isn't a very radical demand.
The CCP's economic policy borders on social-democratic/Keynesian in some ways, this should surprise no one.
wait so, the guy who does epic dunks for the country that has a loose but somehow still doctrinaire definition of socialism retweets a quote that plays loose with the definition of socialism and that's a big surprise?
chen knows the secret plan, code name "PUNISHED BERNIE"
A much worse miss:
https://twitter.com/chenweihua/status/1350797699436711936?s=20
He's always been kind of a lib, honestly. I used to follow him before his lifetime bitch tweets and he'd praise Obama (via comparison with Trump) and Bill Gates pretty often.
