Quote:
Originally Posted by tirsales
Actually I am under the impression that "Sozialist" is some kind of "rude term" in the United States - something that must be avoided at all cost. This is interesting. Politically some people seem to use it to cut off discussions or bluntly shoot a political or social proposal down.
Why is there such a great angst of "Socialism"?
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[Strap in armor...Once more into the breach.]
I'll discuss this because it's actually relevant to the thread.
Americans prize freedom over everything. This is the bedrock fundamental of the American culture. This isn't a negotitation point with Americans, it's a "get out your guns and shoot back" point. It's the underlying reason why so many Americans
have guns. At least this is true of a large swath of Americans.
Now Socialism,
by definition has state ownership and control of the means of production. This means that
in order to eat and otherwise survive you must follow the edict of said government. Any freedom under such a system is purely arbitrary and subject to dismissal at any time by said government. The government has monopoly of not just of violence, but everything else pertaining to life (food, water, shelter).
Now consider, a culture who's most bedrock premise is
freedom will not tolerate grant the level of government control described by Socialism. It won't even come close without massive kicking and screaming. And the underlying concepts become a perjorative culturally. What else would you expect with the US cultural premises?
Now there are areas and groups that are more Socialist minded that the American norm. They have to mask their preferences to avoid the ire of the "less enlightened" neighbors. Said neighbor aren't so much upset that the people are more socialist minded, but that they might want to apply those ideals to
them. Their attitude is "if you want socialism, go some place where is already in force." We don't limit emigration (immigration is a different matter). But, unfortuately, they tend to be proslytizers and are busy trying to force their view on those who don't want it. So anything ever hinting of increased government control is dubbed Socialism, as an attempt to stop both the conversation and the efforts as well.