Gov. DeSantis signs new law requiring instruction in public schools on the history and ‘dangers’ of communism

Wilshire@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 161 points –
Gov. DeSantis signs new law requiring instruction in public schools on the history and ‘dangers’ of communism
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Him being stuck about 50 years in the past on the perceived threat of Communism is on point when looking at the rest of his agenda.

Well, conservatism pushes a lot the idea that the 50s and somehow 60s was when "America was great".
I'm perplexed they thought of getting back into mccarthyism, but of course they'll get that low if they're desperate.

I'm just worried this is a very ugly can of worms they might be opening here.

While himself governing in a manner very similar to a certain Italian 100 years ago..

Considering how many repubs are sucking russias dick and putin is the guy who wants to bring back the ussr.... it's surprising he is talking shit about communism....when his entire party is sucking putins communist dick

Communism and Dictatorship are opposites and not compatible at all. Communism, by definition, demands the “withering away of the state”. Putin is just a right wing dictator. He envisions himself as Russia’s literal Tzar, right down to using the crest on his massive estate compound. He has no interest in communism in either name or form.

No shit. That was the point. They're all about how bad communism is, but are in bed with a guy who wants to bring the ussr back together. Communism doesn't work because it turns always into a authoritarian society. The joke was that the repubs are in bed with a state that was all about communism back in putins day.

ML is an authoritarian ideology. And despite liking to use the word communist, isn't.

Actual communism can work just fine. Authoritarians just fuck up everything always. Regardless if they pretend to be right or left.

Communism can work just fine on paper...but never will work in real life because people are just that. People.

I agree that they public schools should teach the history and dangers of communism. And the history and dangers of capitalism. And the history and danger of monarchies. And the history and dangers of democracy (and republics). And especially the history and dangers of fascism.

Those are all important subjects to teach, and there is not a governmental or economic system in current or previous existence that wasn't vulnerable to corruption, inefficiency, or evil in some way. An educated populous is the way to mitigate those vulnerabilities.

Just teach the dangers of authoritarianism in general - but you see that would paint too close an image of the current republican party.

Hey DeSantis, define Communism.

“Communism is when woke.”

Define Woke.

“So, I mean, woke is sort of the idea that … um … woke is something that’s very hard to define… Umm. Sorry, I … it’s hard to explain in a 15-second soundbite.“

I really think these MAGAt types are feeding off Boomer-era Cold War trauma, milking geriatric delusions for all they're worth. Think about it, how many Americans under 50 are daily concerned about communism? For most of our lives it has been a complete joke, there has been literally no reason to think communism was going to supplant capitalism in America, in any way. It's always like "oh communism, yeah sure I'd love to live in Cuba, China, or North Korea heh".

I think a more valuable and relevant lesson would be the history and dangers of authoritarianism, anti-democratic politics and gestures, but maybe that hits a little too close to home for the MAGAts?

Swap out "Communism" with "Russia" and then you have something. But I don't think that's a door he wants to open.

yeah this is the confusing part - they're still able to call "communism" the "bad guy", but then somehow cozy up with russia - the "OG communists"?

Sounds like a great way to get a whole bunch of kids interested in communism.

Don't worry, they won't learn any communist theory. They'll just be told that it is bad, and to ask no further questions.

They won't learn Communist theory in school. Have you met kids? "That thing is bad, ask no further questions" is exactly the best way to get them to learn about something on their own.

I was homeschooled by a christian cult on the virtues of capitalism and the dangers of communism.

That being said, when reality meshes with what you are taught. Usually reality wins.

What we have now is a communism profit structure for the rich, while we have rugged capitalism for the poor. If we had capitalism for the rich, many of these companies would have failed after covid-19 and the 2008 housing market crash. But our economy would have been more resilient against things like hyperinflation and even inflation.

Yet we allowed them to be saved thanks to communism, pulling our money together to save these companies, so the rich have already voted and said communism works for them. Now we are just debating on if everyone else should be apart of it.

Choosing what Religions are real and what Students HAVE to be taught in School is called SMALL GOVERNMENT!

What about the dangers of fascism? Or is that all too relevant to the current times for dumbasses like ronnie?

Remember to make some popcorn for when you read the comments here. Lemmy and discussing communism is like watching two programmers argue over vim and emacs.

No, the real argument is Tabs vs Spaces.

I never even considered Tabs until watching that episode of Silicon Valley but now I know that Spaces is objectively wrong.

That episode completely missed the point. No one is arguing about pressing the tab key vs pressing the spacebar 4 times. It is purely about whether the tab key inserts a tab character, \t, or a series of spaces.

There are valid arguments both ways. But if you want to piss me off, mix the two!

What's there to even argue about.

Is Emacs lisp better, or vim's scripting language?
Do you prefer C-x, or ^c:q?

And other such arguments over which one is apparently better than the other.

Great. Now do the same for nationalism. Explain how's it's just macro feudalism where people get horny for killing other people because they don't have the same colour flag. Just look at THE ENTIRETY of European history. Then we can compare that to the blip that is communist atrocities.

Like comparing an elephant to a flea.

Oh yay, jingoist lies and propaganda are making a comeback.

I’m sure they’ll remember to accurately point out how every government that has ever claimed to be communist was actually a right-wing dictatorship.

Great now just require instruction on the dangers of fascism, AND nationalism

He might want to take note of this and start pushing for Ukraine funding!

The only danger I see in communism is that no matter how benevolent it starts, communism will always (eventually) become a dictatorship. If we could somehow take human greed out of the equation, communism could be really nice for everyone. As long as humans are in charge, communism will suck for nearly everyone.

From my understanding, one of the aspects to creating a communist nation is to create a dictatorship in order to throw out the existing political system before then rightfully ceding power to the proletariat. That last step never actually happens in reality, however.

One of the challenges in Leftist philosophy is “What is the road from here to there.”

Lenin argued that the only feasible way to attain the desired leftist ends was via rightist means. Lenin learned the hard way that this simply cannot work, because once you’ve consolidated power like that, it doesn’t take much - a small group or just one ambitious person (like Stalin) - to seize and keep power.

Any leftist ends must be gained by leftist means; with popular support, and without allowing wealth or power to ever become further concentrated.

I can see that working when creating a new state, but is that feasible to transition towards when there are already existing power structures? Powerful groups like to hold on to and grow their power, and they're not likely to give it up voluntarily.

It seems like an insurmountably difficult situation no matter how you approach it, unfortunately.

Why? Can you provide an accurate definition of communism, and a theory as to why you think it cannot be done without becoming a dictatorship? Can you provide an accurate definition of capitalism, and why you think it is more free?

Any educated individual should already be able to figure out the dangers of communism. If they're not, what the hell is wrong with the american education system?

I must not be educated. Please, what are the dangers of communism? And what, exactly, do you think the word "communism" means?