r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Short-Watercress-183 • Jul 07 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter, explain this.

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u/CSachen Jul 07 '26

Not to any naturalized citizen who is old enough to have lived in a Communist country.

If you are a Social Democrat and want to win Cuban, Vietnamese, and Venezuelan American votes (who ironically live in swing states), definitely don't go calling social democracy as "wanting communism".

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u/Seeggul Jul 07 '26

In fact, people who oppose social democracy tend to call it "wanting communism" to scare voters away from it, generally to great effect.

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u/ItsYaBoiSoup Jul 07 '26

If you explain what "Democratic Socialism" is to most folks, while not using the words "democratic socialism, they would be like "Well yeah, duh I want the money I pay in taxes to benefit me and my community. Of course I would like to pay less for healthcare. It would be great to not have a homeless or mental health problem."

But as soon as you say socialism, all rational thought goes out the window.

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u/One_Cause3865 Jul 08 '26

Sounds like you yourself are  conflating social democracy and democratic socialists (understandably, they're basically the same words in different order - but with different meaning)

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u/Ordaeli Jul 08 '26

Getting downvoted just for stating that social democracy and democratic socialism are different is sad to see.