Not surprisingly, we are back to a time of scapegoats and scare words but before the progressive left gets too smug, they aren’t excluded. The Republican Party, however, now controlled and cowed by Donald Trump, has brought it to a new low. Instead of targeting teachers, librarians and trans children, they’re back to warning us about the non-existent threat of the red menace.
“Socialist” is a nifty scare word because few in Trump’s camp actually understands what it means. In their view, it translates as giving their hard-earned tax dollars to feed and house non-white women and children. Oddly, they seem to be fine giving their hard-earned tax dollars for billionaire tax cuts and idiotic wars. While Trump and his cronies are raking in billions with insider trading and other sleazy scams, the inherent racism of the MAGA cult will cause them to look the other way.
Socialism comes in many forms and, frankly, the purist interpretation of people living in communal equality doesn’t work. I lived in a situation of communal equality but quickly learned, as George Orwell observed, that “Some animals are more equal than others.” It didn’t take long before my group developed hierarchies because, truth be known, nobody wants to be the same as everyone else. They want their own coffee pot, television set and car. Even in Israel, the socialist ideal of the Kibbutz farming communities has been replaced by immigrants doing the work.
But democratic socialism is a different matter entirely and seems to have appeal for young Americans, especially in the face of the obscene corruption committed by the Trump family. If you need an example, just look at those prosperous, egalitarian Scandinavian countries which are capitalistic but give their citizens free education, free healthcare and economic security from cradle to grave. True, they pay higher taxes but it’s no coincidence that they are always the happiest nations on earth as opposed to grumpy and unequal America.
On the left, we have the epithet, “Zionist,” because the age-old international Zionist conspiracy has been brought back to life. And those evil Zionists have sure been busy. They not only caused 9/11 but control Hollywood and the news media, murdered George Floyd, colluded to launch the Holocaust and even arranged the assassination of JFK, the latest lunatic accusation. Recently, a Democrat (yes, a Democrat) running for office in Texas suggested that “American Zionists” (her words) should be placed in a detention facility. How ironic that after witnessing at Auschwitz and lecturing on the Holocaust; I might end my days in a concentration camp created by an American liberal.
Her suggestion highlights the murky line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, a line that has dissolved since the October 7th Hamas massacre. While Israel is definitely in the grip of a corrupt and brutal regime backed by religious fanatics (unlike us), that’s not how Zionism started. The basis of the Zionist movement in 1897 was simple. “Europe hates us, let’s go home,” an observation that bore lethal weight 40-odd years later. What they unwisely ignored was that their ancestral homeland was also occupied by the Palestinians, thus allowing two dysfunctional Middle Eastern tribes to claim the same chunk of desert. But Israel, despite its current pariah status, is no more “Illegal” than the Gulf States, China, Russia or other nations oppressing others or its own.
To conclude, over the July 4 holiday, President Trump gave a speech calling for national unity, praising American diversity and reaffirmed that in a democracy like ours, there was no room for kings.
Oops, sorry, that was Barack Obama. In fact, during the 250th anniversary, Trump delivered a demented rant where he insulted those who voted Democratic as “evil communists.” Fox News and right-wing influencers picked up the cry, hoping that Americans would be dumb enough to vote accordingly. The standing joke about the American Communist Party is that it has 100 members, 90 of which are FBI informants. In short, it, like Antifa, doesn’t exist. But according to Trump, more than half the nation are commies because they don’t like him. Were this the 1950s or early ‘60s, such an accusation would carry some weight. Now, it’s merely laughable.
These follies will pass, only to be replaced by later ones and there will always be a convenient excuse to hate Jews. I admit to using the term “fascist” freely but when you deliberately vote for a racist authoritarian with no regard for law or human rights, it stands to reason.
Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and has written a monthly My Turn column for over two decades. He lives outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa and dog, Cody.