How to deal with the socialism attack – By David Akadjian (Daily Kos) / March 24 2019
If you haven’t seen it already, you know you will. The “socialist” attack. That thing you just said or wrote. These days it’s almost inevitable that someone will call it and you a socialist.
Now you probably weren’t arguing that government own the means of production. It’s more likely you just said you thought health care for everyone was a good idea. Or social security. Or public transportation. Or investment in our country.
This was my most recent run-in:
A friend using the Red Scare “socialism” tactic against me.
Chances are the person doesn’t even really know what socialism is. Telling them what socialism is, however, is a terrible way to address this issue. First, most people can’t do it without getting angry and sounding like you’re talking down to the person. Second, if you know what socialism is, doesn’t that confirm to them that you are indeed a socialist? So I want to talk a little bit about what’s going on with this attack—why conservative pundits encourage it—and how to deal with it when you see it.
What’s going on with the “socialist” attack?
The “socialist” attack is a version of “if you can’t win the argument, attack the person.” It’s sophisticated trolling. The idea is to piss you off and put you in a position where you’re not sure how to respond.
Here’s Ann Coulter describing the tactic in her condescending How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must):
You must outrage the enemy. If the liberal you’re arguing with doesn’t become speechless with sputtering, impotent rage, you’re not doing it right. People don’t get angry when lies are told about them; they get angry when the truth is told about them. If you are not being called outrageous by liberals, you’re not being outrageous enough. Start with the maximum assertion about liberals and then push the envelope, because, as we know, their evil is incalculable.
The tactic of calling people socialists is designed to shift the discussion away from whatever you’re talking about onto a playing field where the person you’re talking with is a good moral capitalist and you are the evil socialist.
One of the reasons conservatives choose this fight is because they find most people aren’t prepared to deal with it.
What to do
First, what you don’t want to do is fight the fight on their terms. There’s a reason they’re trying to shift the playground. Because they know they can’t “win” on other playgrounds.
Avoid:
- Panicking
- Trying to explain what socialism is
- Sounding defensive
- Taking it personally (and it’s hard because when people lie about you, it’s easy to get pissed off)
A better approach begins by separating the propagandist from the person you’re talking to. That is, the person you’re talking to probably isn’t Sean Hannity. The person you’re talking to is just repeating something that they’ve heard in right-wing media. They’re repeating a tactic they’ve been taught.
This is good news because if you go outside what they know, they’re not sure what to do. The reason for making this separation by the way is that you want to remember that you like the person you’re talking to. Hate Sean Hannity for spreading these tactic, like the person you’re talking to. If you can learn to like people, the way you talk to them will be different. If you don’t like them, you will sound like an asshole to them.
Call them a “socialist”
Acknowledging their point or trying to explain what socialism is only gives their viewpoint credence. Remember, this is a person who is willing to call you something they think is evil. So we’re not in the realm of logical argument any more.
If you take them seriously, they will think they’re right. So don’t. Do the unexpected. Call them a socialist.
If they’re going to call you a “socialist,” call them one back.
This is a little tricky because I’m not advocating doing it seriously. I’m advocating doing it as a friend would. With a bit of a wink.
If I’m doing this online, I put the wink in. If I’m doing it in person, I make sure that I do it in a way where they understand I’m joking but also serious in the point I’m making. The point being that their accusation is just as ridiculous.
And yes, I know it’s not what socialism really means. But this isn’t about what socialism means. It’s about defending yourself from a personal attack. It’s about standing up to someone who is trying to bully you.
The most frequent definition of socialism right-wing pundits use is someone trying to take your money to spend it on themselves. So I use their definition. Is it okay when you want to take my money and spend it on wars, walls, and Wall Street bailouts?
Why this works
If you want to have rational conversations with people, the first thing you have to do is break down tribal barriers. You want to be talking from within the same tribe. The socialism attack is a way that corporate special interests use to try and create division. My tribe of “capitalists” is good. Your tribe of “socialists” is bad.
If you know the person well enough that you’re in the same tribe, you probably don’t need this step. You can proceed to better conversations. But if someone is attacking you, you’re not. You’re in different tribes.
By calling people who attack you socialists, you force them to reckon with you as a member of the same tribe. They either have to admit that, by their own definition, they’re also a socialist. Or that their attack was disingenuous to begin with. And, of course, by “admit” I don’t mean that they’re actually going to admit it. What happens though is that the conversation can change.
Suddenly, you’re both just talking about different spending priorities in a democracy. You’ve disarmed them and taken away what they saw as moral superiority. You’re not a “socialist” after all. Either that or they are too. And they’re not sure what to do about it.
In this example, someone tries the attack as I’m having a good economic discussion with someone else. Part of the joke in this is the “adults” comment. The person I’m addressing is a lot older than us. It may sound a little harsh but I know both folks and like both folks.
It’s also not fun for them anymore because the whole point of calling you a socialist to begin with was, as Ann Coulter pointed out, to piss you off. To throw you off your argument.
If someone keeps it up, you can keep calling them a socialist too. Socialists everywhere!
What I usually do is acknowledge this (again with a wink) by saying something like: “We can keep calling each other socialists or we can talk about spending priorities like people have always done in our democracy.”
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/24/1843867/-How-to-deal-with-the-socialism-attack
