RE: How can conspiracy nuts hate all things government but buy into cold war red scare propaganda?
I know I like to bang on about this one a lot, but they're literally indoctrinated. Thanks to the direction of modern discourse, I'd argue not even the Nazis have it as bad as communists in 2019.
The most vehement anti-communists are the ones who don't even fully understand what it is, not only that, but they don't want to. The words "communism" and "communist" are poisoned, effectively bypassing the part of the brain associated with reasoning and instead being immediately filtered through the portion of our lizard brain designed to detect danger. It's the same for a lot of other words, but the propaganda campaign against communist ideology may be the most successful example of brainwashing in human history.
To be against communism has become so firmly entrenched in what it is to be American that the idea of communism has become inseparable from the point of view that it exists solely to destroy human society as we know it. When anyone tries to talk seriously about communism, most people perceive it as an attack upon the fabric of society itself, a society to which their own personal identity is strongly attached. That usually marks the end of the ability to have a reasoned debate.
What people should first think about when they hear the word communism:
- Marxism
- Anti-classism
- Social equality (or at least a form of it)
- Economic reform
What they're actually thinking:
- Anti-capitalism
- "Marxism" (another poisoned word, typically drastically misinterpreted or taken to mean only cultural marxism, a right-wing interpretation of Marxism.)
- Stalinist authoritarianism
- The Holodomor
There are plenty of realistic arguments against communism and these are the points which always seem least likely to be made. Some negative points people often bring up are usually poorly utilized, used as a way to point at something and go "look at this thing!" rather than as way to reason why the structure of communism itself could be catastrophically flawed.
Just to clarify. I'm still not a communist. However, it does piss me off that it's impossible to discuss non-capitalist ideology in a rational manner, even with people that appear to be perfectly rational on a surface level.
Yeah but youre a libdem voter soo....
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...I don't like Brexit?
Just teasing, good analysis bud! Still doesn't quite answer to how on a personal level but to any clickers its straight forward.
Also, someday you'll convert...
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It's the most tenuous element of my """"analysis"""" for sure, but the fact someone feels their personal identity is under attack is often one of the best and most versatile explanations as to why they appear willing to become hostile without a shred of reason.
It's a tactic which is used in advertising too, encouraging consumers to adopt a brand as part of their identity. Which leads to a sort of fanboyism where brand loyalty can make people buy something just for a label or encourage them to defend their chosen brand even though in reality they aren't truly invested in it.
I suppose I'm talking about a socially imposed version of subconscious personal identity.
For example, one of the best theories I've heard as to why people are transphobic is because the existence of trans people is perceived as an attack on the transphobic persons' identity. The ability for someone to shift from one gender to another undermines what they believe to be a core and immutable aspect of their own identity. Thus, transgender people serve as physical proof that a rigid view of gender is incorrect. It stands to reason that anyone who strongly identifies as being a manly man or a girly girl seems likely to take issue with the mere existence of trans people, since it's interpreted as an attack on their being. So either they've been wrong their whole life, or the existence of trans people is what's wrong.
In the case of anti-communist views, I can only guess it's because people strongly internally identify as being capitalist whether they realize it or not. I've noticed a huge number of people who still earnestly believe in capitalist ideals such as the American dream (which has long since been thoroughly undermined) and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Perhaps to even entertain the idea of a different system is interpreted as an attack on capitalism, or the implication that it's an imperfect system. That maybe individuals don't necessarily get where they are by working hard or being talented and that social inequality is not justifiable after all. It would be a bitter pill to swallow, so why do that when you can simply refer back to your own mental conditioning and let propaganda do the thinking for you?
Probably right. Its pretty pathetic how people need to enforce how epic they are by attacking others. Its the same thing with racist folks, they dont necessarily want to kill minorities, they just want to go back to the good ol days where you could own slaves and so forth. Maga!!!
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