Thread by @karol

(Thread) In April I recorded a Daily Show segment, on socialism, which aired last night. I went into it guarded, because obviously it's a liberal show and the consensus among conservatives is we won't be treated fairly. Plenty of people warned me not to do it.

I had a generally good experience. @jaboukie and the producers were nice and respectful. My 2 hr interview is condensed to a whole minute and you can watch it here (thanks, @GrabienMedia!) grabien.com/file.php?id=62…

A few things about this clip, though. I tell the story of my great-grandfather dying in a Soviet gulag for the crime of owning a bakery. Jaboukie then asks Sanders if anyone will be sent to the gulag under his presidency. They make a joke about it which, gross, but whatever.

Bernie says USSR or Venezuela is not what he means and Democratic Socialists "stood up and fought" against Soviet system. That really pisses me off. Bro, you honeymooned in the Soviet Union. You didn't stand up & fight against shit. You enabled the boot on the neck of my family.

I'm really disgusted by that revisionist history. Then at 4:36 mark there's an absurd "fact check" about what critics of socialism get wrong by comparing Democratic Socialists to those in Soviet Union or Venezuela. Why is a comedy show doing this kind of bs fact check? Unclear.

There was a moment during intvw that stayed w/me. I mentioned story of my great-gf as why I oppose socialism & Jaboukie said he feels the same way about capitalism because his great-grandmother was a slave. It was a powerful exchange but his part didn't make it in to the segment.

My response (which also didn't make the segment) was there have been plenty of capitalist countries with no slave trade but socialism always ends in death and destruction. But that's something at least worth talking about and getting to the root of what the terms mean.

Instead we get the un-fact-checked, ridiculous, Bernie Sanders claim that Denmark or Sweden are socialist countries. They are not. They're capitalist countries with a large welfare state. Specifically, capitalism supports that welfare state.

If that's what Bernie wants in the US, he should say so but explain that will mean *EVERYONE* will pay more in taxes. Not just the millionahes and billionahes. That's the fact check everyone needs to be doing throughout the 2020 elections.

Challenge Bernie on what that will mean for the poor in America. Right now single ppl making up to $9700 in the US pay 10% in federal taxes. Ready to have that number jump to 32% like Sweden? And don't forget their 25% tax on goods!

Add it up for Millennials and see if they're still down with the bullshit "we get free stuff" socialism these ppl are pushing. Is healthcare "free" when you pay 32% of your salary in income tax and a 25% tax on everything you buy?

I'd have so much more respect for Bernie if he would be honest. Say you thought the Soviet system was going to work and didn't accept reality for too long when it didn't. Say you made a mistake.

Say you think the Scandinavian CAPITALIST countries do it better than we do and admit that EVERYONE will pay much higher taxes if we implement their system in the US. Run on the reality not on the bullshit fairytale.

Bernie really doesn't get enough pushback and we let him spout unchecked at our own peril. If he can now laughably paint himself as some sort of opponent of the Soviet Union, that's really a problem.

So should conservatives do Daily Show? I say conservatives should get their point of view out anywhere they can, even if they are at risk of having that point of view mangled. We need to push back everywhere and we need to push back now. /fin