terminology@abuse.crap
Although it doesn’t really need to be blogged, I wanted to archive the following exchange here as a way of keeping it handy.
“Go in Your Mother’s Basement And Smoke More Of Your Crack! Crack-Head Brad! Keep Watching MSNBC, The No Ratings, Anti-American Socialists. Listen to Media Matters That’s More Your Genre. Maybe Multi-Billionaire, George Soros, Will suffice your, LIBERAL-FAR LEFT NEEDS! These Are The People That Manipulate The Truth!” - SickDrummerJ
To which I replied:
Share This“If name-calling is the only way you know how to argue, at least get your terms straight. The one thing I am not and have never been is a “liberal”, or social democrat. I’m an anarchist. It would also be accurate to call me a radical.
Unless you’re a monarchist, you’re more of a liberal than I am because you and liberals both share a belief in a coercive nation-state government — as long it’s a democratic republic.
Considering that I’m an anarchist who’s free-market oriented in terms of economic theory, you’re mostly wrong in calling me a socialist — in that the sense of the word “socialist” YOU would be using (if you were literate enough to think so concretely) refers back to government control of the economy — and since I advocate a stateless society, even you ought to see a contradiction there after a moments reflection.
Now, there IS another, long-neglected, meaning of the word “socialist” that refers not to government control of the economy but to the abolition of economic exploitation. I’ve argued before at length in other forums that under this definition of socialism, even so-called “anarcho-capitalism” is a variety of socialism of that sort. Given another fifty points of IQ to work with, you might have realized the irony there — in that your own neo-con position is typically labeled right-wing socialism by the typical anarcho-capitalist.
Son, get the hell off of Digg and go read a few books. Challenge yourself. Develop your mind. Come back when you can hurl some insults that don’t bore me to tears.” — bradspangler
How much time did it take you to compose that response? I ask because I think you wasted it. Somebody who opens an argument with name-calling isn’t very likely to take your advice. Anyone who reads it isn’t very likely to give SickDrummerJ’s comment much credence. It’s a very nice response and you make your point relatively clear, but I think it’s going to fall on deaf ears (or the pixels will illuminate blind eyes depending on how literal you like your metaphors to be).
Well, it gave me an idea of what anti-authoritarian socialists mean when they talk of socialism.
My instinctive negative reaction to the term socialism is being eroded - I’ll now try and see what the context the term is being used in.
It may reach others too. So perhaps the target won’t be reached, but others may.
tristan:
That’s a valid point and I suppose your experience is proof of the responses effectiveness on others.
If it’s just a short thing that doesn’t really need to be blogged you could always put it on your Tumblr blog as a quote or something.