What are small steps we can make at a local level?
How do we fight the stigma of socialism?
Often times when socialist and capitalist policies mix things get messy. Similar to liberal and coderivative policy on local levels. How, if implemented, will we fight the abuse of socialist policy?
1. At a local level, I'd encourage folks to support union movements and support pro-union elected officials. While I see how many have grown frustrated with national elections, we must remember local officials hold a large amount of influence over our lives.
2. I think simple explanations, starting with the tangible benefit of a policy before the label, is the best approach. For example, a century ago unions were called "socialist." But as we've seen from recent polling, because union movements have clearly explained how they'll improve lives, unions are at an all-time high popularity.
3. This is why it is very important to lay the ground work for responsible governance while we build political power. There are simple ways to do this, such as banning politicians from owning stock, repealing the Patriot Act to roll back the security state, and eliminating the Senate and Supreme Court to move democratic control back to the people. This will go a long way to ensure no policy, whether "capitalist" or "socialist" can be exploited and turned against the people.
Good questions! The short answer is the effectiveness of the Red Scare. We often break it up into two distinct ages (1st Red Scare in the 20's, 2nd in the post-war era), but I see it as one century-long project that propagandized us into thinking "Socialism = Government = Bad."
If we take the definitions of Capitalism as the private ownership of industry and Socialism as the collective ownership of industry, then anything that moves us towards collectivization can be considered "Socialist." There are many ways to move this needle, from unionizing workplaces to give workers a say in their workplace, to the nationalization of a particular industry.
It's unfortunate, but it will be quite a while. For the majority of us, we'll live in a majority Capitalist system with pockets of Socialism for the remainder of our lives. Perhaps we'll be fortunate enough to find a union job, or, we'll see a legislative breakthrough like the return of the child tax credit or lowering the Medicare age to 0.
It will be a long, ongoing process, just like humanity's transition from Feudalism to Capitalism, which took generations across multiple continents.
What are small steps we can make at a local level?
How do we fight the stigma of socialism?
Often times when socialist and capitalist policies mix things get messy. Similar to liberal and coderivative policy on local levels. How, if implemented, will we fight the abuse of socialist policy?
Answering these inline:
1. At a local level, I'd encourage folks to support union movements and support pro-union elected officials. While I see how many have grown frustrated with national elections, we must remember local officials hold a large amount of influence over our lives.
2. I think simple explanations, starting with the tangible benefit of a policy before the label, is the best approach. For example, a century ago unions were called "socialist." But as we've seen from recent polling, because union movements have clearly explained how they'll improve lives, unions are at an all-time high popularity.
3. This is why it is very important to lay the ground work for responsible governance while we build political power. There are simple ways to do this, such as banning politicians from owning stock, repealing the Patriot Act to roll back the security state, and eliminating the Senate and Supreme Court to move democratic control back to the people. This will go a long way to ensure no policy, whether "capitalist" or "socialist" can be exploited and turned against the people.
Why do you think people are so resistant to socialism? Does socialism require upheaval?/What can we do to transition into a more socialist society?
Good questions! The short answer is the effectiveness of the Red Scare. We often break it up into two distinct ages (1st Red Scare in the 20's, 2nd in the post-war era), but I see it as one century-long project that propagandized us into thinking "Socialism = Government = Bad."
If we take the definitions of Capitalism as the private ownership of industry and Socialism as the collective ownership of industry, then anything that moves us towards collectivization can be considered "Socialist." There are many ways to move this needle, from unionizing workplaces to give workers a say in their workplace, to the nationalization of a particular industry.
How much longer until it gets here? I can't take much more.
It's unfortunate, but it will be quite a while. For the majority of us, we'll live in a majority Capitalist system with pockets of Socialism for the remainder of our lives. Perhaps we'll be fortunate enough to find a union job, or, we'll see a legislative breakthrough like the return of the child tax credit or lowering the Medicare age to 0.
It will be a long, ongoing process, just like humanity's transition from Feudalism to Capitalism, which took generations across multiple continents.
Thanks, Joe.
Hang in there! My insta//Twitter dms are always open if I can help in anyway