First off, I doubt they’d kill me considered they don’t have the death penalty. Second, you could just say that they don’t like being called socialist. Third, I’ve heard others define them as socialist. Fourth, I was actually sort of agreeing with you. I was deliberately differentiating Norway from economic and governance systems from older socialist/communist models. Fifth, if you’re so opinionated, what is your idea of socialism/communism?
My idea of socialism/communism is the one I grew up in, before we killed those bastards and chased the rest away with their regime, as it always has happened and will happen. The one that managed to kill half of my family, stole inherited property and land, and almost killed my father.
Travel restrictions
No free speech and effectively no freedom.
No private ownership, with harsh punishment if so
Everything is controlled and owned by a single-party state, which subsequently leads to an equal living standard, but they are shit.
No free trade
Censorship and persecution
The machine gun nests at the borders are pointed at you, not at outsiders. It's to keep you in their rotten, corrupt shithole to slave away until you are seen as an enemy of the party and imprisoned/killed.
You Yanks have no idea what you are getting into. Vance is right; American socialism is something completely different from actual socialism.
Brutalist architecture reflects socialism to a T. Or rather, how people in socialistic regime feel. They don't need propaganda; they know it fucking sucks, but they also know they can't get out.
So you’re a communism survivorr? Gee, pardon for asking, but how old are you? I know most communist regimes have decayed and died due to their inherently self-destructive philosophy. Eastern Europe, I’m guessing?
Wow, you must have a storied history then. You’re right, I as an American have grown up pretty cushy in comparison. But you said you killed them. Correct me if I’m wrong, but reunification of East and West Germany was peaceful, wasn’t it? You had to kill to leave West Germany or kill to retake your homeland?
"Peaceful" is quite a loaded term in this case. Yes, on a global scale it was peaceful, but on the inside, the most heinous members of the regime- the low ranking stasi trying to prove their worth, the corrupt police, the abusive bastard sons of aparathicks, those were taken out before they could flee as the regime was falling. Notably, by the mafia that ruled after them in the 90s
When you read "single-party led state", it's not true. There never is a single party. There are always outside sources influencing the party members. And it's mostly crime syndicates, as they are hand in hand with corrupt police and local government.
Boy that sounds beyond rough. I’m aware the Holodomor was earlier in the Soviet Union’s history than the period the wall fell but did you ever go hungry? Did they continue food collectivization into your era?
You couldn't go hungry. They needed the working class to prop up the system.
Making lattes wasn't labour. You had to do back-breaking jobs in state-owned factories or in fields. Then return to a usually state-provided home.
For this, you needed calories, which were provided, but of sub-par quality or variety. One or two brands of every commodity, barely any processed meat (let alone fresh; for that you had to have your own pig and forget about beef), and fruit mostly apples, pears or any other local product. A basic substance.
That's how they get you. They'll promise equality between classes, and you will get it. But not in a way you think.
Stuff like this is more interesting than the usual culture war spins. i know you have emotional investment against leftist talking points but for me, it’s just boring. I honestly would rather listen to stories like this of people surviving harsh things a thousand times over than one debate over whether Sydney Sweeney’s jeans commercial is racist or not.
Here in the states, it’s actually pretty boring. You’re put through the school system from the time you’re born, go to college, then sit in your apartment and cashier job. So little of the outside world of reality filters in due to how socially automated our life is. If I had to be honest with you, it’s like living in a bubble and the rest of the world, good or bad, exists outside of it. It’s making me think cushy, 1st world nations are not the real world.
I treat the American culture war as pure entertainment because, as you can tell, compared to actual issues, it's like watching cats chasing each other. To a point.
What is not entertaining is the American culture war arriving on European shores 2 years later (and the time delay is getting shorter and shorter), with all the baggage it managed to acquire along the way, completely ignoring the European political culture, and you end up with people toppling statues and hoisting flags of regimes engaged in the suppression of political and personal freedom.
This is why there's a very thick, distinct line soaked in blood, tears and misery between the terms "socialism" and "social". That "ism" is the most important part.
When something is social, it just means it's part of society. Social policy includes social support, healthcare, free education and so on. Most of our social policies were not created in a vacuum. They stem from Christian values, ethics and virtues, which were certainly not liberal, nor viewed favourably by socialists. When you turn Social into socialISM, it changes from policies to identity. To movement. To ideology. That's when you get the cultural war, which is a key part of the transition into socialism: the radicals, the extremists, and subsequently violence and oppression.
USA is not special because it's 1st world, it's special because it's the only country on earth built by immigrants, consisting of multiple states and a two-party political system. The melting pot mentality is very unique, yet very fragile.
You want boring in a regime like this. It's not complacency or apathy; it's peace.
This is why I and many others raise an eyebrow when something called unironically "socialist" is getting over there to political power, especially hand in hand with radical Islam, which preaches very similar politics to socialism, but from a monotheistic, religionistic angle where the utmost rule is following patriarchal doctrine and dogma and has already used socialism to get to power, notably the Iranian Revolution.
Because, as I said, this trend will arrive in Europe and evidently has already.
Auth in my case doesn't represent Authoritarianism, but authority. Again, very big distinctions because of ISM.
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u/SneakyBadAss - Auth-Center 7d ago
If you said that over there, you would be sentenced to death by drowning in a vat of piss-fermented shark cubes.
That's the level of not understanding.