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For the Epsteinth Time - a Democratic Socialist is not a Communist! (Original Post) ihaveaquestion Sunday OP
If we're explaining, we're losing. Democratic candidates should just run on Scrivener7 Sunday #1
Do you believe those idiots would understand a food bank for pets? MerryBlooms Sunday #12
How about we talk about securing Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and food and housing security, stopping Scrivener7 Sunday #15
I'm talking about immediate results though MerryBlooms Sunday #18
Thank you Cirsium Sunday #19
Exactly. The problem, though, is that the media ALWAYS picks it up and runs with it. We need a message Scrivener7 Sunday #20
They're good at name calling. paleotn Sunday #25
Trump's little group LilElf70 Sunday #27
And seriously... buzzycrumbhunger Sunday #2
We need pet food banks, hygiene centers... Dems should be doing this in their town halls in every district MerryBlooms Sunday #14
In many places in the United States, that would drop like a stone. I love Mamdani. I don't care what Scrivener7 Sunday #21
Soviet Communist Leadership were public sector Oligarchs bucolic_frolic Sunday #3
Communism means abolition of private property. Is anyone calling for that? Jeez! dedl67 Sunday #4
they might call that "cultural marxism" rampartd Sunday #5
Cultural Marxism is a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory that misrepresents Western Marxism (especially the Celerity Sunday #11
yes, of course, but cultural marxism is another fuzzily defined boogie man rampartd Sunday #16
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson: "Playing the Communist card is the last refuge of a scoundrel." sop Sunday #6
They are gonna bitch about anything we do gay texan Sunday #7
Calling democrats names is all they have right now. HappyH Sunday #8
Canada, England, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, etc... GiqueCee Sunday #9
No they are not. We (I live in Sweden) in the Nordics have social democracy, not democrat socialism. None of the nations Celerity Sunday #17
I too have been trying to point that out to no avail. harumph Sunday #23
Why bring facts into the discussion... GJGCA Sunday #24
Apologies for the misunderstanding, but... GiqueCee Monday #37
Recommended for Epsteinth time! madinmaryland Sunday #10
If they're not socialists Progressive dog Sunday #13
Yeah ... see, it's the "restraint" part that the billionaires have a problem with FakeNoose Sunday #22
Another Republican scare word dlk Sunday #26
Republicans have been calling democrats socialists since the Un-American Activities Committee Blue Full Moon Sunday #28
This meme needs to go viral. LilElf70 Sunday #29
Trumpers won't see this. They ignorantly believe any lie MAGA tells them especially if it's racist. ChicagoTeamster Sunday #30
No one on the left SHOULD be making that claim. Conservatives are dumbasses who don't know the difference and use Karasu Sunday #31
That's too complicated for the other side MIButterfly Monday #32
We Dems (and especially Democratic Socialists) don't truly understand the impact of brainwashing. summer_in_TX Monday #33
The biggest political mistake Bernie Sanders ever made is in calling himself a "Democratic Socialist." Intractable Monday #34
If you're explaining and defining... you're losing. QueerDuck Monday #35
I know this. You know this. 30% of the population DenaliDemocrat Monday #36

Scrivener7

(60,477 posts)
1. If we're explaining, we're losing. Democratic candidates should just run on
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:19 PM
Sunday

the policies and not mention the "s" word. The policies are very popular with everyone, even republicans.

MerryBlooms

(12,661 posts)
12. Do you believe those idiots would understand a food bank for pets?
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:08 PM
Sunday

Lose the labels. Do the work. Campaign on your work and deeds. Let's try that for a change.
Turn the tables.
republicans do no deed or works for the people. Only for themselves and money makers.
Flood the airwaves with every Dem operation real ground operations!
Pet food banks, human food banks, hygiene centers... Let's get some stuff done with the money we donate. Flood local media so folks know where to take advantage
Let's see some campaigns doing good And media!

Scrivener7

(60,477 posts)
15. How about we talk about securing Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and food and housing security, stopping
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:26 PM
Sunday

ridiculous wars, taxing the rich, busting the trusts that are trying to take over the country, maintaining public utilities and public ownership of transportation?

How about we don't lead with talking about food banks for pets if we know that will lose us votes? How about we just get in there without mentioning it so we CAN do food banks for pets?

I live in New York. I LOVE Mamdani. I love what he is doing. It wins votes here. But in most places, that's not going to win votes.

MerryBlooms

(12,661 posts)
18. I'm talking about immediate results though
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:38 PM
Sunday

Let's gt our folks elected first, then they can fix the garbage and carnage the trumps and republicans have rained down on us and the world.

I get where you're coming from. I'm going with flooding the media with our positive Dem messaging outreach on the ground to counter the nonsense imaginary republican anus breath from trump

Cirsium

(4,316 posts)
19. Thank you
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:40 PM
Sunday

Trump succeeded in getting people to talk about this bogus issue. I don't know why people are so easily led by the Republicans, why people let the Republicans control the topics for discussion.

Scrivener7

(60,477 posts)
20. Exactly. The problem, though, is that the media ALWAYS picks it up and runs with it. We need a message
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:43 PM
Sunday

that makes it ridiculous.

paleotn

(23,237 posts)
25. They're good at name calling.
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 08:30 PM
Sunday

And bumper sticker slogans that get people riled. Not thinking. Just riled. Thinking is very bad for Republicans. Very bad.

LilElf70

(1,765 posts)
27. Trump's little group
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 08:38 PM
Sunday

of idiots is getting smaller every day. People are starting to stop, look, and listen. FINALLY!!!

buzzycrumbhunger

(2,536 posts)
2. And seriously...
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:22 PM
Sunday

Do you think Repukes even care about anyone but themselves? Who wouldn’t want to join the party that makes sure you have enough resources to feed your damned CAT? This guy is the poster child for socialism, and I think he’s making it look very appealing!

MerryBlooms

(12,661 posts)
14. We need pet food banks, hygiene centers... Dems should be doing this in their town halls in every district
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:15 PM
Sunday

People are desperate
We help as much as we can individually, but our elected officials with town halls or their campaigns, can do way more.

Scrivener7

(60,477 posts)
21. In many places in the United States, that would drop like a stone. I love Mamdani. I don't care what
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:45 PM
Sunday

label he uses. But a lot of people do. We should not let the label stand in the way of getting elected to fulfill the social responsibilities we all want our government to do.

bucolic_frolic

(56,497 posts)
3. Soviet Communist Leadership were public sector Oligarchs
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:24 PM
Sunday

Most of the populace couldn't even spell communism.

dedl67

(294 posts)
4. Communism means abolition of private property. Is anyone calling for that? Jeez!
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:26 PM
Sunday

Whenever I hear people claiming their opponents are 'communists', I smell a bad conscience. They know they are screwing the working class and they are afraid that the working class also knows it.

Celerity

(55,581 posts)
11. Cultural Marxism is a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory that misrepresents Western Marxism (especially the
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:01 PM
Sunday
Frankfurt School) as being responsible for modern progressive movements, identity politics, and political correctness. The conspiracy theory posits that there is an ongoing and intentional academic and intellectual effort to subvert Western society via a planned culture war that undermines supposed Christian values of traditionalist conservatism and seeks to replace them with culturally progressive values.

The contemporary version of the conspiracy theory originated in the United States during the 1990s and takes inspiration from the Nazi propaganda term "Cultural Bolshevism". Originally found only on the far-right political fringe, the term began to enter mainstream discourse in the 2010s and is now found globally.

The conspiracy theory of a Marxist culture war is promoted by right-wing politicians, fundamentalist religious leaders, political commentators in mainstream print and television media, and white supremacist terrorists, and has been described as "a foundational element of the alt-right worldview".[9] Scholarly analysis of the conspiracy theory has concluded that it has no basis in fact. The use of the term 'Cultural Marxism' by conservative politicians as a byname for progressivism has been the cause of controversies.

Origins

European reactionaries, following their defeat in the culture wars of the 1960s against liberals and Marxists, split from the mainstream conservatism of the "Old Right", forming a loose intellectual grouping (the "New Right&quot that criticised the contemporaneous society and attempted to transform cultural norms and values. In the 21st century, The European New Right influenced the US alt-right to focus on nonviolent ways to delegitimize the liberal status quo. This included criticising the perceived decline of Western culture and the influence of pop culture, which they claimed was the result of a collusion between capitalism and what they called "Cultural Marxism".

snip

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Marxism_conspiracy_theory

rampartd

(5,857 posts)
16. yes, of course, but cultural marxism is another fuzzily defined boogie man
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:30 PM
Sunday

like "woke" or "critical race theory"

sop

(20,106 posts)
6. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson: "Playing the Communist card is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:37 PM
Sunday

gay texan

(3,306 posts)
7. They are gonna bitch about anything we do
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:40 PM
Sunday

and i say FUCK EM!!!!!

I'm not interested in playing nice anymore

HappyH

(317 posts)
8. Calling democrats names is all they have right now.
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:42 PM
Sunday

Lots will happen between now and November. Democrats would be wise to run on policy and point out that Republicans got nothing but name calling

GiqueCee

(5,239 posts)
9. Canada, England, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, etc...
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 06:53 PM
Sunday

... ALL of our now former allies are democratic socialists for Christ's sake! Trump vomits forth triggers for his brain-dead "base" to get them frothing at the mouth over FUCKING NOTHING, just to make sure he's ALWAYS the center of attention! He is a malicious CHILD!
Not long ago, I had a troll here call me out for saying that socialism, in its purest form , was nothing more than putting the best interests of people ahead of the best interests of corporations, which is never a bad thing, except to corporatists, who are sociopaths who would gut their grannies for a buck, or just for a joke. Remember those Texas-based Enron shitstains that laughed about old ladies freezing to death because they were manipulating brownouts in other states?
And people wonder why I won't let a Republican in my house. Do you know what it costs to fumigate the place afterwards?

Celerity

(55,581 posts)
17. No they are not. We (I live in Sweden) in the Nordics have social democracy, not democrat socialism. None of the nations
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:34 PM
Sunday

you listed are democratic socialist.

We social democracy-manifesting Nordics all have very robust, vibrant, AND also highly regulated capitalist economies that work synergistically with expansive social welfare state sectors to provide some of the highest standards of living on the planet.

I have been trying to point this out almost since I joined here in summer 2018.

What socialism is — according to Bernie Sanders

https://bigthink.com/the-present/what-is-socialism-bernie-sanders/

snip

He goes a bit into the particulars of policy and explained that his conception of socialism would require — this is what it would look like — universal health care, total employment, free college education, more public spending, a living wage, environmental regulations, and a robust democratic culture to come into existence. He flatly denied any interest in nationalization, telling the audience:

So the next time you hear me attacked as a socialist, remember this: I don’t believe government should own the means of production, but I do believe that the middle class and the working families who produce the wealth of America deserve a fair deal.

The contents of this speech were very similar to other statements he has made about socialism across his entire political career. The entire speech could have been summed up neatly in a quote he gave to the Associated Press back in 1997:

To me, socialism doesn’t mean state ownership of everything, by any means, it means creating a nation, and a world, in which all human beings have a decent standard of living.

snip

WAIT A MOMENT, PRAISE FOR THE NEW DEAL? NO INTEREST IN NATIONALIZATION? THAT DEFINITION SOUNDS A LOT LIKE CAPITALISM!

snip

Bernie’s explanation of “socialism” is, in fact, closer to what political philosophers refer to as “social democracy.” This is a capitalist system, since the means of production are still privately owned, where the state heavily regulates the economy and has an active welfare system in place to correct for the worst problems inherent to capitalism like inequality, cyclic instability, or the profit motive encouraging people to do things against the public interest.


harumph

(3,627 posts)
23. I too have been trying to point that out to no avail.
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:58 PM
Sunday

I've said ad nauseam, just call yourselves social democrats - because that brings to mind "society" not "socialism." Honestly, I don't even think some of the folks calling themselves democratic socialists understand what that means. The people are going to fail because apparently many of the best of them don't understand that words have meaning. I've pretty much shut up though because no
one is listening.

GiqueCee

(5,239 posts)
37. Apologies for the misunderstanding, but...
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 09:27 AM
Monday

... reversing the order of the two words sounds like simple semantics. I have nothing but admiration for the Nordic nations' form of governance.
The USSR gave socialism a bad name, and an even worse definition, and no one seems to agree on a basic definition boiled down to its essence, which, it seems to me, should be to put the best interests of people ahead of the best interests of corporations and oligarchs. I also don't like to conflate capitalism with free enterprise; they are most definitely not the same thing. Capitalism is the control and manipulation of money, or "CAPITAL". Capitalists often work to suppress free enterprise in their efforts to eliminate, or at least minimize, competition. And capital is the lifeblood of any enterprise, free or otherwise.
It was never my intention to demean Sweden, or any other country, by misinterpreting their forms of government. Perhaps we should work on a solid explanation of the difference between Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy. I hate being misunderstood, so I try very hard to get the definitions of terms tossed about in today's political debates correct, and we both know how flagrantly conservatives deliberately twist and pervert the meanings of words like woke, or acronyms like DEI, or Antifa. So I would benefit from your assistance in understanding more clearly how best to refer to Sweden's form and methods of governance.
Have a nice day, Celerity!

Progressive dog

(7,660 posts)
13. If they're not socialists
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:11 PM
Sunday

why do they name themselves "socialists"? Should we believe what they call themselves?

FakeNoose

(43,338 posts)
22. Yeah ... see, it's the "restraint" part that the billionaires have a problem with
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 07:54 PM
Sunday

The one-per-centers have convinced the MAGA-cult to burn this country down, just to avoid being "restrained" by the US Constitution. Rules are written for everyone else, not for the high-and-mighty. That's how crazy they are, they're ready to bet it all.

dlk

(13,517 posts)
26. Another Republican scare word
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 08:36 PM
Sunday

A scare word with no basis in fact. It needs to be dismissed for what it is: as an hysterical scare word, nothing more is required.

LilElf70

(1,765 posts)
29. This meme needs to go viral.
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 09:03 PM
Sunday

Trump will ALWAYS try to connect socialism to communism. You can't shut him up, no matter how bad the lie is. Now the leader of the house is misinforming the public too.

How is it that they both get all the air time, and the real truth that lies in this post goes nowhere?

Karasu

(2,446 posts)
31. No one on the left SHOULD be making that claim. Conservatives are dumbasses who don't know the difference and use
Sun Jul 5, 2026, 09:11 PM
Sunday

the words interchangeably because they don't know any better--and because they think they all sound "scary."

MIButterfly

(3,655 posts)
32. That's too complicated for the other side
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 12:40 AM
Monday

They need it to be in crayon, with one syllable words, no longer than a sentence spoken by a cartoon character.

On second thought, that may be too complicated for them as well.

Never mind.

summer_in_TX

(4,395 posts)
33. We Dems (and especially Democratic Socialists) don't truly understand the impact of brainwashing.
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 01:20 AM
Monday

Socialists and communists have been feared and maligned for over a hundred years. The Red Scare after WWII never really went away. RW politicians and media have kept it fresh in people's consciousness. Then Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro were very oppressive, making it easy to continue scaring folks with the boogeyman. Not just their Republicans and the RW audience either.

The truth is, the word will never ever get beyond its scary and evil associations. Trying to keep using socialist in any way, shape, or form is a losing proposition. It's a waste of time too.

There are terms that don't have the negative coding, terms that have been used throughout American history, that predate Marxism, socialism, and communism. The common good is a concept from colonial America. It was successfully used in arguments against laissez faire capitalism, when the abuses became apparent. But it isn't incompatible with small business.

Public interest, commonwealth, general well-being are all similar in meaning and history with common good and I rather think would be compatible with what democratic socialists and other dems believe..

I cannot think of any Dems who would oppose the idea of the common good or any of the other terms, nor independents, or quite a few conservatives too. Christians cross the spectrum would tend to find it compatible with the teachings of Jesus, unless they have been infected with the lust for power in which case it likely would be considered woke and weak.

Why, oh why, do democratic socialists persist in clinging to a name that is always effective in damaging us, our party, and our cause? Linking socialist with democrat is poisonous for our reputation. It does nothing to improve the image of socialists for most Americans but does a whole lot to harm the image of democrats.

Cognitive structures build up in brains from repetition, and the repulsion toward anything to do with socialist is already widespread. It has passed from one generation to the next for more than a hundred years. All conservatives have to do is tap into it. It's a tool they already have in their toolbox, and it works.


Intractable

(2,651 posts)
34. The biggest political mistake Bernie Sanders ever made is in calling himself a "Democratic Socialist."
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 02:16 AM
Monday

It turned a lot of people off who otherwise would have been open to his ideas.

Well, anyway, the first word in "Democratic Socialist" is Democrat.

Support Democrats!

DenaliDemocrat

(1,821 posts)
36. I know this. You know this. 30% of the population
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 07:52 AM
Monday

Knows this. It’s still a BAD IDEA to call yourself it. Like the dumb kid who gets the manji symbol tattooed on themselves and says “it’s NOT a swastika”. Yeah - but it sure as hell LOOKS like a swastika and 99% of the people THINK it’s a swastika. When you go interview for that job chances are the employer is going to THINK it’s a swastika. Couldn’t you just find a different tattoo?

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