The Rebranding of Socialism
as 'Democratic Socialism'
American Thinker,
by
Dave Ball
Original Article
Posted By: Imright,
2/25/2020 5:30:55 AM
While it may be true that “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Shakespeare) it is also true that socialism by any other name still smells like socialism. As we approach this year’s elections, the purveyors of socialism have tried to rebrand their product by calling it “democratic socialism.” The sales force and marketing department of democratic socialism, the Democratic Party, and the mainstream media, are plying a new fairy tale that democratic socialism is nothing like socialism. No siree, nothing like it, they sing in chorus. The chorus, however, is badly out of tune. Democratic socialism is not the wonderland of inclusiveness,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
jalo1951 2/25/2020 6:12:16 AM (No. 328953)
Socialism/communism smells like repression and death.
31 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
dst4life 2/25/2020 6:27:13 AM (No. 328960)
I'm already finding sites online that are trying to deny that the Nazi party were socialists. They were the National Socialist German Workers Party.
19 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Petronius 2/25/2020 6:32:54 AM (No. 328965)
Call it what it really is, communism.
35 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
MattMusson 2/25/2020 6:38:50 AM (No. 328968)
Bread lines and Gulags. What's not to like?
28 people like this.
It's cute how the left changes the meanings of words and phrases to fit their needs. So cute in fact that I feel the urge to buy more ammo.
30 people like this.
Man, even their tricks are recycled.
The Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea beat them to the rebrand.
Lil Kim should sue for trademark infringement.
15 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 2/25/2020 7:18:38 AM (No. 329006)
Bernie Sanders' socialism is different, his comes with colorful sprinkles and the other socialism doesn't. That's what democrat socialism means, plenty of extra 'sprinkles'.
22 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
pinger 2/25/2020 7:33:00 AM (No. 329017)
How unfortunate it is that our school systems no longer honestly teach history to all the little malleable brains that unwitting parents entrust to them. It's inexplicable that the newer crop of voters are willing to install purveyors of their own future misery and in many cases the signers of their own death sentences into power.
22 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
RayLRiv 2/25/2020 7:44:30 AM (No. 329025)
As a student of history I find that most countries that brand themselves as 'Democratic Socialist" really aren't 'democratic' at all. You're an ignorant dupe if you fall for this and you deserve whatever you end up with if you believe entrusting the government to run your life cradle to grave is the solution to your laziness.
As for me and my family we'll fight communism with every resource at our disposal.
22 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Clinger 2/25/2020 8:21:48 AM (No. 329065)
Right you are #2. Let's also not forget Hitler was elected so does that make Nazi Germany democratic socialism?
The "democratic" term is just as much an anathema to our republic as the socialism part. Our nation is founded upon inalienable rights and 51% of your neighbors do not have the right nor authority to vote them away.
And do not forget how Marx defined the difference between socialism and communism. Collectivism, the seizure of property can only be accomplished through force, violence, that is socialism. After living under the coerced collectivism, when people discover how much better off they are they no longer require coercion to embrace socialism, that achieves communism. Ergo socialism is communism at the point of a bayonet and Marx's vision of transformation to communism has never happened.
13 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
gone2pot 2/25/2020 8:21:55 AM (No. 329066)
Here's the ONLY difference; with socialism, you don't get to choose your dictator. With democratic socialism, you get to choose your dictator. The catch is, they're the SAME person.
19 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Tusker 2/25/2020 8:47:47 AM (No. 329100)
Rebranding Communism as the Democratic Party.
13 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
BillW. 2/25/2020 8:54:01 AM (No. 329105)
And #11. we may only be able to make that choice once. Vets for Trump 2020
11 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Axeman 2/25/2020 8:56:32 AM (No. 329109)
The Demzis are also trying to redefine socialism as public funding. Every time I see one of these memes I reply that Socialism is a system of government with public ownership and central control of everything, even everyone's body. It is always a tyranny, it has to be.
11 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
HotRod 2/25/2020 9:03:57 AM (No. 329121)
We might get hungry and out of work, but at least we could have a ''literacy'' program! Of course, to the communist, a literacy program means a re-education camp!
10 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
wakeupcall 2/25/2020 9:10:14 AM (No. 329127)
Today's democrats and Rino's are Marxist Communists.
They have for over 100 years been working to get everyone brainwashed enough to voluntarily vote Marxist Communism into veto proof total authority over government in order to force all into the One World Marxist Communist Government which they are calling Globalism of a New World Order.
That is also what your children are being taught in your government run education system. The earlier in the lives of children the easier for them to be brainwashed into Marxist Communism. Lying to them saying everyone is the same (code for elimination) of all who will not voluntarily accept Marxist Communism running every aspect of their lives from birth to grave. Their unquestionable supreme power to eliminate you if you will not bend to their will. And. that is the very first thing they do everywhere they take total control. Eliminate all who opposed them taking total power.
Parents, study yourself and teach your children the truth of Communism no matter which brand they choose to say they represent. Your education system is not and will not teach them the truth.
My mother always said Communists promises of all will be utopia is like a pie crust, created to be broken and devoured by evil tyrant oppressors who enslave you and your brain.
7 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Strike3 2/25/2020 9:41:55 AM (No. 329152)
Democratic Socialism is like a doctor calling that ugly growth a "benign tumor." It sounds better but it's still going to be a problem. The number of really stupid people in this country can be accurately measured by the number of Bernie supporters out there, plus 1, Bernie himself.
6 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Mulhaven 2/25/2020 9:48:05 AM (No. 329160)
Misleading terminology has polluted political discourse for decades. First, and perhaps foremost, are the terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ to fabricate a political spectrum from socialism to capitalism. Then, to claim there are incremental differences that lead from one to the other. Sadly, this masks political reality. Socialism gives ultimate power to the state and holds in contempt individual rights. Under Socialism people are subjugated, stripped of freedom. A detached elite imposes half-baked ideas on their subjects. Keep in mind everyone is far removed from the wisdom that would be required to prescribe the rules of society. Consequently lack of wisdom leads to arrogant masters. A free people will ultimately evolve a workable society. This is evident when one observes civilized societies.
Using the term ‘right’ in reference to free societies and then, in turn, to conflate it with socialist ideologies like fascism, is an outrageous defamation.
For instance in the 1930’s and 40’s, the Nazi Party shared policies with the Soviet Communists. Both embraced government run health care, both banned gun ownership by the citizenship, both indoctrinated their children in state-run schools, both destroyed the lives of people they held in contempt, and the list goes on. Their one difference is that the Communists owned the means of production while the Nazis allowed private ownership under control of the government (rather like the current Chinese government).
8 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
planetgeo 2/25/2020 9:55:18 AM (No. 329166)
The Democrats have already turned California into a veto-proof socialist paradise. They purposely flooded the state with millions of illegal aliens, gave all of them drivers licenses and automatic voter registration. And now they are passing whatever crazy laws they want with no chance for Republicans to alter or veto those crazy laws.
And watch out, because California is the open floodgate through which those aliens are now passing into other states (how do you think crazy Bernie won the Nevada caucus?). Coming soon to a state near you. Stop California before it's too late! Get ICE in there and start deporting ASAP.
9 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Mulhaven 2/25/2020 10:04:42 AM (No. 329175)
An addendum to #18
The terms 'left' and 'right' can appropriately be applied to Socialism. The greater control exerted by the state over the means of production, the further right they are.
1 person likes this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
panther361 2/25/2020 10:23:15 AM (No. 329199)
Let's get accurate. I have been around long enough to understand political stance. What this is, is Communism. Socialism is it's operating procedure. Bottom line to remember is it has failed each time it's tried with man's basic desire for greed as an undercurrent. One has no say in your own life.
7 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
udanja99 2/25/2020 11:10:54 AM (No. 329233)
I lived for 3 years in the Socialist Republic of Romania when it was under the dictatorship of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. Socialism IS communism and I can tell you more about the horrors of communism than you would ever want to know. It is worse than you can imagine.
13 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 2/25/2020 11:12:36 AM (No. 329238)
Mussolini founded the Italian SOCIALIST Party - - before he broke away and started the Fascist Party.
Hitler was a founder of the National SOCIALIST German Worker's Party.
Do they seem like "right-wingers" to you?
8 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
LeftCoast 2/25/2020 11:21:24 AM (No. 329245)
Democratic Socialism is nothing more than a smoke screen of contradictory terms.
4 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 2/25/2020 11:34:49 AM (No. 329261)
Sort of like branding a heavenly hell!
4 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
joew9 2/25/2020 11:34:57 AM (No. 329262)
Democracy is the first thing that is lost in "democratic socialism"
Socialism is based on the idea that some people believe they know how everyone should live and that most of the people are too dumb to figure out how to live on their own. So when it comes to elections they can't leave it to the will of the dumb people so they rig the outcome of the election to make sure they stay in power. Because they know what's best for us. They also rig the distribution of wealth to favor themselves because they "understand" just how important they are to the rest of the dumb people. So they live in big mansions paid for by the peoples money. Because they need to live that way because they are so important to the world. And they ride their private jets to the environmental conference because they carve out an exception for themselves because they are so important to the environmental movement.
5 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
MNluxiegal 2/25/2020 11:57:23 AM (No. 329288)
National Socialism in Germany WWII = Nazi; USSR socialism as in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/USSR = Communist socialism; and socialism in the USA under a different name like Democratic Socialism = either communism or fascism - take your pick.
Why anyone in a free country like the USA would even consider any form of national government control of the means of production, denial of religious freedoms, denial of the right to bear arms, etc., is a mystery. One thing they all have in common is huge overreaching central governments, and university eggheads promoting their theories. They are also all atheistic. A pox on their houses.
6 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
MNluxiegal 2/25/2020 12:48:56 PM (No. 329327)
It has been tried before. DDR = East Germany = Deutsche Democratisch Socialism. Nothing new under the sun, folks.
5 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
MindMadeUp 2/25/2020 1:11:46 PM (No. 329355)
"Toxic socialism" is a better term.
4 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 2/25/2020 1:39:41 PM (No. 329389)
Whether its called Socialism or Democratic Socialism, its just variation on the same theme: Large corrupt controlling oppressive government.
Sanders doesn't call himself a Socialist. He calls himself an INDEPENDENT.
Saw an article a while back that said the Socialist governments of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are more Democratic than the United States.
The socialist government of Russia is not the same as the Socialist government of China, but both call themselves Communists. Regardless they aren't the same.
Many Islamic countries are as repressive as any Socialist or Communist government, but have nothing to do with Socialism or Communism.
Here in the United States, Socialism and Communism have a bad name so they call themselves something different like Progressive. Many of them call themselves Democrats these days.
Its all labeling.
I made a comment about lefties to my girlfriend the other day, and she said I should not use that word because I sound like Joe McCarthy.
No doubt, lefties of any persuasion will come up with other terms to classify themselves especially when the want to stand out or avoid getting a bad reputation.
4 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
msjena 2/25/2020 1:39:48 PM (No. 329390)
And there was the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, in case anyone forgot.
2 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
msjena 2/25/2020 1:41:49 PM (No. 329393)
^^ Sorry, it should have been Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. But the point is, they claimed to be socialist. Democratic socialist, in my opinion, just means a gradual government takeover of private ownership.
2 people like this.
Democratic Socialism = Democratic Nazism.
1 person likes this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
dst4life 2/25/2020 4:58:01 PM (No. 329552)
#10, my late husband used to say that communism was socialism enforced at the barrel of a gun.
2 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
dst4life 2/25/2020 5:02:55 PM (No. 329560)
Every time I see those Bernis supporters behind Sanders, I am reminded of 1933, and the only thing missing is that notoriously hideous arm salute.
2 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
red1066 2/25/2020 5:58:30 PM (No. 329599)
As I've said before, there is nothing democratic about socialism.
1 person likes this.
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