During the red scare, the boomers were programmed to be scared of anything remotely communist. The middle class was allowed to exist as 'muricas bling mostly to distract from the societal improvements theorized by socialist philosophers. In the 50s in America, they gave us just enough for people to shut up and try to be happy for 50 years while the underlying systems were being broken even worse than before. Some people are particularly susceptible to this and would trade their freedom for a tide pod, a stick of gum and a pocket constitution while rabidly denouncing socialists (even those who advocate for the benefit and fair treatment of non-socialists and socialists alike). Socialism is painted with the brush of it’s biggest failures; capitalism is only painted from the angles that make it look good and hide it’s collateral fallout.
Tl:Dr 50+ years of social conditioning and societal sculpting done to ensure scary communists from the 1940s and 50s don’t call you comrade.
A simplified and opinionated explanation:
During the red scare, the boomers were programmed to be scared of anything remotely communist. The middle class was allowed to exist as 'muricas bling mostly to distract from the societal improvements theorized by socialist philosophers. In the 50s in America, they gave us just enough for people to shut up and try to be happy for 50 years while the underlying systems were being broken even worse than before. Some people are particularly susceptible to this and would trade their freedom for a tide pod, a stick of gum and a pocket constitution while rabidly denouncing socialists (even those who advocate for the benefit and fair treatment of non-socialists and socialists alike). Socialism is painted with the brush of it’s biggest failures; capitalism is only painted from the angles that make it look good and hide it’s collateral fallout.
Tl:Dr 50+ years of social conditioning and societal sculpting done to ensure scary communists from the 1940s and 50s don’t call you comrade.