I’ve noticed that talking to people that some common tropes seem to come up when topics like socialism come up.
Basically I hear a lot of defense of capitalism that boils down to capitalism is good because “I personally benefit”. As well as “I’ve heard bad things about socialism”, ie taxes are too high in countries with good healthcare and social programs.
I wanted to know if other people have these issues come up in conversation and if people more well spoken than me have a way of getting through the road blocks and have some easy starting points for discussing things with people.
I feel like propaganda and fear mongering have placed a divide that make talking about things harder
People are brainwashed into not knowing the difference between big “S” socialism and " Capitalism with a strong social safety net".
There isn’t a single developed western nation that is the first. They’re all the second. We’re not “socialist” and less free than the good ol’ Murica. We just know that your capitalism runs better if your population isn’t struggling…
OP asked how to explain socialism, not how to do anticommunist apologia for social democracy.
Brainwashing implies intent. In reality, the ideas held by a society depend on the Mode of Production, the Base and Superstructure reinforce each other.
Not sure what your intent is here, Capitalism itself can’t work.