Time to Pop the Socialism Pimple

An effective way to disarm an opponent is to defuse the charges they hurl, and no charge has done more damage to the Democratic Party for more years than socialism. But today Republicans throw around the term hysterically and make its use ridiculous. The time is ripe for Democrats to take this weapon away from Republicans for good.

Democrats have always felt vulnerable to being called socialist, so they evaded the label as much as they could. As popular as he was in the mid-1930s, FDR went out of his way to say that Social Security, the most popular government program in history, was not socialism in any way. The reality is that Social Security is socialist. But here’s the point Democrats must make: every program that serves the common good is socialist.

In Republicans’ mind, socialism is the redistribution of wealth from its owners to people who have no right to it. But this view is absurd. By this measure, defense is socialism. Private wealth is taxed to pay for national security, regardless of who needs it and how much they contribute. We don’t say, “OK, granny, you’re a useless fighter, so we’re not defending you.” Nor do we give a tax break to small towns in Kansas because they’re less vulnerable than big coastal cities.

Any form of insurance is socialist. Funds are collected from many people, but only a few get pay-outs. Sometimes we make insurance compulsory. If you drive a car, we force you to buy auto insurance because anybody could cause an accident and must be in a position to pay for the damage. Banks force homeowners to buy insurance to protect the asset used as collateral for the mortgage.

Republicans call government programs they don’t like “socialism” to make voters reject them out of hand without a thought. Republicans do this to avoid the only legitimate debate about programs: does this program benefit society enough to justify the tax money spent on it? Republicans refuse to debate on these terms because they know they’ll often lose. Every time Republicans utter the word socialism, Democrats should say they’re too scared to debate honestly.

There’s a further, stronger benefit to Democrats from disarming the socialism attack. There’s no difference between programs except costs and benefits—the defense department and Obamacare are not qualitatively different. Once voters grasp this, the whole purpose of the modern Republican Party disappears. Voters won’t need Republicans to protect them from the socialist bogey-man. Voter preferences will then shift to the Democratic Party, the party that knows how to use the government to benefit the country.

Apart from the rhetorical approaches outlined above, how can Democrats destroy socialism as a Republican weapon? They should employ a common Republican propaganda ploy. Democrats should use the word socialism/socialist so often that it becomes meaningless for voters. Use it in a matter-of-fact tone, with no heat. Refer to defense spending and every other program Republicans support as socialist. “We strongly support this defense appropriation bill as good socialism.” When reporters challenge you on the use of the term, say you just mean “good for society.” Because ultimately, that’s what socialism does mean.