NOVEMBER 1, 2020 – In the current campaign one of Republicans’ drumbeat syllogisms goes like this:
Socialism is bad.
Democrats are socialists.
Therefore, Democrats are bad.
This strategy is effective among consumers of FoxNews. They’ve learned to condemn socialism and anyone associated with it. Yet they’ve come to this belief not by any substantive explanation and analysis but simply by repetitive use of the “S-word” with an amorphously negative spin.
Not long ago I challenged a Trump supporter when he accused Biden of being a “socialist.” The exchange went like this:
ME: “Okay, wait a sec. What, in your mind, is ‘socialism’?”
TRUMP GUY: “It’s taxes.”
ME: “Socialism is taxes?”
TRUMP GUY: “Yep.”
ME: “Then how do we pay for our streets—and snow-plowing?”
TRUMP GUY: “That’s fine. I’m talkin’ about socialized medicine.”
ME: “Great! Let’s talk about it. You know anyone on Medicare?” [The guy looked above the eligible age.]
TRUMP GUY: “Yeah. I am. Why?”
ME: “How would you distinguish Medicare from ‘socialized medicine’?”
TRUMP GUY: “I’ve earned it.”
ME: “I see . . .”
What I saw was that the guy had no idea what he was talking about. Neither do FoxNews personalities Lou Dobbs, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham, who gush incessantly about “socialist” Democrats and what a terrible threat they pose to God-given freedoms. After all, socialized medicine is just one short step away from defying God’s directive that every American man, woman, teenager, toddler, and infant should own an automatic weapon. But neither the highly-compensated infotainers nor their ill-informed followers ever defines “socialism.”
To be sure, I’ve encountered progressives who can’t define it either. “It’s anti-racism,” I once heard a young Bernie Bro describe “socialism.” I asked for clarification but none materialized.
After these run-ins with “socialism,” I think we’d be best off avoiding the term altogether.
Another word that cries for definition is “liar.” Trump “lies” when he makes a statement that he (and any semi-informed person) knows is a falsehood when he utters it, which is pretty much every time he opens his mouth. Biden, on the other hand, is accused of “lying” because he supported the Clinton Crime Bill back in 1994 but says now that it was a mistake. That’s not lying. It’s changing your mind when reality catches up with your invalid assumptions.
For this entire century and a good chunk of the previous one, I’ve been discouraged by Americans’ lack of understanding of the fundamentals about the economy and our system of government. We need a nationwide remedial class just so we can talk other than complete nonsense when discussing politics or economics. Perhaps a place to start would be a simple course in definitions. It could be part of a standard, nationwide ninth grade curriculum; an introductory class called, “American Civics in Words and Phrases.” Among the words: “socialism,” of course, along with “Medicare,” “highways,” and in Minnesota middle schools, at least . . . “snow-plowing.”
Until then, we’ll continue to get what we earn by our ignorance.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
