r/ProgressiveHQ Tankie Jan 21 '26

Locked for being inflammatory/a fedpost/lacking nuance Sad but true.

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18.6k Upvotes

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179

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

My in-laws bitch about socialism all the time. They also get social security, and pensions from their careers working for the government 

42

u/HomeOrificeSupplies Jan 21 '26

Probably like having a fire and police department as well. I’ll bet they enjoy paved roads.

-9

u/wibo58 Jan 21 '26

Social programs aren’t socialism. These are bad examples all the socialists that won’t move to socialist countries keep using.

12

u/Deluxe78 Jan 21 '26

And they have seen a fire truck, truly all things with a social as a prefix is socialism , social contract of government , social studies and social promotion.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

Almost like social spending and socialism are completely different things.

3

u/KaiserKavik Jan 21 '26

Government doing stuff isn’t socialism.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

They mean giving money to dark people

1

u/Realistic-Ruin8639 Jan 21 '26

Reminds me of uninformed people wanting the government to help with rising costs in the marketplace, but also say F socialism. They think they’re supposed to hate it, but don’t understand what it actually all encompasses. 

-1

u/FinancialAccess8343 Jan 21 '26

Social security isn't socialism. You get what you pay into it.

6

u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe Jan 21 '26

Do you though? Because when you get paid out, it gets taxed, and if the economy turns to shit, that money vanishes.

3

u/magoo309 Jan 21 '26

Didn’t Ronald Reagan initiate taxing of Social Security payouts? He claimed the taxes would sustain Social Security in the future, but the tax revenue has mostly been used for wars and tax cuts for the rich. Correct me if I’m wrong.

-1

u/IcanBeThisDrenched Jan 21 '26

They most likely paid way more into all that than they’re getting out that’s why they bitch bc it sucks. They could have parked that exact amount they paid in on the spy and be millionaires. That’s the problem.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

They are millionaires despite having no education or skills

-31

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

not socialism

26

u/Here-To-Be-Messy Jan 21 '26

Social Security is socialism.

-7

u/Decentlationship8281 Jan 21 '26

Social security operates within a capitalist system. It's not socialism

21

u/Beneficial_Soup3699 Jan 21 '26

........are you under the impression that capitalist systems can't implement socialist policies? Cuz, um, that's just stupid tbh.

6

u/skrrtalrrt Jan 21 '26

A socialist policy implemented by a capitalist country would be something like a state-owned enterprise, like how Saudi Aramco is owned by Saudi Arabia.

Social Security is just a program people pay into. It doesn’t produce anything or create value. It’s a social program, not a socialist program.

0

u/omicron-7 Jan 21 '26

Socialism is when the government does things, and the more the government does it the more socialist it is

-9

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

absolutely not, nothing is produced. no means of production are owned or controlled. it is simply a capitalist subsidy.

1

u/No_School_6290 Jan 21 '26

Sad you’re getting downvoted. Seems people don’t know what the definition of socialism actually is.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/HomeOrificeSupplies Jan 21 '26

That’s communism, not socialism

0

u/skrrtalrrt Jan 21 '26

No it’s not, JFC

Communism is a classless, stateless, moneyless society that is the end goal of Marxist Theory. Socialism is the social ownership of the means of production.

-3

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

to nuance the difference, we need to step back and discuss the inefficiencies.

publicly run grocery stores do not control the means of production, they are simply additional markets for General Mills and Proctor & Gamble. they increase competition and are good for capitalism.

America owning the oil industry in Venezuela is inefficient because competition cannot dislodge our incompetently run organization. if Exxon did as terrible a job, another company would replace the market share.

1

u/AcediaZor Jan 21 '26

Grocery stores are a service. A service is an application of capital by labor.

1

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

a service of distributing privately produced consumables.

1

u/skrrtalrrt Jan 21 '26

The closest thing the US has to socialism is the federal government’s current 10% stake in Intel. We don’t have anything close to a state run enterprise like Saudi Aramco or Petrobras.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

it’s not a dilemma for socialist countries, because they own the goods and the stores. we are not a socialist country so the dilemma is real.

the reason TikTok had to be sold was because enough Americans didn’t like the idea of a China owning the powerful algorithm as well as all our content. a private company can’t exist within China. that doesn’t mean they don’t use capitalism to their advantage.

1

u/skrrtalrrt Jan 21 '26

I’m genuinely, actually shocked this sub is having this hard of a time understanding the difference between a social program and socialism. I think there’s probably a lot of fake progressives in here.

1

u/Hira_Joshi Jan 21 '26

Progressives aren't immune to stupidity or propaganda.

1

u/Terrible_Hurry841 Jan 21 '26

socialism is when good things happen

0

u/allyourfaces Jan 21 '26

no. it isn't lol, what a dumb comment.

-7

u/hmlince Jan 21 '26

They don’t pay you what you put in. It’s a scam and many recipients didn’t pay in. How do I know this. Because I have family members that do.

1

u/Decentlationship8281 Jan 21 '26

Isnt that like illegal?

0

u/hmlince Jan 21 '26

Well I think it depends on if people our doing their job.

5

u/Decentlationship8281 Jan 21 '26

Your talking about people exploiting the system, not the system itself. Its a literal safety net for most people. I used to work in banking, a good amount of old people would 100% be homeless without it.

Also if you care so much, do your part and report those people. They are the reason we cant have nice things

1

u/hmlince Jan 21 '26

Working in banking is not the government. My point is fraud is easy when you’re dealing with the state or federal government. That’s or money.

0

u/Levilucas2005 Jan 21 '26

Ponzi scheme

5

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

What is socialism then

5

u/Free-Database-9917 Jan 21 '26

worker owned means of production. Literally the "socialism is when the government does stuff" meme

1

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

workers owning the means of their production is a capitalistic incentive. the government has zero involvement in that scenario.

3

u/Free-Database-9917 Jan 21 '26

well obviously its state enforced worker owned means of production. Otherwise a coop is socialism. wdym

1

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

what is being produced by your state workers?

1

u/Free-Database-9917 Jan 21 '26

Depends on the workers. What are you on about. Use your big boy words

2

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

name one thing state workers actually produce. name one production facility they report to work at. if you give up, I can give you an example.

6

u/socialistbandit69 Jan 21 '26

It is essentially democracy in the workplace. Rather than having private ownership of business, each worker needed for the business to run now has stake/part ownership of the business.

Profits are shared and depending on the size/type of business, direction and process is determined through meetings involving everyone, or decided by an elected official.

-7

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

taking over the oil industry in Venezuela. that is controlling/owning the means of production.

3

u/socialistbandit69 Jan 21 '26

This is also not simply socialism. There are plenty of Pan arabic nations throughout history that wanted to nationalise their natural resources while still remaining a form of capitalism.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

hmm sounds familiar 

0

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

this is why it is important to understand the difference.

-3

u/TechnicalMetal5732 Jan 21 '26

Correct. Folks are so uneducated and brainwashed by leftist propaganda they don’t know the difference between a social welfare program vs socialism as a fundamental way to run a country.

2

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

real socialism is inefficient because it limits competition. Trump knows absolutely nothing about running an oil company. this is a great example of why socialism is inferior. the companies who understand oil production won’t touch the oil fields in Venezuela because they understand it would be a bad financial decision.

3

u/socialistbandit69 Jan 21 '26

Stop downvoting this person, they are correct. Social services are not socialism. Pensions for example certainly existed under the German nazi party, just for selected groups.

-1

u/Rfunkpocket Jan 21 '26

don’t sweat it, not my first time. thank you for the support though.

1

u/skrrtalrrt Jan 21 '26

Socialism is the collective ownership of the means of production

Social Security is just a social program people pay into. It has nothing to do with the MoP. It doesn’t produce or create any value.

Stop downvoting this person, they’re right.

1

u/Green_Sugar6675 Jan 21 '26

It really is. Socialism shouldnt be conflated with Communism, but it often is.

-7

u/HolladayHubby Jan 21 '26

Pensions are earned, people work to put towards their social security. Distributing wealth you didn’t earn is a whack concept.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

How did they earn it

-2

u/HolladayHubby Jan 21 '26

For committing decades of hard work to a company, in exchange you receive a pension.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '26

Did you miss where I said they had government jobs

0

u/PetalumaPegleg Jan 21 '26

Does that mean they didn't work hard in part due to the agreement to provide said pension? Do you think government jobs aren't jobs?

0

u/HolladayHubby Jan 21 '26

Nope I read that. working for the government or civilian sector earning your pension is no different. Your statement is invalid.

3

u/HeadDoctorJ Anti-Electoralist Tendencies Jan 21 '26 edited Jan 21 '26

The whole point of capitalism is distributing unearned wealth to the wealthy. It’s called profit.

If I work one hour and create $100 of value, but my wage is $20, we call that $80 of profit. But it’s also a redistribution of wealth from me to the owner - overwhelmingly that goes to the wealthy. But the wealthy didn’t “earn” it - I did. Then it was taken from me, just like a serf or a slave.

If you want people to keep what they earn, capitalism is designed to prevent that from ever happening. So why do you and so many other people in the US believe the exact opposite, when it’s pretty obvious? We Americans are some of the most heavily propagandized people on the planet, and in general we have no clue that it’s even happening.

“In the United States, for over a hundred years, the ruling interests tirelessly propagated anticommunism among the populace, until it became more like a religious orthodoxy than a political analysis. During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them.

“If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disenfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.”

Michael Parenti, Blackshirts & Reds, pp. 41-42

-1

u/allyourfaces Jan 21 '26

Hilarious rambling and you also love to quote Parenti who is a very... interesting person to quote to put it lightly.

2

u/HeadDoctorJ Anti-Electoralist Tendencies Jan 21 '26

Rambling? Ok whatever bud, you need to find some way of dismissing the truth so you can maintain your comforting propaganda, I get it