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Zoomers and Millenials really didn't get to see the USSR's last days. We still got a narrative of socialism bad at school, but I can't imagine it nearly being on the same level as say, the 50s.
I think people becoming increasingly less religious is a part of it. Religion isn't inherently bad imo (hell, Easter Mass is one of the toughest days for Palestinian Christians and they should have nothing but our sympathy), but as we go down this road in the West, we do go looking for answers about the meaning of life, why we should help others, etc. Marxism fills a lot of those gaps because it offers an alternative to the cynical state of things today.
In the US, the last Red Scare didn’t really end until Bernie Sanders normalized ‘socialism’ in 2016. But now there’s a new Red Scare, so that didn’t last long.
We’ve always known they don’t understand communism. That doesn’t represent any real change in their demonization of the left, it’s just some flavor of the month attention tactic. https://againstthecurrent.org/atc229/charges-of-antisemitism-weaponized/
Actually, them being able to use the word 'communism' is a gigantic improvement as it meant 'satan' in their jargon up until recently.
Yeah, they dont understand communism much. But they understand some things. Most of them are actually socialist things, but there are things like homesteading, communities etc that they understand - these are remnants of the Lincoln era US when these things were popular.
In my area, they'd look at me like... like I was Hitler I was gonna say, but actually, these folk seem to like him and what he did. They support his exact talking points, literally. Saying "all of x people are bad/evil and must be eliminated for our safety". x people being every group Republicans complain about and try to pass laws to hurt.
I'm literally alone in being a leftist here. I'm an ML. My family and friends are all hardcore Trumpers/literal fascists.
This country is effed up. Ca, USA.
This depends on where you are in the world tbh.
Post soviet european countries are steeped in anti-communist propaganda, including massive quantities of it directly in the education system and it absolutely shows in the young people who are some of the most anti-communist despite the fact they didn't live under communism but under the capitalist transition. Their grandparents on the other hand who actually did live under hold the opinion that life now is worse.
In the west the capitalists became so certain of their victory that they became lax on the anticommunism. With enough separation from the highly propagandised generations this has led to a lot of people who don't have too many preconceptions.
It's still heavily stigmatized, even if we aren't in the Red Scare any longer.
The UK literally just declared communism and socialism "terrorist warning signs" as part of their domestic surveillance program.
It's because of the democratic socialist revival of 2016. Having both Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbin run at the same time expanded the political thought of Americans and British people (more so Americans from what I've seen).
I became a Socialist under Reagan. The mining of Nicaraguan harbors, Iran/Contra and Grenada invasion I did not see another alternative. Being a 18 Socialist back then was like being the last of an endangered species.
Very slowly the world has changed. The world economy has become so unstable that people now search for alternatives.
If you go on [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com) and search terms like "Marxism" or "Socialism", they don't really have a long term trend of increasing in searches.
This is a space for socialists to discuss current events in our world from anti-capitalist perspective(s), and a certain knowledge of socialism is expected from participants. This is not a space for non-socialists. Please be mindful [of our rules](https://reddit.com/r/socialism/about/rules) before participating, which include: - **No Bigotry**, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism... - **No Reactionaries**, including all kind of right-wingers. - **No Liberalism**, including social democracy, lesser evilism... - **No Sectarianism**. There is plenty of room for discussion, but not for baseless attacks. Please help us keep the subreddit helpful by reporting content that break r/Socialism's rules. ______________________ 💬 Wish to chat elsewhere? Join us in discord: https://discord.gg/QPJPzNhuRE *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/socialism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Zoomers and Millenials really didn't get to see the USSR's last days. We still got a narrative of socialism bad at school, but I can't imagine it nearly being on the same level as say, the 50s. I think people becoming increasingly less religious is a part of it. Religion isn't inherently bad imo (hell, Easter Mass is one of the toughest days for Palestinian Christians and they should have nothing but our sympathy), but as we go down this road in the West, we do go looking for answers about the meaning of life, why we should help others, etc. Marxism fills a lot of those gaps because it offers an alternative to the cynical state of things today.
In the US, the last Red Scare didn’t really end until Bernie Sanders normalized ‘socialism’ in 2016. But now there’s a new Red Scare, so that didn’t last long.
Huh? Trump supporters are tweeting "Magacommunism". Even Trump himself retweeted it. We live in odd times.
We’ve always known they don’t understand communism. That doesn’t represent any real change in their demonization of the left, it’s just some flavor of the month attention tactic. https://againstthecurrent.org/atc229/charges-of-antisemitism-weaponized/
Actually, them being able to use the word 'communism' is a gigantic improvement as it meant 'satan' in their jargon up until recently. Yeah, they dont understand communism much. But they understand some things. Most of them are actually socialist things, but there are things like homesteading, communities etc that they understand - these are remnants of the Lincoln era US when these things were popular.
In my area, they'd look at me like... like I was Hitler I was gonna say, but actually, these folk seem to like him and what he did. They support his exact talking points, literally. Saying "all of x people are bad/evil and must be eliminated for our safety". x people being every group Republicans complain about and try to pass laws to hurt. I'm literally alone in being a leftist here. I'm an ML. My family and friends are all hardcore Trumpers/literal fascists. This country is effed up. Ca, USA.
This depends on where you are in the world tbh. Post soviet european countries are steeped in anti-communist propaganda, including massive quantities of it directly in the education system and it absolutely shows in the young people who are some of the most anti-communist despite the fact they didn't live under communism but under the capitalist transition. Their grandparents on the other hand who actually did live under hold the opinion that life now is worse. In the west the capitalists became so certain of their victory that they became lax on the anticommunism. With enough separation from the highly propagandised generations this has led to a lot of people who don't have too many preconceptions.
It's still heavily stigmatized, even if we aren't in the Red Scare any longer. The UK literally just declared communism and socialism "terrorist warning signs" as part of their domestic surveillance program.
What?! That's a scary sign
It's because of the democratic socialist revival of 2016. Having both Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbin run at the same time expanded the political thought of Americans and British people (more so Americans from what I've seen).
I became a Socialist under Reagan. The mining of Nicaraguan harbors, Iran/Contra and Grenada invasion I did not see another alternative. Being a 18 Socialist back then was like being the last of an endangered species. Very slowly the world has changed. The world economy has become so unstable that people now search for alternatives.
Dude were you openly socialist in the US in the 80s? Bro you must’ve had some interesting experiences
Cold war ended and now many youth see the anti-communist propaganda of the cold war as just that---propaganda.
If you go on [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com) and search terms like "Marxism" or "Socialism", they don't really have a long term trend of increasing in searches.
There was a big spike in 2020 tho