Socialism and individuality

[ruttager]

What would you say is the number one obstacle you face in “spreading the socialist/communist word”, so to speak? Ignorance was initially my thought, but I’ve come more to believe it is the stigma that socialism destroys individual thought and freedom of action. Most people (discounting the upper income because their Darwinian philosophy of entitlement destroys any hope of legitimate discussion) I meet will agree with the socialist economic model once they understand it, and in a point by point breakdown almost always choose the socialist method over the capitalist method. They see the advantages, agree with them, but cannot take that final plunge to say, “I’m a socialist”. Always their final statement is, “But I don’t want a dictator in power and I don’t want free will taken away from me”. Of course, what I am thinking is “I just mentioned that I am a socialist to you and you, without even knowing what socialism is, reacted like I said, “I eat children” and here you are equating an economic system with a political system (I know very few people in the United States who do not understand that capitalism does not mean democracy, or that a socialist country can be a democracy) and worrying that you will lose your ability to think for yourself.” It is a hard thing to combat. You cannot use propaganda because they will equate that with “brainwashing” and using more subversive methods fuels the enemy’s propaganda (which they do not recognize as such, having been subjected to it for so long). What sort of success have you had dealing with this, other than a minor sympathetic acknowledgement that socialism is “not as bad as I thought”, and what methods did you use to overcome this stigma? And what other obstacles would you say are necessary to surmount before a serious socialist movement can be generated?

[canikickit]

I agree with you that this is probably the most serious problem. And I hate the fact that people fail to differentiate between Capitalism and democracy.

I can't think of any other intelligent response, so you can view this as a bump, back to the top.

[RGacky3]

people have been lead to believe by the U$ government that sociaism=ditatorship, and capitalism=democracy. When that is broken I think more people will be inclined toward socialsm.

Socialism is naturally democratic, or at the worst an ologarchy

[ComradeJunichi]

Socialism/Communism is more of an economic theory, but politically can be tied in with different forms of government.

[Lefty]

I think the reason people are so against Socialism/Communism is because, honestly, look at how it has been handled so far in history. Even Castro, the "best" example, tortured dissenters, and as far as I know, he continues to do so. Add that to the ultra-patriotic fervor most americans possess, and multiply it by ignorence, and the final result is a horrible bias.

[Valkyrie]

I think dump the label, dump the historical background, dump the dogmatism, and put it forward as a fresh idea with room for improvement and flexibility on the actual practice of it.

[Valkyrie]

Oh yeah... and very important aspect of it... Make them think they thought up the whole theory.... always say "Wow, great idea!"

Those fucking sheep, they will think it's theirs.

[redstarshining]

It depends very much on the people I talk to. If they tend to read a lot, if they have a general interest in politics and/or economy and an open mind, I usually just try to destroy one or two of their common prejudices ( is there a plural of prejudice? sorry my english sucks :(
This usually will make them feel a little bit stupid, and then I give them some books. After they have read about scientific socialism ( the manifesto, some read "Das Kapital" ), I discuss the pros and cons of the economic system with them. This has often worked out very well.

People who do not have the time or interest to read books are quite a bit more difficult. Also, many have problems understanding the manifesto if they read it, because they lack the historic background knowledge. I just wish there was a manifesto for the 21th Century :(
I think this is really the biggest obstacle. Many people can not identify with the communist manifesto, since the book is 150 years old and many of the suggested strategies are obsolete. We would need a new "guidebook to scientific socialism ;)", small and easy to understand for everyone regardless of his/her level of education, which puts Marx' ideas into the context of the 21 century.

However, a big problem will of course always be the media. Unless people are starving, most of them won't be interested in possible alternatives to capitalism. As long as they have food and entertainment, most of them won't listen.

If we are currently heading towards the next big economic crisis ( maybe even a depression? ), people have to know about socialism.