The amount of comments on this thread decrying 'socialism' with very pithy comments is concerning. I guess the whole internet is infected with trolls now, especially political ones...
Regardless of whether it is the case that socialist policies are responsible for this situation, it’s weird that there are a sudden upswing in the strange, almost sneering style of comment that is littering the comment area.
I almost expect a list of Wikipedia links about Zimbabwe and other countries to follow.
In such a swamp, a good conversation is too much to expect. We need drier, more boring ground as a first condition.
If governments are invested in changing opinions on other Internet forums, why not here? These comments are very low quality and seem to me to be writen to stir up political screaming matches, not actual debate.
While outside it's just a normal political current (and most of the western democracies besides the US will recognize and embrace some elements of socialism).
Indeed. Quite unfortunate for those other democracies.
I want to be ready for when that day comes.
There's this line of debate that goes "Since I cannot argue with you on merit, I will call you heartless and rude"
It's designed to shut people down without consideration for the merits of what they are saying.
It kinda works sometimes. Sure enough, there are plenty of folks who are heartless and rude on the net. But when I read comments that begin with "This whole situation is so sad, because it is 100% human caused. This is not a natural disaster! Socialism does not work and it is not moral..."
I nod my head. This doesn't mean I care less for the people involved. In fact, I care more. What a terrible thing to bring on yourselves for what appeared like a noble cause at first! And how many other South American countries have skated with this very disaster, most of the time coming out better than these folks did.
This is a horrible disaster and I wished I could do something about it.
You don't have to be a troll to point out that this has been a train wreck everybody saw coming, and the disaster continues to play out with more and more harm befalling others -- all for predictable reasons. That's not trolling. That's just where we are.