Right-Wing Propaganda At Its Least Subtle

Fox News, being the overtly bias media arm of the republican party that it is, has put out an article warning about the "dangers" of "socialism". It is designed as a guide for, put honestly, indoctrinating your kids into your conservative political ideology. I'm going to go over these supposed truth bombs Fox aims to drop on the topic of "socialism" and see whether they really have any actual truth to them (this is Fox News, so expectations should be riding pretty low in that department). It should first be pointed out that this article contains almost no sources to back up it's claims. If we are going to tap into the history of socialism to argue that it should be avoided, we should probably actually cite historical studies. Anyway, on with the show!

"Survey data show that most Americans have no clue what socialism is despite the fact that it's regularly discussed in the media"

No, it actually isn't. Aside from right-wing scare media like this and the few politicians such as Bernie Sanders who openly purport to be "socialist", socialism and communism in pretty much all major American institutions, including the media, is a taboo subject. During the period of McCarthyism and the red scare even the discussion of things such as socialism and communism were near completely purged from American political discourse. So much so that even talking about it produces articles like this one aimed at shouting you down. Right-wingers today love complaining about "political correctness", yet vigorously uphold it by deeming socialism and communism as politically incorrect.

"Socialism is the collective ownership and management of property. In a purely socialist society – an idea Karl Marx called “communism” – all or nearly all property is owned and managed by the collective."

Despite claiming that it will deliver an accurate definition of socialism this article gives us an intentionally vague definition. What does "property" mean? What does "collective ownership and management" mean? Who is "the collective"? The article fills in none of these blanks.

"Even their homes are owned collectively."

No they aren't. The article seems to use this vague notion of "property" to argue that socialism means the collective ownership of everything from your toilet, to your dish rag. Socialism is specifically concerned with the means of production, i.e. the tools, equipment, machinery, and technology used to produce for mass consumption. The means of production are the cranes, bulldozers, and trucks used to build houses for consumers, not the houses they live in themselves.

"In the case of democratic socialism, this means that people are forced to live according to the desires of the majority. In many situations, a small group of people is given power by the majority, and that group typically ends up becoming tyrannical, as we’ve seen in China, North Korea and Venezuela."

How can "the majority" give power to a small group of tyrants? Isn't the point of "tyranny" that iron fisted leaders take power for themselves and repress all dissent? It's also really telling how the article provides no other information about the political situation in three very different countries with very different social, political, and economic landscapes.

"For example, in a socialist country, vegetarians would be required to be part owners in a slaughterhouse."

OH NO! PEOPLE DECIDING WHAT TO PRODUCE TO MEET THEIR OWN NEEDS! WHAT A VIOLATION OF LIBERTY!!!! MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!!

"In socialism, individual “rights” are mere illusions. Even free-speech rights are limited if they are deemed “harmful” to the rest of society – which means these “rights” don’t really exist at all. This is why human rights abuses are so common in countries that try to enact socialism."

Once again, no actual information is provided regarding these human rights abuses. You are just suppose to take the article's word for it. Socialism is a society without class divisions and distinctions, meaning that coercive institutions that empower a group of rulers over everyone else, such as the state, are abolished. How exactly does free speech and individual rights get repressed without such institutions? Will "the collective" Thanos snap them away?

Under the assumption that "socialists" view the welfare state as the solution to our current problems the article makes this argument; "This conversation allows parents to make a very important moral argument: Charity is morally positive, because it means people are voluntarily helping those in need, but government welfare programs – however well-intentioned they might be – are not forms of charity. They require the government to use force and coercion. Those who don’t want to pay for a government program because they think it isn’t helpful – or perhaps believe it’s harmful – are forced to pay their taxes and participate anyway. Those who refuse can end up in prison." I don't see why I should care about the "liberty" and "voluntary" decisions of very rich individuals and institutions to not be taxed by the state in order to fund social programs for those with nowhere near that amount of economic power. These kinds of arguments ignore the class dimensions of capitalist economies, the "rights" of rich individuals and institutions who buy out politicians and make their fortunes off of the labor of those who work for them out of need for income are considered the same as the "rights" of people who are many thousands of dollars in dept, unemployed, and about to loose their house. Even barring this, socialists do not see the welfare state as the answer to modern problems. Socialists argue that the capitalist system's class structure is the fundamental problem and that the solution is abolishing it for democratic organization of society. As a side note, corporations pay very little effective tax as a result of their ability to offshore their finances, and this has left us with a reality of crumbling public infrastructure.

"Here’s a startling fact about socialism that every child should hear: During the past century, tens of millions of people have been killed, exiled or imprisoned by socialist and communist parties, and no country has ever successfully enacted a system that matches Marx’s vision for the world – a reality even the staunchest Marxist will admit."

Once again, no actual information is provided about these tens of millions of people killed, imprisoned, and exiled. It's true that "communist" regimes have killed millions of people, just like every other government in history. Pretty much every western nation was built up through killing millions of indigenous people. The American government killed millions of people in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As to the point about "Marx's vision for the world" never being enacted exactly, good, that's not what socialists want in the first place. Socialism is not "the exact vision held by Marx himself".

"Furthermore, history has repeatedly shown that government can’t fix many of our most complex societal issues, even when it socializes just one part of the economy. For example, since the ObamaCare health insurance exchanges first opened, insurance premiums have doubled and deductibles have skyrocketed."

What's conveniently left out here is that Obamacare got millions of people who wouldn't have it otherwise access to healthcare. It's also left out that every other advanced nation on the planet has a public healthcare system and they get much better healthcare results for much cheaper than we do.

This article is a sad excuse for Journalism, much like Fox in general. Right-wing media hacks trying to get parents to indoctrinate their children to ensure that the next generation won't get any ideas about radical change, and that the status quo of oppression and exploitation will continue. Parents, let your children come to their own conclusions. Even if you have the same asinine positions expressed in this article, it is not your right to beat your children over the head with them.

Bibliography:

How To Get Your Child To Just Say No To Socialism, Justin Haskins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2NNxyxc2Ao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yEiv1fIhyE

Colonization and Decolonization, Zig Zag