Reply #60: the social stigma "socialist" policies have in this country

[welshTerrier2]

here's how i see this issue ... first, i couldn't agree more ... even on DU, i think many people envision those of us who are socialists at heart as looking like Karl Marx or maybe Lenin ... they see us as uncomprising, humorless, inflexible and naively idealistic ... well, that just doesn't fit with how i see myself ...



in the sixties and seventies, when Democrats had a strong grip on the Congress, what passed as "liberal" was also irresponsible fiscal policy ... Democrats really were the tax and spend party ... we ran up massive deficits ... of course, we've been outdone by the likes of reagan and bush ... but big deficits in the guise of progressive social policy gave many of our causes a bad name ... fiscal irresponsibility is not a progressive value ...

and the Democratic Party of today doesn't have a clue how to go about promoting a progressive social agenda ... it is not feasible to call for large federal spending programs ... but i think the future of a "socialist" movement lies not in big spending but rather in highlighting the abuses that "free market capitalism" has enabled ... we cannot sell a welfare state ... we cannot turn from a capitalistic system supported with so much long-term propaganda to socialism anytime soon ... but this is not an all or nothing struggle ... the first step, and this is sadly lacking in most of the Democratic Party, is to begin a campaign of educating the American people that big money and big business have been buying up our government ... we need to show that policy after policy is not designed to serve all of the American people but only the special interests who can afford access to power ...

it's class warfare plain and simple and as long as Democrats continue to run away from the issue, the Democratic Party cannot be a vehicle for social progress ... the stigma you cited is very real but there is a way to change that ... sadly, i'm rapidly approaching the point of view that the Democratic Party will never be instrumental in making that change ... you can't change the meme if you won't say the theme ...