It seems to be endemic in certain US circles to confuse Communism with Authoritarianism (which is what that link does). Yes. Stalin was an (evil) authoritarian, and his massacres were done under the banner of communism, but so was Hitler (and so is Drumpf) neither of whom were (are) Communists.
Why are the two things so regularly conflated by Americans ?
Thank you. I feel like people either think “Stalin was a socialist/communist and a horrible leader” or “Stalin was a socialist/communist and good, actually” instead of considering that maybe the socialist branding was just the propaganda they used to justify the dictatorship.
It seems to be endemic in certain US circles to confuse Communism with Authoritarianism
Why are the two things so regularly conflated by Americans ?
Because the American education system and lifelong propaganda peppered throughout popular culture creates this confusion intentionally. It’s like a word association game: anything not capitalism = oppression and death. This is why, in large part, why most people will describe capitalism when asked to define communism or socialism.
So this is more of a ‘how’ vs ‘why’ answer, however I’m sure you can easily arrive at the ‘why’ using the explanation I’ve given.
The only notable attempts at communism, and the ones who vehemently claim to be communists, were the USSR and the CCP, both of which were/are the most violent and oppressive regimes in modern history.
Like it or not, if more people use the term to describe something different than you then that’s what the term actually means.
See this comment is funny because there are two ways to interpret this comment: There are other notable examples OR that those previous examples weren’t bloodthirsty monsters, but even if I asked subscribers of either belief which they were they would both claim the former.
It seems to be endemic in certain US circles to confuse Communism with Authoritarianism (which is what that link does). Yes. Stalin was an (evil) authoritarian, and his massacres were done under the banner of communism, but so was Hitler (and so is Drumpf) neither of whom were (are) Communists.
Why are the two things so regularly conflated by Americans ?
Thank you. I feel like people either think “Stalin was a socialist/communist and a horrible leader” or “Stalin was a socialist/communist and good, actually” instead of considering that maybe the socialist branding was just the propaganda they used to justify the dictatorship.
Short answer: Senator Joseph McCarthy and The Red Scare.
Because the American education system and lifelong propaganda peppered throughout popular culture creates this confusion intentionally. It’s like a word association game: anything not capitalism = oppression and death. This is why, in large part, why most people will describe capitalism when asked to define communism or socialism.
So this is more of a ‘how’ vs ‘why’ answer, however I’m sure you can easily arrive at the ‘why’ using the explanation I’ve given.
The only notable attempts at communism, and the ones who vehemently claim to be communists, were the USSR and the CCP, both of which were/are the most violent and oppressive regimes in modern history.
Like it or not, if more people use the term to describe something different than you then that’s what the term actually means.
Wrong and we both know it.
See this comment is funny because there are two ways to interpret this comment: There are other notable examples OR that those previous examples weren’t bloodthirsty monsters, but even if I asked subscribers of either belief which they were they would both claim the former.