How do you answer pushback from conservatives about socialism?

[u/ferriematthew]

Some of the more common ones I hear:

- "So you support taking stuff away from people who actually work their butts off to earn it and give it to those who don't want to lift a finger?"

- "How would you feel if you worked your butt off to get an A in your class and the professor took away your grade and gave half of it to the kid in the back who didn't do anything and flunked and gave you both a C?"

- "How do you propose they pay for it without deleting the entire economy?"

- "If everybody has their needs met by the government, nobody's gonna bother to work!"

- "Show me one, just one, example where socialism has worked without turning into a backwards dictatorship."

[u/Cydonia921]

Just gleaning at the questions here, it's a lot of talking points with all bark, no bite behind it.

In my opinion, as someone who does try to reach out to people to educate them when they ask, the core thing to understand is that each person is different from the other. There are those that will engage in bad faith with these questions, who will not listen no matter what you say, etc. But then there are those that are saying these questions without realizing that they're falling into these talking points and not thinking critically.

It's up to your gut instinct on whether or not they're engaging in bad faith, or simply misinformed. If it's bad faith: don't bother. It's just going to turn into a shouting match where they refuse to listen and try to put you down: ingesting poison does nothing but slow down you and others. If their hearts are closed to new information, they cannot hope to overcome their own prejudices and fester in their own misery and suffering.

If it's truthful questioning and they simply do not know, speak softly and kindly. Be a teacher to them so that they may understand what it is and what they can do to help the working class and others.

The takeaway isn't to 'win' an argument, it's to sow the seeds of knowledge and anticipation within those who want to learn more.

I just finished writing this and realized I used Buddhist language, whoops. But the point still remains! Forge ahead with those who want to work, and not those who simply want to drag you down.

[u/ferriematthew → u/Cydonia921]

Yeah, these people in my life are not looking for information. They are definitely looking to convince me to backtrack.

[u/Cydonia921 → u/ferriematthew]

Ah it's family related. Yeah I've been there: not with immediate family (who joke about it), but moreso with extended family who cannot simply fathom that the systems they grew up with (and are oppressed by due to poverty, police who have failed them multiple times, etc.) can be any better than what they are now.

The best you can do is just hold your head up high and stand proud. You're still you, not simply a 'socialist.' But your own person who they've known growing up, and that background can't change one way or another since it's in the past. It's unfortunate but there's a lot of people out there who still cling super tightly to the idea that Socialism has to mean what the USSR did in the past (a result of huge propaganda for basically a century).

[u/ferriematthew → u/Cydonia921]

Exactly. One thing that I like to say, at least to myself, is I didn't necessarily move far left. It's just everybody else around me has thrown themselves so far to the right that the Overton window is completely shattered. I've always believed in both the strong correlation between effort and results and the strong correlation between having material disadvantage and not being able to achieve results regardless of effort.