<![CDATA[What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago.]]>What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. In some cases, it was considered moderate, common sense bipartisan policy. Even Nixon thought universal healthcare and the Clean Air Act were good ideas!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/a9d3735e-5ba0-4cf1-b489-a5c24ea51f1f/what-s-called-socialism-in-america-was-bog-standard-liberalism-a-few-decades-ago.RSS for NodeFri, 03 Jul 2026 17:18:50 GMTWed, 24 Jun 2026 22:12:03 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:42:43 GMT]]>@gwynnion What's disdainfully referred to as "socialism" in the US simply isn't a thing. It's strawman comprised of the worst parts of Russia under Stalin + dashes of anecdotes & scare stories from Cuba & Cambodia etc. + whatever things Conservatives don't like, real or fake, as if that constitutes an ideology & also represents what everyone asking for any kind of basic human rights *really* want...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://helvede.net/users/jwcph/statuses/116809620740654570https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://helvede.net/users/jwcph/statuses/116809620740654570Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:42:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:08:42 GMT]]>@gwynnion It's pretty telling that Nixon as he was in his policies is further to the progressive left, than most Establishment Democrats now.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/metaning/statuses/116809486970254153https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/metaning/statuses/116809486970254153Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:08:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 05:56:52 GMT]]>@gwynnion About the only things we didn't have were UBI (& that was on the Dem platform) and Med care for all. Many of the politicians on the Right were farther to the Left than many Dem's of today. AOC & Mamdani were middle left. & the communist party had folks running for president. We were on the edge of having what the Nordic countries have today. Then Nixon married the Christian right. Then Reagan took away the controls of Capitalism & instituted the $ vacuum to the rich.

Peace

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/A_Minion/statuses/116809204563300706https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/A_Minion/statuses/116809204563300706Thu, 25 Jun 2026 05:56:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 05:46:16 GMT]]>@gwynnion This should make clear the shift to the right to our eleven to thirteen readers.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/ap/users/116092650648397225/statuses/116809162826490854https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/ap/users/116092650648397225/statuses/116809162826490854Thu, 25 Jun 2026 05:46:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:47:42 GMT]]>@gwynnion it's intentional polarisation: moving things further apart that should be conceptionally closer together. It helps ensuring people join opinionated camps and rile against one another, effectively shutting down collaboration and open dialogue.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/bitbraindev/statuses/116808932563940647https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/bitbraindev/statuses/116808932563940647Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:47:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:16:38 GMT]]>@gwynnion It is a real shame (and most likely by design) that the average USian seems to have zero historical context for the language we use.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115494710698880506/statuses/116808810375008270https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115494710698880506/statuses/116808810375008270Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:16:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 03:01:42 GMT]]>@gwynnion Eisenhower would be called an extreme leftist today.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://gts.linuxfiend.net/users/linuxfiend/statuses/01KVYBKSR658E6JP1DVJSDASPShttps://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://gts.linuxfiend.net/users/linuxfiend/statuses/01KVYBKSR658E6JP1DVJSDASPSThu, 25 Jun 2026 03:01:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 02:57:05 GMT]]>@gwynnion what I call socialism is much more radical and much more closer to revolutionary Marxism

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://todon.nl/users/burnoutqueen/statuses/116808497624578022https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://todon.nl/users/burnoutqueen/statuses/116808497624578022Thu, 25 Jun 2026 02:57:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 02:33:49 GMT]]>@gwynnion thank god for Rupert Murdoch and his clever realization that controlling the media was a more effective way to cull society I mean socialism @lisamelton

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://appdot.net/users/brandonscript/statuses/116808406074776408https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://appdot.net/users/brandonscript/statuses/116808406074776408Thu, 25 Jun 2026 02:33:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:58:32 GMT]]>@gwynnion

The contemporary Democratic party is to the RIGHT of Eisenhower. A side-by-side comparison of their policy agendas shows this to be true, and if more people realized it, their idea of what the word "conservative" means might start to bear resemblance to reality.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/gypsyvegan/statuses/116808267358516520https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/gypsyvegan/statuses/116808267358516520Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:58:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:29:52 GMT]]>@gwynnion @tchambers we have no qualms about collectively paying for military or police or prisons or roads…but healthcare is somehow Maoism.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://queer.cool/users/revndm/statuses/116808154625973900https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://queer.cool/users/revndm/statuses/116808154625973900Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:29:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:54:56 GMT]]>@gwynnion
I have often referred to Obama as "Sane Nixon" to republican complainers...the reaction was hillarious

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kosmos.social/users/GeoWend/statuses/116807545434485108https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kosmos.social/users/GeoWend/statuses/116807545434485108Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:54:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:27:18 GMT]]>Like, if it needs to be said, the Democrats are a conservative party.

They're not even socially liberal, fiscally conservative.

They're just conservative-conservative.

Worse than fucking Nixon, like I said, in some respects.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807436753527999https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807436753527999Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:27:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:26:14 GMT]]>At the same time, these Democrats walked back support for civil rights and progressive social causes.

Yeah, occasionally they were flatfooted by things like gay marriage. But for the most part, they've been behind the explosive growth in police power, mass incarceration, surveillance, censorship, deportations, etc.

All while turning a blind eye to the collapse of abortion and voting rights.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807432585640353https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807432585640353Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:26:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:21:50 GMT]]>The Democratic MO since I was a child has been to enable the cancerous growth of industries like fossil fuels, health insurance, investment banking, "AI," or what have you and then treat them as inevitabilities that are "too big to fail" and thus, too big to be reined in or replaced, subsidizing them with taxpayer money while externalizing the costs onto ordinary people.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807415248339136https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807415248339136Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:21:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:17:12 GMT]]>Republicans would never have been able to do so much damage to this country without post-Reagan Democrats helping them shift the Overton Window because they wanted a piece of the action.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807397073106597https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807397073106597Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:17:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. on Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:13:11 GMT]]>So you know, who does it serve when the "liberal" party talks about this stuff and progressive politicians like born again McCarthyites?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807381261010677https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gwynnion/statuses/116807381261010677Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:13:11 GMT