Why do the Republicans still cling to their hatred of communism?

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

Every time I visit Free Republic or any other site where the right wingers rant about stupid bullshit they STILL seem to hate "communism" with almost the same level of hatred that they have for Clinton.

Why can't they let go of this? They always say that one of the reasons Reagan was such a swell president is because he "ended communism." This must mean that they believe communism is over, and hence no longer a threat, right? All evidence would seem to bear it out --- the Soviet Union no longer exists, the Berlin Wall came down, etc. So why can't they let go of it?

Just wondering.

[trotsky]

1. Because there's still Cuba, China, Vietnam...

Despite decades of our full economic embargo, Cuba continues to exist. That sticks in their craws BAD.

[Sephirstein]

9. They still think China is communist?

These people are fucking morans.

How many rights do Chinese workers have?

[trotsky]

27. China will ALWAYS be "Red China" to those idiots.

But don't try to bring up the fact that George Herbert Herbert's brother Prescott has been cultivating business for the BFEE in China for years.

[mitchum]

2. What they actually hate now is socialism...

because they're greedy bastards

[Democrats unite]

3. Frame of mind

eom

[booksenkatz]

4. ... and liberals

I know several Freepheads who firmly, adamantly believe that liberals are all communists. Communism won't be wiped out, in their minds, until all liberals are dead.

[radwriter0555]

5. Because the Right trades in FEAR. Like hitler castigated the jews,

the Right has to have a boogie man to inflame fears of the populace.

The Yellow Peril, the Commies.. someone to hate, fear, loath, defeat, fight and destroy.

[w4rma]

18. The aristocrats and robber barons need people to fight amongst themselves

to keep them occupied while they are robbed blind, IMHO.

[mwb970]

6. I have often wondered this myself

All I can think of is that they seem to need someone to worship and someone to hate. In the religious world, these roles are filled by God and Satan, purveyors of absolute good and absolute evil, respectively. OK, I guess. But when the right-wingers consider the nuanced, complex world of human political interaction, they bring their worship-and-hate, absolute-good-and-evil mentality with them.

For a while, hating Clinton (both/either) seemed to substitute for hating the Communists, but now they are slipping back (let's get Castro!). They seem to mostly worship Reagan, although all Republicans are by definition pure good.

They are, in their own way, fascinating.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

8. Right on re: needing someone to hate

I would just think that terrorism would be good enough for them to transfer their hatred to. But what do I know? I'm a Democrat and hence the manifestation of all that is wrong and hateful in the world.

[radwriter0555]

14. There are no terrorists. There is no al queda. There is no ISLAM trying

to destroy the USA christiandom. They need something tangible to foist their hate culture on.

Can't do that with a myth.

[Kitsune]

7. Because if they don't...

...Mammon will arise from the bowels of Hell and smite them mightily for failing to spread his gospel of capitalism.

At least, that's my theory.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

11. That's the thing

Communism, like capitalism, is an economic system and nothing more. I have a hard time understanding how they can, with a straight face, say that an economic system is inherently "evil." Dictators like Stalin and Pol Pot who disguised their totalitarianism as communism are the problem, not communism itself. You could even take a page from the NRA and say that communism doesn't kill people, Stalin does!

I guess it's similar to drawing moral distinctions between marijuana (which alters consciousness) and alcohol (which alters consciousness). The only "moral" difference between the two is in the superficial attributes that the high and mighty have imbued them with.

I guess I shouldn't think too hard about this one. It's hardly the first time our friends on the right have clung to some moronic idea for reasons not even remotely based in reality, be it communism, welfare, or Clinton's penis.

[George_Bonanza]

37. You're right

Communism can be wrong in their minds, but how is it evil? It's a perfectly viable alternative economic theory to capitalism. I don't if feudalism is exactly an economic system, but it didn't work well for the serfs. Is that system evil? No, it's just wrong now.

[DBoon]

25. because..

"poverty is God's punishment for those who do not believe strongly enough in capitalism"

[msmcghee]

10. Their lives are ruled by . .

. . emotionally attached memes. When you spend years nurturing and reinforcing those emotional attachments - they don't go away just because they aren't used very much.

[maha]

38. And don't forget

... Fascism arose than a century ago expressly to oppose communism. Deep down inside, fascists may worry that if communism ceases to exist, so might fascism.

[rman]

12. they love to hate

-

[slackmaster]

13. Why don't you ask them?

All you're going to get here is speculation.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

19. When I ask them...

... I don't ever get an answer that really addresses the question. I get "Stalin was worse than Hitler!", "Reagan ended communism!", and so forth. While it is true that Hitler was a petty thug compared to Stalin, that's not what I asked them.

I think that their hatred of communism is so deeply-ingrained and such a security blanket that they have never even questioned why it is that they feel this way, and so they are beyond the point of thinking critically or self-reflectingly about it.

[wtmusic]

15. Simplification

It's a handy term with a negative spin--that's all.

[RichM]

16. To understand the huge role anticommunism has played in shaping the

modern world, you need to study some good leftist analyses of 20th century history. I specifically say "leftist" because "mainstream" accounts of the history are saturated with so much self-serving propaganda that it's impossible to appreciate what really happened.

One comment that needs to be made right away is that Democrats hate (and have always hated) communism just as much as Republicans. There's no significant difference on that score.

Another "starter" comment: the Big Secret of American history is - contrary to popular belief - that communism is not really evil, and WE are not really "good." However, the relentless development of this "Big Lie" (Americans = Good, Communism = Evil) has been the prime mover shaping our country into a military monster over the last 55 years. The Lie has absolutely dominated the political landscape, & for all practical purposes, has achieved the status of religion in this country. Nothing else even comes close.

Read some Chomsky, Zinn, & Michael Parenti, for starters. The whole sorry story becomes very clear.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

20. Thanks for the author recommendations

"One comment that needs to be made right away is that Democrats hate (and have always hated) communism just as much as Republicans. There's no significant difference on that score."

However Democrats may feel about communism, I just don't hear the same level of hysteria about it. But maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

[calm_blue_ocean]

17. Same reason that Democrats cling to their hatred of Nazism. nt

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

21. I can't speak for anyone else

But I'm a Democrat (and a Jew) and I don't feel like Nazism poses any kind of threat. I can't say that the Republicans would say the same thing about communism.

[calm_blue_ocean]

26. My spouse told me . . .

I need to explain my statement better.

Both the USSR and Nazi Germany represent two different kinds of totalitrian, fascist, genocidal governments. The USSR tends to represent Republican fears about a totalitrian, fascist, genocidal future for us. The Nazi's tend to represent Democratic fears of a totalitrian, fascist, genocidal of future for us.

Neither Hitler, nor Stalin, is coming back, but their practices could pop up in a powerful country, or even in the US itself. Democrats and Republicans are both justified to some degree in their respective fears. Both Democrats and Republicans can get carried away with their respective fears.

[calm_blue_ocean]

34. Unlike you, the linked thread exposes a DUer who is scared of the Nazis

see thread at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=527154

[TreasonousBastard]

22. They're 20 years behind the times.

Comes with being a conservative.

They're slowly moving toward hating Islam, though, which is a bit more troublesome.

Seems they have to have an enemy somewhere. No point to life without someone to hate.

[Snellius]

23. Because they think Democrats are Communists Lite

Welfare, Social Security, Medicare, governement environmental regulations - The hatred of communism serves a double purpose: it is used to convince workers that social reform is not in their own interest but in that of a foreign enemy. It's interesting that now that American business has discovered that countries like China, as totalitarian and repressive as ever, is a huge potential market and cheap source of labor it no longer poses a communist threat. One of the main reasons for outsourcing is not so much economic but political.

[Mel]

24. I don't know

I'd laugh if this wasn't so serious what a bunch of idiots in the end their hate is destroying us. The boot of Fascism is on their necks and they are whinning about communism and or socialism.

FEAR the corporatists have used their own FEARS against them so much so that they go against their own interests. It's amazing.:wow:

[blindpig]

28. property

they got most of it and like things that way.{property=money=power]

[Padraig18]

29. I can laugh at the WAY they 'use' the bogeyman, but...

... I can not laugh at communism as it has existed on this planet. Let me explain myself...

We have never seen 'true communism' practiced as a system of government on this planet; rather, what we (and they) tend to think of as communism has been totalitarianism with socialist features. That said, and using the *understood point of reference*, I quite share their abhorrence of communist government(s). The supression of human rights, the subordination of individual worth, the economic destruction of once-viable economies, etc., has been inexcusable. The Stalins, Maos and Pol Pots of this world are well worth our condemnation, the excesses and brutalities well known.

I can mock their use over-worked 'bogyman', but I share their abhorrence of communism.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

35. I agree with you...

... about how communism has been practiced and misrepresented. There is little, if any, difference between Nazi Germany, the Taliban, or Stalin, whatever their economic approaches might be --- these were all simply totalitarian regimes. The differences were all pretty superficial compared to the fact that in the end, if the government didn't like you, you were marched outside and shot in the head. All political science goes out the window at that point.

[Padraig18]

36. Yes, it does.

And it's what scares the HELL out of me about the BFEE! :scared:

[CWebster]

30. Same reason they

are looking for terrorists under the bed.

[rucky]

31. My Rant: Binary Thinking Patterns

Capitalism is alive and well - and almost a religion. I think it is impossible in their thinking patterns to be a proponent of one thing without being an equally staunch opponent of it's percieved opposite. In this case, Communism is the opposite. Therefore it is evil and must be destroyed.

They only think in black and white - Republican good, Democrat bad. Christian good, Muslim bad, etc, etc. Any exceptions to this rule (more exceptions than rules in reality) are explaned away or completely ignored. If you bring them up, you are automatically put on the "other side". Their orderly perception of the world would come crashing down on them if they had to ponder outside their paradigm - this is why they rabidly cling to their denial. They need that view of the world to mentally survive, so they cling to it desperately and turn to positions of power for constant affirmation of it (thanks RW media!).

Your Example: It amazes us how they can be against "communist" social services, and still see themselves as compassionate. Every government has socialistic aspects to it. While we see the obvious fallacy of their thinking, and can't believe they don't, we are quick to characterize Conservatives as "evil". I don't think they are evil (knowingly, at least).

I also don't think these thinking patterns are unique to the right wing. There is an innate conflict in all humans between shaping our environment to fit our needs and adjusting our needs to fit with our environment. The Right represents the former, and the Left represents the latter. Until we acknowledge this internal conflict as a universal, and agree to work toward an equilibrium, we will never see eye to eye. The extremists on both sides of the pendulum are guilty of overly-simplified thinking, and most of us identify with either one side or the other. The divide is amplified in numbers and degree when our survival instincts collectively kick in, due to a real or precieved threat to our being. The extremists are in constant survival mode, and that is why i think their thinking patterns narrow to "binary mode."

It's always the people who need mental help the most who are the most unwilling to seek it.

[clemencia2us]

32. communism

My spouse is a GWB hating life-long Demo, but has the same Republican feelings toward communism. My theory is that he was brain washed in the Army during Vietnam. I've had one discussion about this with him and I have never seen him get so angry about our "duty to fight communism". He is being treated for PTSD, so until I see improvement, I will not discuss it with him.

[Capn Sunshine]

33. IN a word: MONEY

There was damn good money writing the newsletters and books about the great comunist conspiracy. The transfer of the whole system to the "liberal conspiracy" is like a heritage computer program: yeah, you use it coordinate your food ordering at your restaurant but every so often it wants to ask about what kind of nuts & bolts you want with that.

No different with the machine that cranks out anti-liberal stuff. Every so often , the commie buried in the program jumps up again and they start ranting about the Russkies.

[leftofthedial]

39. they hate everything except their money

and military power.