Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Lime
A question related to the UBI discussion that is relevant to this thread is just how instantly judgmental the voting public is upon the invocation of socialism. The word itself. There is an immediate association with communism. Language lost the Dems seats in the Senate and the House.
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You can blame that on Ronald Reagan. During the 80s Reagan and the conservatives attacked socialism in a similar way the Republicans did during the red scare and eliminated communism from the political spectrum. These two terms now have such a negative connotation that they force Americans to react to them in a visceral manner. Americans are programmed this way, even though, when asked, they cannot define either term or explain the ideology in any rational way. It is bizarre, but it is America. And yes, in many parts of the country just being labelled as such is a death sentence to an aspiring political career or shift support away from even a proven quantity who has bona fides to the counter.
To add, Newt Gingrich tried to do the same with the term liberal, but met varying levels of success.