Socialism, Capitalism, and Modern Propaganda

I found an article in the New York Times discussing a recent poll that was taken. In this poll, 53% of the American people supported capitalism over socialism, 20% supported socialism, and 27% were unsure. But of the people under 30, only 37% of the people under 30 were in support of capitalism, and 33% were in support of socialism (the rest were unsure). This is a pretty drastic shift in numbers, and there are several possible causes for it. One of the most likely is that to these two groups of people, capitalism and socialism mean very different things. People who lived during the majority of the Cold War were used to socialism being associated with the USSR and saw it as a bad thing. It gained a negative reputation. But people who didn't really live through that time, or at least lived through less of it, never picked up on that same view. To them, it is not necessarily such a bad idea, and to many, it seems like a better option.

The article also states that in an earlier survey 70% of the American people said they preferred a free market economy. While a free market and capitalism are not exactly the same thing, they do tend go hand in hand. Though this poll was taken earlier, it was not much earlier. So this difference is most likely due to the ideas associated with the words and the propaganda behind them. The words "free market economy" appeal to our belief in the freedom to choose, while capitalism tends to be seen as the rich getting richer while everyone else struggles.

These discrepancies show that many people don't understand what we consider basic economic policies. Maybe the problem is that these "basic" policies are not so basic anymore. Terms like socialism and capitalism and even communism have been used in so many different ways to describe so many different policies that they have lost any meaning they originally had. They have simply become modern propaganda. Perhaps new universal definitions or completely new words are needed.

This article provides an interesting opinion of this topic and includes the opinions of many other people as well. So if you are interested in learning more click here.

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

This political cartoon by David Low, depicts how Hitler was able to reach his goal by stepping all over the "spineless leaders of democracy" that appeased him. 

The are many interesting elements in  this cartoon. The first component that strikes me is  how  people like Neville Chamberlain the British prime minister that appeased Hitler were described - "spineless leaders of democracy." Another thing I saw was the carpet laid out for Hitler as he ascended the ladder of "taking over the world." In this cartoon Hitler is thumbing his nose, which is a sign of disrespect. Disrespect and Intolerance is exactly what he showed as he planned the murder of innocent people that he "believed" were "in his way and out to get him and destory his perfect world."

 This cartoon illustrates a point. Hitler was able to reach his goal from the results of appeasement. If you give a mouse a cookie, he will probably ask you for some milk. If you give Hitler Germany, he will probably want to take over the world. 

I found this article in the New York Times and thought it was an interesting and relevant thing to share with the class(es).  A summary:

A group of fifth and sixth graders from a public school in a poor, minority-dominated area of the Bronx is going to the remains of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

I personally side with some of the teachers in the article who think this is a little early to learn about the Holocaust on site.  Nearly everyone quoted says that they are afraid of the the kids' reactions will be, with just reason.  Most of the buildings are still standing, and it is no place for kids unless there is a very good reason to be there, such as ancestral history.  This seems like a very bad choice by the teachers, but it will certainly be a memorable experience for the students.

Heinrich Himmler, The Mind Behind Hitler

This YouTube video, is one of many, which illustrates the life of Heinrich Himmler, the number one man behind Adolf Hitler. This video is a little messed up, has ominous music, and probably the most ridiculous comments (the first one below by kingbub09 is plain f***ed up) but I felt that our textbook had very little information on one of the most important men during WWII. This video is a great resource when looking at the rise of the Nazi regime. 

Communism, what a joke.

Just the other day, I saw a friend of mine and he was wearing a sweatshirt with a picture of the hammer and sickle.  In fact many of my friends say that my friend, Ian, wears some sort of communist shirt almost every day.  Ian doesn't wear these shirts to support communism, but instead because he thinks they are quite funny.  The point of this blog post isn't to point out my friends strange obsession with communism, but more why communism has become this big joke.  The point of this post also isn't to answer any questions but to pose one.  Communism used to be something that was strongly believed in, and may still be today but on a much smaller scale.  What happened?  Why is communism not taken seriously, or is it taken seriously it just seems like it isn't because we are a part of one of the more anti-communist countries in the world?

I felt a little weird commenting on my own blog post so instead I'm just going to edit my original blog and say what I think about the whole idea of communist being a joke.  Personally I think communism started out as a very serious thing and at one point in time it was a very serious way in which to govern.  At that time there were certain world powers (I'm not going to say any names, but russia and china.) who tried to spread communism, but since then Gorbachev successfully converted russia over to a more capitalist government.  Now, since virtually all supporters of Communism have been converted or are dead, it seems as though the whole idea was a joke and makes it very hard to picture the fact that people actually thought that such a government would work.  Its like an argument where there used to be equal sized teams but slowly one team switched to the other side, thus becoming a very one sided argument which is part of the reason why it is taken as a joke, because there is nobody to argue that it isn't a joke.  All you can say is that it wasn't a joke, it didn't used to be a joke.

The Taliban Vilify Another Minority

On the New York Times website I came across a five minute video Op-Ed called Last Jew in Afghanistan. This is the story of Zablon Simantov who still lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. Most Jews have fled out of fear and pressure from the Taliban even though their Jewish roots have stemmed from Afghanistan since “the seventh century A.D.” and even “as far back as 720 B.C.” Zablon admits that he even sent his daughters away from Kabul. This man is driven by his idea of destiny, and he will never leave Afghanistan because God has chosen this fate for him. The video takes the viewer inside the Flower Street Synagogue that has been ravished by the Taliban. This short film moved me because this man takes a stand in a world that is suffocating his beliefs. The Taliban have made their motives clear, and Zablon knows well that he will not be alive to see a resolution: why else would he send his daughters away? Even those Jews who want to return to Afghanistan cannot until a proper government is established and security returns to the borders. This video proves that schoolgirls are not the only ones being punished by the Taliban: Jews are receiving the barbed end of the whip as well.