Most Americans have no idea what socialism is. You’re not supposed to think about it here. They just hear that socialism is bad and it’s in the name of the nazi party which is also bad, so that tracks.

[–] nightdice@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

Most Americans think that "liberal" is someone on the left, while most European nations (as well as what little political theory I had) place them somewhere in the center, usually fiscally progressive but socially conservative.

[–] Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Most Americans don't know what capitalism is either. We've been so brainwashed into believing capitalism and simple commerce are the same thing that people think any system that isn't capitalism is some authoritarian hellscape where the government forces you at gunpoint to share your toothbrush with everyone else in the neighborhood because personal property will be outlawed somehow.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, that's literally their whole reasoning. I've had to deal with a number of those all the way back in 2014, "national sOcIaLiSm"

Of course, whenever I pointed to The Guardian's interview with Hitler in 1923 (and republished in 1932), where he energetically complains about marxists (marxians, as he calls them) "stealing" the socialist term from "real germans" and actively calls for the end of bolshevism, I was completely ignored.

"Why," I asked Hitler, "do you call yourself a National Socialist, since your party programme is the very antithesis of that commonly accredited to socialism?"

"Socialism," he retorted, putting down his cup of tea, pugnaciously, "is the science of dealing with the common weal. Communism is not Socialism. Marxism is not Socialism. The Marxians have stolen the term and confused its meaning. I shall take Socialism away from the Socialists.

[–] hare_ware@pawb.social 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Wait, but what did he even mean by "socialism" here? I get call what was happening in Russia not socialism, but what was the un-Marxist form of socialism Hitler was talking about? Also, wasn't Marx also German, did Hitler see him as not a "real german"?

[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He didn't mean anything at all. That was the brilliance of the Nazi propaganda machine. They stole words that referred to popular things and said them enough times in relation to themselves that they lost all meaning.

Its exactly the same as how the modern day right wing say anything that supports them is "patriotic" and anything that doesn't is "anti-[country]". If they say the word "patriotic" enough times, it loses all meaning & makes it impossible for opponents to argue against, because you can't have a rational debate when language is meaningless.

[–] hare_ware@pawb.social 1 points 1 year ago

Ah, oh.. why did I expect the answer to not be kinda scary...

[–] maxcorbetti@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

He's opportunistcally envokning it as socialism is popular, but cares for nothing other than the political clout the label may bring.

Fascism exists to capture popular revolutionary sentiment, while preserving the old power structure.

[–] jagot@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Marx was famously also Jewish.

[–] hare_ware@pawb.social 2 points 1 year ago

Ah, yeah, that'll do it.

[–] Granixo@feddit.cl -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea entered the chat

[–] Gimly@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

A country with republic and/or democratic in its official name is usually neither.