The Over used and Misused

Today I want to talk about some of the things I hear in the news, or on the internet or even everyday life that really irks me. These are some of the labels/insults/comparisons that are over used in America. Oddly enough the Europeans are better that this than we are, well some of them.

Hitler / Nazis - This one is everywhere and usually marks the end of any meaningful conversation and the beginning of senseless yelling and cussing. Many politicians, Presidents and conservative groups have been slapped with the label of being similar to a Nazi or Hitler, Bush was, same with Obama, or conservative republicans. There are very few leaders that rank any where near the level of disgust, viciousness and blood-shed that Hitler reached, I feel like this is a comparison that is made too lightly. Millions died because of the Nazi offensive, I don't simply mean the Jewish people, but Russians, Americans, British, French and many, many others. So, until a U.S. President or anyone else, actually does something so terrible as the death of millions and near total destruction of a continent, then leave this one alone.

Socialism, Communism, Fascism - These are three different kinds of governmental structures or systems. The first two have very degrees at which they can be applied and have different version depending upon the country in which they were applied and by which political scientist/philosopher you see as their founding writer. Also, neither Socialism nor Communism is evil, that is something I've never understood about my own country, they maybe flawed systems, but they aren't inherently evil, neither would a person who was a communist or socialist. Fascism however, I feel is in fact, an evil and disgusting system. Now, I have heard all three terms thrown at our new President, well that doesn't work... You can't be all three of these things, but besides that it feels like the people yelling about socialism and communism, don't really know that much about either. Even if Obama does socialize health care, that doesn't make the U.S. a socialist state, it would just make us like most of Europe (Spain, Ireland, England, etc.) they are still democratic governments, they still have a capitalist economy, so why is it that if it happens here the world will end? I mean it's true, that if you have money and health care now, then the idea is pretty scary, but as I understand it you can still have a private doctor, they don't suddenly become illegal... As for communist/communism, really? I get that you could possibly see the bailout of having socialist tendencies, but this is a far cry from actual communism, in the Karl Marx version there has to be a workers revolt before communism happens, it isn't a top-down sort of thing, but a bottom-up. Or, at least that was how it was suppose to be. I seriously doubt that someone as smart and as well educated as Obama would simply ignore the obvious and serious flaws that exist in the foundations of communism, he did study political science after all.

Big Brother / 1984 - Every election those lovely libertarians, anarchists and the paranoid make videos, flash animations, blog posts and songs talk out about how the government watches and controls everything. There are also numerous punk rock songs on this subject. This happened a lot with Dick and Bush, some with Hilary Clinton, though I didn't see as much for Obama. This is not to say that I am completely comfortable with the current reach of the federal government, because I do have serious trust issues with any politician or administration, they do occasionally fuck things up royally. And there are such things as cover-ups and conspiracies, not all the time or with everything, but, power does tend to corrupt. However, the amount and scale of the government in 1984 is unparalleled here in 2009, something that most can see. Still, the comparison will be made over and over again... (I would like to note that the British government is much closer to 1984 than other 1st world nations)

The reason I want to write about this is for a serious reason, because if we as a society can't reserve these comparisons for more realistic instances, then they lose their impact. Or their meanings get twisted. Or the messages will get lost. George Orwell's book 1984 was a brilliant novel, with a warning about the reach and power of a government (among other things), but the seriousness of that message is lost each time we use it for minor things. The same as the Nazis and Hitler, the impact is lessened each time we call people we don't agree with a Nazi, which is honestly a shame. And I understand that this is the internet, society's little meaningless playground, filled with porn and nonsense, but it's part of our society and bleeds into it. Just wondering how long we'll remember that these aren't jokes...