I was watching a YouTube video by a socialist, and a thought occurred. Here was one of these intense, intellectual type leftists. His analysis was full of highly sophisticated ideological positions, and a lot of buzzwords. I compared this video to similar screeds, which I recall listening to 10-15 years ago in school. I realized that socialists always have this laundry list of things to complain about, and that the focus of those complaints is always changing. The substance of socialist thought seems to be strongly tied to intellectual fashion trends.
In contrast, libertarians seem to always talk about the same things over and over, even as society changes drastically. Just read Bastiat.
Sure, this post is self-serving for Libertarianism, but y’all know what I’m talking about.
Socialism seems to have more to do with triggering a learned pathos, than anything else. It always tries to force a sob story, for this group or that group, to generate and reinforce its position. The point isn’t to understand why socialist economics might or might not actually work. The point is to prove that “you’re hip to the scene” in “caring” about the right people and things.
In my opinion, socialism is built on a foundation of certain basic human social instincts, and appeals more strongly to a certain set of personality types. It serves a similar role to religion in many ways, but its secular nature causes people to fail to identify it that way. Sociologically, socialism should be treated as the modern world’s religious great awakening, the great cult of the industrial age.
