Opinion
The perils of socialism, an idea with too many controversies
The way socialism is pushed into enquiry if at all there is a space to understand this ideological framework exists, it’s now curbed
If you are from the US of A you know uttering the S and C word is almost a crime committed against the nation-state. However, Socialism is one such idea that has too many people trying to claim this ideology. Does it support a democratic structure in a state?, and what its later stage of Communism brings to the table in terms of social reconstruction? Is it utopian or draconian? Socialism is bad because North Korea’s fatso President eats all the food of his people letting them die of starvation. His pot belly inflates as people’s blood flows in the Yalu River when his malnourished soldiers catch impoverished fleeing countrymen who were trapped in captivity trying to cross to another security state but ultimately failing to do so.
Or Is it because we tend to demonize the South American revolutionaries whether Fidel Castro or Che Guevera who saw anything alternative to Socialism as Colonialism, Industrialization as Colonialism, well they had their reasons. But doesn’t the US feel a little glad the way both of them died with a head held high, no fear, no drop of sweat in their faces and happily dying for their people?
The war of narratives is such that, every person has their own interpretation and understanding of thinkers, ideologues, Philosophers etc. With Socialism, we see that the intrinsic aspect of an idea and its association are kept at bay and dilution and filtering of the idea becomes important because with time its influences in society had to be weakened or else it would be a political force to which it became one. Socialism made a statement, an alternative idea that actually made communitarian and humanitarian aspects of life the locus centre. It played fundamentally on the nature of humans which is that of a social animal.
Russia, China, Cuba and Vietnam are not stakeholders of Socialism
Often the standard ideas of Socialism begin and end with How the so-called self-proclaimed communist nations fare on their personal rights. Any country with any ’n’ number of resources, if it does not respect human rights and oppresses innocent people is simply not Socialist. Why do we put up with these charades and fall guilty to it? That’s what the concerned parties want us to do. Whatever little Socialist governments that managed to survive in our times had dictatorships and hence the welfare state tag was a little more than what meets the eye. Dissenters and Political Activists know the fundamentals of how this phenomenon operates, it starts with corrupting an ideology as bad, and using instances of state control by leaders are brutal as the mainstay of that ideology.
The other picture
Everyone wants to stake a claim on the ideology by their ideas. The common narrative builders often use convenient aspects of History and use them as an alternate truth regarding a worldview. For instance, North Korea and its Fatso President provide that opportunity to frame ideas over the people having benefit in denigrating ideas of Socialism. The examples of its downfall find space but no one’s gonna tell you the entire Scandinavian countries have a welfare state model and functional Socialism. Though people might argue that’s a very small group as a sample but then nobody tells how much of an influence in policy-making the ideals of socialism had in these nations.
Changing meanings behind ideas
There are many more layered and veiled simple truths that people do not know or maybe understand. They think everything from socialism, communism, progressive left, Democrats etc are all a big chunk of loser left. But the Communism model that Marx devised was called scientific socialism which was a later stage of a socialist society. Socialism is not a Dictatorial Russia, China, or NK concept but is actually the product of the French Revolution.
If you even know a tad bit about the French Revolution you will know that the products of modern democracy, the running of parliament the spirit of dissent that we vouch for today are the creation and results of that movement. It started with the philosophical enquiry over Individualism and collective Socialism, it took many shapes and forms in its practices in the form of market socialism, democratic socialism, Soviet socialism, radical socialism etc. Later because of many vested interests the dictatorial aspect was more blended into the idea, political and economic thought. The turf of confrontation began by replacing ideas like this to discredit it and term it an added burden, making it responsible for all human blunders.
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