With how much meddling the US did in the 20th century with CIA coups and such, I question how much of the bad reputation of communism is due to that. I think the common view of the bad parts of communism and fascism are really issues with authoritarianism and concentration of power.
Look at how the US was around 1900. Take for example the shirtwaist fire. When you are locked in a building that is on fire, the least of your concern is whether it is a rich and powerful asshole that works directly for the government or a rich and powerful asshole that owns the factory and owns the politicians through bribery, lobbying, campaign contributions, etc. If you aren’t familiar with the business plot, capitalists tried to overthrow the US government in the 1930s and turn it some sort of fascist regime.
The down side to democracy is that when times get rough, a strong man shows up with the answer and a scapegoat, usually an already marginalized group, if they only have the power to fix everything, and the next thing you know people just voted themselves into that authoritarian regime out of desperation or fear.
About all we can do is squash FUD and misinformation as it pops up. Unfortunately, in this game of whack-a-mole, it takes more time to refute stuff with well crafted arguments and credible sources than it does to make things up that rile people up.
With how much meddling the US did in the 20th century with CIA coups and such, I question how much of the bad reputation of communism is due to that. I think the common view of the bad parts of communism and fascism are really issues with authoritarianism and concentration of power.
Look at how the US was around 1900. Take for example the shirtwaist fire. When you are locked in a building that is on fire, the least of your concern is whether it is a rich and powerful asshole that works directly for the government or a rich and powerful asshole that owns the factory and owns the politicians through bribery, lobbying, campaign contributions, etc. If you aren’t familiar with the business plot, capitalists tried to overthrow the US government in the 1930s and turn it some sort of fascist regime.
The down side to democracy is that when times get rough, a strong man shows up with the answer and a scapegoat, usually an already marginalized group, if they only have the power to fix everything, and the next thing you know people just voted themselves into that authoritarian regime out of desperation or fear.
About all we can do is squash FUD and misinformation as it pops up. Unfortunately, in this game of whack-a-mole, it takes more time to refute stuff with well crafted arguments and credible sources than it does to make things up that rile people up.