This irrational fear of socialism from some politicians in the US looks so bizarre from Canada, a country with universal healthcare and some kind of social net that is still sadly very much under the grasp of destructive capitalism.
Are those politicians terrified the people could be healthy, fed, safe, and happy? What exactly terrifies them here?
@Em0nM4stodon they’ll get a taste and want more, I’d say.
@Em0nM4stodon Because the owners don't want this.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is a powerful advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., representing U.S. manufacturers. It has extensive influence in U.S. politics, utilizing lobbying and political action committees (PACs) to support candidates and policies favoring its interests. Historically, NAM has played a significant role in shaping economic and labor policies, (1/4)
@Em0nM4stodon (2/4) often opposing regulations and organized labor efforts. For example, in the 1930s, NAM campaigned against New Deal policies and worked to undermine labor unions. Over time, NAM has lobbied for lower tariffs, free trade, and pro-business legislation, sometimes at odds with parts of its own membership or labor interests.
NAM’s destructive influence on U.S. politics includes sustained efforts to weaken organized labor and to
@Em0nM4stodon (3/4) promote deregulation and tax policies favoring manufacturers and corporations. Its political spending, lobbying, and public relations campaigns shape policy debates and election outcomes, sometimes at the expense of broader public interests or labor rights. NAM’s advocacy has contributed to policies that have facilitated deindustrialization and increased economic inequality by prioritizing corporate profits and free-market principles over workers' protections.
@Em0nM4stodon (4/4) Additionally, NAM’s deep access to top lawmakers and administrations has given it outsized sway in shaping legislation like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other key economic policies.
They and their friends—be it neoliberals, neoconservatives, people in the military-industrial complex, tech billionaires, or the ultra-rich (e.g., the owners)—want docile wage slaves at best…
Highly recommend
The Century of the Self - Part 1: "Happiness Machines" #yt
https://youtu.be/DnPmg0R1M04
@Em0nM4stodon Here one can find a satirical tl;dr version of it 4 - 5 Min. long
George Carlin: The Owners Of This Country #yt
@Em0nM4stodon The American Exceptionalism myth, mainly. The myth anyone can do anything on their own, as long as you work hard and apply yourself
Americans have been trained since childhood to loathe and fear "socialism" and any other -ism besides capitalism.
They are taught a storybook version of capitalism, not the uniquely predatory and unrestrained version found in America. They are taught not to look too closely at the god they revere, lest its benefits slip away in a corporate restructuring.
@Em0nM4stodon Black and brown people catching a break. It's that simple.
@Em0nM4stodon What terrifies them is having no power, no leaverage. A worker could just decide to quit, instead of clinging on to a shit job, or an unhealthy job, because the alternative is extreme poverty.
I think for some it's more an issue of "if everybody has enough I won't have my excessive wealth"
If **everybody** has an Oreo then maybe I can't have 100 Oreos!!!
Billionaires are high on their own supply
They believe malign influence narratives "No one wants to work" (Translation: no one wants my BS low wage jobs)
"Precarity is how you motivate people" (Translation: if people were paid enough, there's a risk they might save enough eff-u money & quit wasting their lives on enriching the rich)
The US has invested a lot into making a permanent underclass, including destroying social safety nets
They're not going to give up on it now
1/
2/
The US attitude to labor markets is heavily influenced by its early economic formation.
In the North, a steady influx of immigrants available for mistreatment & exploitation.
In the South, plantation owners eager to hand a bullwhip to an overseer to lash an enslaved work force.
In the EU, it's common for industry, education, & labor leadership to meet in partnership to plan improvements & priorities, especially in times of rapid innovation & economic evolution.
3/
In the US, labor market planning & preparation barely exists. Even data gathering is being squeezed out of existence.
Such foresight & advance preparation is labeled "Communism!" by Koch Network operatives, leaving a sizable class of the permanently underemployed available for dead end jobs & wage suppression.
In the EU, Germany consults students about their goals & streams them into trades or college. In Finland, quality basic education is a priority.
It's not perfect but it is a start
4/
In China, a system of exams is used to evaluate college entrants. Definitely a flawed system if you're looking for progress & innovation.
The US & UK use nepotism & cronyism more & more, limiting educational opportunity to a shrinking group of Inbred Upper Class Twits.
In the US, students are expected to take on lifetime levels of debt with no guarantee of a job at the end.
It discards mid-career labor to cut costs, instead of offering universal employment retraining.
Shortsighted.
5/
As a result of never leaving behind obsolete attitudes towards labor, tech oligarchs became rich by being reliant on underpaid content creators, unpaid content moderation, & easily disposable tech expertise.
https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/
https://www.thestreet.com/employment/tech-giants-layoffs-hit-nearly-2000-engineers
Copying Trump's labor practices: "Sue me"
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
6/
With the elimination of the NLRB, Koch Network hopes to have unlimited access to unpaid labor practices.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/22/trump-shutdown-federal-workers-pay/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/30/trump-snap-food-stamps-federal-workers
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2025-07-22/trump-cuts-unpaid-work-labor
https://democracyforward.org/work/sidebar-heres-trump-stealing-workers-wages/
Does it make sense to subsidize a billionaire's operations?
https://medium.com/@socialmediageek/the-invisible-labor-problem-how-unpaid-content-creation-is-subsidizing-corporate-marketing-budgets-f6ede190f0ab
@Em0nM4stodon They want desperately people working for them
@Em0nM4stodon They work for the capitalist rulers. Not for the people. Both parties are working for the oligarchy and the interests of the US empire. The peasants don't matter.
@Em0nM4stodon
Social control. Convince the workers basic rights, safety at work regulation, union membership and decent health and social care are evil then the govt doesn't need to pay for them and the politicians and their wealthy pals pay less tax. Or none.
It could be that the mind wants to protect itself. When you've strongly opposed something all your life, it's not a good thing if it turns out to be a very useful and good thing. "What a horrible person I have been for denying people this!"
Better not encounter that feeling.
@Em0nM4stodon their scared of losing money from lobbyist
@Em0nM4stodon Nothing about this terrifies them. It’s performative creation of a boogeyman to distract US citizens from the real causes of the problems in this country.
What does worry them is the possibility that people will see through the subterfuge and realize what they are doing. That’s why they work so hard to silence criticism and generate so much anti socialism propaganda.
@Em0nM4stodon A happy person, with good health, a good salary, and a good education, is able to think and to look at what's around him: this is what scares them so much.
@Em0nM4stodon Maybe they understand that there's an enormous difference between a market economy that can fund social programs, like the US, Canada, and European countries have, and socialism that can't fund anything, like Cuba and Venezuela have.
There's a reason the PM of Denmark asked Bernie Sanders to stop referring to his country as socialist. It's simply the wrong word.
@stevefoerster But when they use this word, they indeed refer to countries like Canada, Norway, Denmark, and other European countries. So regardless of the true meaning of the word, they are indeed afraid of something going in the direction of being more like Canada.
@Em0nM4stodon the fear is of an electorate who has nice things. Those voters will get involved and learn they can make the change they want.
The single greatest success of our GOP is making Democrats afraid to do big things.
@Em0nM4stodon The rich in the U.S. are scared that the money spent to make the people healthy, fed, safe, and happy wouldn’t accrue to them which they have convinced many U.S. citizens would be a disaster. The rich either are or own the politicians.
@Em0nM4stodon
Fear of making the rich unhappy. The rich to whom they are massively beholden. The rich who are sociopaths, and don't want anyone else to get a dime that hasn't been "earned". When they are beholden to sociopaths, the only way forward they see is to adopt the same sociopathic values.
@Em0nM4stodon It's bizarre in the non-US "rest" of the world.
@Em0nM4stodon They basically equate socialism with stalinian communism and other bad stuff in their poorly educated mind, especially history. Even the event of the commune in Paris scares them as the end of the world.
@nrdufour So they're afraid of authoritarianism, but they're ok with it if it's the capitalist authoritarianism they are building right now?
@Em0nM4stodon @nrdufour If you look at the books by well-known writer Timothy Snyder, often interviewed and quoted, you can see the Red Scare which is still alive in the USA. Snyder views, in one sentence, both fascism and communism as the big danger and I guess it all indeed has to do with Stalin history. However, did the USSR ever really implemented communism in its history ? And what are the differences between communism and socialism ? And what about social democrats ? The USA deserves public healthcare like in other countries.
@Em0nM4stodon It's not so much the authoritatianism, but the image from the 50's that was broadcasted left and right: the dangerous communist that is here to destroy the american way of life 😉 Remember McCarty and alike.
@nrdufour It's interesting to me that they seem to somehow remember these tropes very well but simultaneously seem to have completely forgotten the ones about the American heroes fighting fascism.
@Em0nM4stodon Yes, that I can't quite understand it. I know USA saw the end of the war very differently than in Europe, but still, it seems more than that.
@Em0nM4stodon @nrdufour The thing is, I'm not sure that this is actually true for the politicians themselves. I mean, it's hard to be sure, of course, but I think a lot of them know they're straight up piling on BS when they declare democratic socialism to be communism or etc.
Actually, I think what they're afraid of is the end of their own careers. They pretty much rely on utilizing fear and ignorance to remain in power, but democratic socialism would eliminate a lot of those factors.
@nazokiyoubinbou @Em0nM4stodon Oh yes! It's using ideology for their own benefits for sure.
