Elizabeth Bruenig is an opinion columnist at The Washington Post. We wanted to get that out of the way because she’s not just a freelance writer contributing an op-ed to the paper; she works there, collecting a paycheck from deep inside the capitalist system.
Maybe something’s up at work, because on Tuesday she published an opinion piece called, “It’s time to give socialism a try.” What could go wrong?
Opinion: It’s time to give socialism a try, writes @ebruenig https://t.co/0o14gcBkgt
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 6, 2018
WaPo going full WaPo https://t.co/ZoMtmKBYQi
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) March 6, 2018
It's time to not subscribe to your paper https://t.co/cARZQOixgC
— Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) March 6, 2018
Bruenig buys into complaints that “Americans appear to be isolated, viciously competitive, suspicious of one another and spiritually shallow; and that we are anxiously looking for some kind of attachment to something real and profound in an age of decreasing trust and regard.”
These traits “seem to be emblematic of capitalism, which encourages and requires fierce individualism, self-interested disregard for the other, and resentment of arrangements into which one deposits more than he or she withdraws.”
Yeah, what did fierce individualism ever do for the United States?
So what’s the solution? She writes, “I would support a kind of socialism that would be democratic and aimed primarily at decommodifying labor, reducing the vast inequality brought about by capitalism, and breaking capital’s stranglehold over politics and culture.”
Well, she’s doing her part to break capital’s stranglehold over The Washington Post — maybe newspaper opinion writers should be the first to live under socialism and report back on the experiment.
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We can’t help thinking though — hasn’t socialism been tried before?
https://twitter.com/BridgetPhetasy/status/971160340892336129
We already have. Over and over and over. https://t.co/lGLnDyJz46
— jon gabriel (@exjon) March 6, 2018
Opinion: let's not. https://t.co/mqX07t5QMR
— Alex Muresianu (@ahardtospell) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/joshsatt/status/971160650889166850
Ok let's let New York and California give it a shot. Independent of the United States. Go for it. https://t.co/RpTBshHjNB
— Nolo???? (@Nolo4dolo) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/971165118443728897
Yeah, sure…. Let’s try the political philosophy that has the chief feature – as demonstrated by history – of producing misery and death for those living under it. Good call. https://t.co/AbDhkYvv9H
— Michael Quinn Sullivan (@MQSullivan) March 6, 2018
You have to have a hell of an education to say something this dumb. https://t.co/7H9VQkgqwO
— Smokin Monkey (@ARaised_Eyebrow) March 6, 2018
The person who wrote this graduated from college in 2013.
Enough said… https://t.co/stWesCCrjf
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) March 6, 2018
Can you believe they picked her up from The New Republic?
https://twitter.com/Hondurican16/status/971171196644491264
It's time to destroy the economy, writes @ebruenig https://t.co/WNHiulKgQL
— Kristin B. Tate (@KristinBTate) March 6, 2018
They're trying it in Venezuela. https://t.co/NkRsq7OBMH
— Dan ?? (@danieltobin) March 6, 2018
It's been working wonders in Venezuela. https://t.co/SFNiq8h7j1
— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) March 6, 2018
It’s not, it’s never, and if you can’t live without it, move to Venezuela. https://t.co/j48hLPp9Wl
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) March 6, 2018
Those who think so should move to Venezuela and give it a go. https://t.co/cAQJ2RhC08
— Laurence Bergeron (@LMBERG44) March 6, 2018
Everyone who agrees with this should be given $100,000 Bolivars and then dropped in a Venezuelan slum. If they make it back alive and still want Socialism, we’ll give it a try. https://t.co/wiDBLyey0G
— Mark Noonan (@Mark_E_Noonan) March 6, 2018
In Venezuela, Dogs are being eaten to survive and toilet paper is non existent https://t.co/CMDFfuRsXQ
— Max Q ⚡ (@Randy_Shannon) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/Gbehrakis98/status/971170066178994176
Maybe It Will Work This Time!™️ https://t.co/CbGk7aSIUu
— Dr. Kankokage (@kankokage) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/JamesHasson20/status/971167194171297792
So basically copy the system that transformed Venezuela from the richest country in South America to a humanitarian disaster zone in a few decades, but it would obviously be different this time*.
*They say every time. https://t.co/nzqQcweY73
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) March 6, 2018
She PROMISES that this time it will be different! Pinkie-swear!! https://t.co/Mren6CO8Hn
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/971144886660534274
Tried.
Failed.
Moved on. https://t.co/CpEUDc5qLr
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) March 6, 2018
Giving socialism "a try" isn't like taking your first trip to a strip club. https://t.co/PdLKIR4RBK
— Federalist Musket?? (@Patriot_Musket) March 6, 2018
Trying socialism is the political equivalent of eating Tide pods. Not even once. https://t.co/AVnFMkvNoC
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) March 6, 2018
You don't try socialism like it's a different cable package.
Once communism get started, the only way to end it is with massive amounts of blood in the streets. https://t.co/f1PoQ34pa7
— Judson McCulloch (@JudsonMcCulloch) March 6, 2018
Eh, no thanks. If you want to try something new, they have these avocados that don't have pits. Seriously! It's crazy. Try that instead. #AvocadosNotSocialism https://t.co/QQfVj6xVW7
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/ElliottRHams/status/971149015806038017
Challenge: Find me one piece of economic data in this op-ed ?? https://t.co/BuB7ZQamCP
— Brad Polum-snot-nosed-lemming-bo (@brad_polumbo) March 6, 2018
Should be noted, Ms. Bruenig sees socialism as a way to bailout Democrats and liberalism. From there, the damages could be passed on to the rest of us. https://t.co/ZKEFgankbW
— ??US Eye?? (@ShannonPoe) March 6, 2018
I'm open to @ebruenig's argument, but I feel like all the social maladies she blames capitalism for would continue to exist under socialism.
Social isolation, the destruction of community, & hyper-individualism won't be solved by changing an economic model. https://t.co/qXNJmWmwPq— PoliMath (@politicalmath) March 6, 2018
Free market capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty, ushered in prosperity, and put affordable food & clothing & technology within reach of more average people worldwide than could’ve been imagined, so let’s try the ideology that killed tens of millions in the 20th century. https://t.co/8T4lPmZozM
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) March 6, 2018
Socialism has failed in every iteration, leaving behind a trail of destruction. We must reject this failed ideology & commit ourselves to the liberating power of economic self-determination and free-enterprise, which has lifted over a billion people out of poverty globally. https://t.co/kYf7jsCm0t
— Stand Up Republic (@StandUpRepublic) March 6, 2018
Related:
Washington Post columnist wants Bethany Mandel to apologize to North Korea (Not satire) https://t.co/rVUoIgF9ek
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 12, 2018
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