More Convoluted Reasoning from the Right

An amusing development has arisen lately from the right wingers.

For a while now, since the rising popularity of programs like Medicare for all, free public college education and the like, the reaction from regressive¹ punditry has been to point a trembling finger and shriek "Socialist!" at whomever had the temerity to broach the subject. As if the mere mention of the name should bring back terrors of the Cold War and the fear of Soviet agents scouting targets for nuclear missiles from the USSR.

When this fails to elicit the same reaction that it got in the 1970s, they are quick to point out that Socialism results in "Venezuela" or the like. We won't devolve into a discussion of whether the failure is a result of having social welfare programs, or having leaders who failed to recognize that the United States embargoes and meddling with oil prices would crash their economy. That's a subject deserving its own post.

No, generally a reference to Venezuela to back up claims that Socialism has never worked, blah, blah, will cause anyone with a functioning brain to point out that countries like Norway, Finland, the rest of Scandanavia, in fact most Nordic countries not only embrace socialist policies, but are economic successes as well.

On would have thought that should put the discussion to rest, but a new and mind contorting argument is now making the rounds among the right wing's echo chambers. Ready for it? Do you have immediate access to copious amounts of your bevvie-of-choice? Here goes: "Scandinavian countries are not Socialist!"²

The discerning reader may have noticed that when I refer to the term, I have used the small "s" socialist to refer to their national policies.

The difficulty comes from the historical use of the term "Socialist" as a pejorative in the U.S. and it also being used as a synonym for "Communist" without ever understanding the meaning of either term. In reality, it is true that none of the countries named previously are truly Socialist. No more so than the People's Democratic Republic of Korea, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or for that matter the United States of America are Democracies. A country with any form of Totalitarian government or Dictatorship can never be truly Socialist, no matter what it calls itself. Full on Socialism³ requires, depending on which definition one subscribes to; full ownership of all means of production by the state, or no private property at all. One notices that no mention of a single person or entity is either exempted or in total control of everything.

So of course none of the Scandinavian countries are big "S" Socialist! No more so than passing laws requiring a Medicare For All or Single-Payer or whatever we end up deciding to call it that won't send regressives rushing for their comfy blankies will render the United States of America a "Socialist" hell on earth. It simply will mean that we have decided to enact social programs that will actually benefit the citizenry of this country. Programs like the Justice system. Like our Interstate Highways. Or the Federal Aviation Authority. Like Public Schools. Like National Defense.

¹ In case you haven't already figured it out, the opposite of "Progressive" is not "Conservative", it is "Regressive".

²https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2018/07/08/sorry-bernie-bros-but-nordic-countries-are-not-socialist/#559a4f074ad3

³https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism¹¹