Quick Question

[Sinister Intents]

I don't know if this really requires a thread, but I felt like asking: Why do people seem to think socialists whether they be of any of the varying tendencies, are mentally ill?

[CubanDream]

It's a narrow minded Conservative's way of dealing with it:)

[Sinister Intents]

It's a narrow minded Conservative's way of dealing with it:)

Which does makes sense because they're trapped in the concept of capitalism and cannot peer ouside of this rotting box

[CubanDream]

same applies to Liberals of course, who IMO, are actually worse.

[Sabot Cat]

It's easier to assert that socialists are delusional, rather than acknowledging the truth of us at least trying to act in the interest of most people [the proletariat or the global working class]. I would also suggest this goes both ways. Capitalists are not delusional in their opposition to socialists. Quite the contrary, they're benefited by the continuance of this unequal state of affairs for now. It's as rational as a king supporting monarchists; they should be opposed all the same, however.

[Hrafn]

I know very few people who I would describe as mentally healthy, myself included.

[Perditious C]

It's easier to dismiss someone else's ideology by calling their mental well-being into question, especially when said ideology makes valid arguments against one's own. It is a very juvenile tactic, a means of evading an intelligent debate.

[Sinister Intents]

It's easier to dismiss someone else's ideology by calling their mental well-being into question, especially when said ideology makes valid arguments against one's own. It is a very juvenile tactic, a means of evading an intelligent debate.

My sister does this and coming from family it becomes quite painful. She insists me speaking of statelessness and classlessness is just a utopian pipe dream as well as calling me several different ad hominems in a row.

[exeexe]

Maybe it also has to do with historical facts. So they think like this:
- Socialist countries in the past did insanely bad things
- To be able to do insanely bad things you would have to be mentally ill
- Socialists of today must be mentally ill

[Red Commissar]

It isn't really exclusive to socialists, it's pretty common for people to use slanders about mental health or stability about people who they don't agree with. "retard" or any variation thereof is a common one, and of course if they greatly disagree with your idea of society it must demonstrate some mental break with reality or other mental illness on your end. And of course media attempts to blame the actions of mass shooters like Jared Loughner on the left doesn't help either.

[theblackmask]

I see a lot of people saying that it is just a form of juvenile slander here, but I think there is a real danger in calling whatever tendency mentally ill. There is only one step in between calling someone mentally ill and forcibly committing them into an institution.

In the past we have seen women committed for "hysteria." In the USSR people were committed for "philosophical intoxication" or "sluggish schizophrenia." In the 40s actress Frances Farmer was involuntarily committed, partially due to suspicions of here being an atheist and a communist. There have even been calls to send Julian Assange to an asylum.

What may be considered mere slander today will absolutely be used against us as a weapon in the future.

[ckaihatsu]

Quick Answer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumanization

[Psycho P and the Freight Train]

I see a lot of people saying that it is just a form of juvenile slander here, but I think there is a real danger in calling whatever tendency mentally ill. There is only one step in between calling someone mentally ill and forcibly committing them into an institution.

In the past we have seen women committed for "hysteria." In the USSR people were committed for "philosophical intoxication" or "sluggish schizophrenia." In the 40s actress Frances Farmer was involuntarily committed, partially due to suspicions of here being an atheist and a communist. There have even been calls to send Julian Assange to an asylum.

What may be considered mere slander today will absolutely be used against us as a weapon in the future.

Holy shit. Your comment just made me consider all of this in an entirely new way. Seriously there aren't many RevLeft comments I remember, but I'm definitely saving this, thanks.

[Non-Aligned]

I don't know if this really requires a thread, but I felt like asking: Why do people seem to think socialists whether they be of any of the varying tendencies, are mentally ill?
It's the idea that creating utopia is unreachable and despite the grim reality, in the opposing views mindset, Leftists try to attain that seemingly unreachable goal. Plus, they view that socialism has been tried and has failed various times thus follow this adage, "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results."