So I argued with a RWNJ a bit ago who claimed that 'Socialism Is On The March/On Our Doorstep'
Thought I'd share the contents of my reply. I think I put him in his place. Feel free to correct me if I was wrong anywhere though so I can be prepared if he figures it out.
I should add that he equated progressivism with socialism, in case that's not obvious.
My Reply:
I'm going to make a rare exception on this occasion and argue with a right-winger.
I've constructed a list of signs the US has either become LESS progressive, and/or longtime progressive goals that were never met.
But before I go on to this list ... let me ask a 30,000 ft question. Wouldn't 'the theoretical goal' of 'Socialism' be ... to reduce income and wealth disparity to essentially ZERO? I mean, is there a more fundamental definition of the concept? I don't really think you can reasonably argue against that assertion.
HOWEVER ... and conversely ... Income and Wealth Disparity is at absolutely record levels. So how can you argue with a straight face that 'Socialism' is 'on a march' and 'at our doorstep'? Existence of extreme income and wealth disparity is LITERALLY THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF SOCIALISM 'WINNING'. Socialism has in fact been losing, massively, for Decades.
1) Labor Unions are decimated vs their historic highs and have much less political power, and the right has successfully pushed laws that force Unions to represent members even though they pay no dues
2) Taxes on the Rich and Corporations are WAY down vs. their highs in the 1940's-70's
3) The Assault Weapons ban expired and was never replaced
4) Employment and Housing Discrimination for being LGBTQ is still not banned on the federal level
5) Federal Agencies involved with Public Health are still not allowed to gather statistics on gun violence
6) It's next to impossible to get abortions in many states, far MORE than was the case 20 years ago
7) The efforts of the Right have notably hobbled Planned Parenthood in general
8) LGBTQ people are still discriminated against with adoption of children
9) Churches remain tax-exempt even though they violate the terms of this status via political activism from the pulpit
10) The number of colleges with Affirmative Action programs has gone way down over the years
11) The amount that State Governments contribute to Higher Education per student has drastically gone down, leading to exorbitant costs for college even at State colleges and Universities vs. what us old fogeys had to pay. In large part, this is as a result of the actions of Republican lawmakers and Governors
11) Safety nets have been shot through: the average amount of both food aid and financial help that people in legitimate need receive from the government is significantly lower, per capita, than was the case before the mid 1990's when Clinton and the GOP Congress together passed Welfare reform
12) People still go to jail for simple drug possession
13) No Federal Gun Control regulation other than banning bump-stocks (under Trump) in many, many years
14) State-level Gun Control has been a give/take esp. since Heller, various small victories for both sides, with no clear trend towards increased gun control
15) No national gun-owner registry
16) 'Stand Your Ground' i.e. 'I can shoot you cause you're scary to me' Laws have proliferated to many states.
17) Numerous states have passed Voter ID and other vote-suppression laws, a favorite thing of conservatives.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I can’t really come up with anything else to add to your list.
I find that idiots who scream about socialism don’t even know what it means. And they really do fail to realize how far right our national policies are, as a whole (which you so thoroughly pointed out).
