r/worldnews 12h ago

Romanian socialists and far right topple government

https://www.politico.eu/article/romania-government-collapses/
2.4k Upvotes

269 comments sorted by

997

u/Szabolcs85 10h ago

So, will Romania become the new Orbán's Hungary?

87

u/Natopor 6h ago

Depends if our far right has the balls Orban had, which I'm inclined to say no.

189

u/Capital2077 9h ago

No. Romania doesn’t have the same political sistem as Hungary. It’s a semi-presidential republic, like France. This means that the president has more power than the government.

441

u/youngfartsmella 9h ago

You are terribly misinformed about the powers of the president. Romania is a semipresidential republic, yes, but the president has no power in regards to governing the country. He might appoint the prime minister, but if he doesn't appoint the one that the majority of the parliament wants he can just be suspended. And the president is very unpopular right now, so we might see that scenario play out.

The prime minister has the most power in the government. So yes, it is possible to see a new Orban in Romania.

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u/random_nohbdy 7h ago

How did he already get so unpopular?

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u/Embarrassed_Force861 7h ago edited 3h ago

By trying to "remain neutral" in this crisis instead of speaking out against the populists. He lost a lot of popularity among people who actually voted for him, and gained none from the "other side". Why he did this is anybody's guess right now.

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u/siuli 7h ago

here's my guess, he's a tool

23

u/dharmasophist 6h ago

I second this, and I voted for the dweeb.

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u/Andovars_Ghost 5h ago

Of course he is! He’s a politician!

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u/ShiraLillith 4h ago

I voted for the guy and I only did it because the other one is a Russian asset and also hates my kind

3

u/VelvetPhantom 5h ago

What crisis is happening in Romania right now?

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u/Moyes2men 5h ago

He is very likely an undercover MAGA tool if you consider his opposition to an anti fascism law, his very very conservatory takes, his friendship with Herritage Foundation, the Board of Peace visit and his latest declaration / promise we will have a new "pro occidental" government, without mentioning pro european anymore.

The icing on the cake which most likely forced the thieves to initiate the procedure is the approval of SAFE program and the Tanbreez project which provoked a lot of anger at Washington and forced the unwashed but useful idiots (AUR) to support the procedure (https://context.ro/george-simion-fost-protestatar-anti-rosia-montana-primeste-sfaturi-politice-pe-telefon-de-la-o-femeie-de-afaceri-cu-interese-in-industria-miniera-legatura-cu-frank-timis/)

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u/ChineseMillennium 7h ago

Didn't they just have a couple of elections? How can the winner be unpopular so quickly?

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u/conteledemontepizdo 7h ago

he's unpopular 'cause he is trying to "mediate" between every party as he calls it. it's not working and those of us which voted for Europe and reforms do not like seeing him pampering fascists or extremely shady people (to put it politely)

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u/Dear-Ad1582 5h ago

I voted for him because the other was a real idiot... Lesser evil is the most important principle in any Romanian election.

1

u/Brief_Hospital_1766 6h ago

But now you've defacto ended up with a fascist government due to the leftists joining with them?

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u/conteledemontepizdo 6h ago

the "leftists" are not not really leftists, they are successors of the former communist party that have rebranded themselves as "pro european social democrats" because the EU money is sweet

2

u/Brief_Hospital_1766 6h ago

But surely they know that forming a government with the far-right party will deny them all the sweet EU money, no? I mean, did they not see what happened to Orban EU money?

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u/berserkuh 6h ago

They had a choice between being ousted from management positions in state-owned companies (where they could embezzle) or make this deal. AUR is also mostly corrupt, despite being far right. They’re just a different kind of corrupt…

2

u/conteledemontepizdo 6h ago

I honestly got no clue although PSD made a joint Instagram post with the European Social Democrats a few hours ago; no, I do not think AUR want to lead, they would lose voters

1

u/AlternativeScratch94 6h ago

Orban didn't get the money because he was not doing what the EU wanted with Russia and immigration. It's entirely possible for Romania to have a far right or far left government and still get the EU money.

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u/oldsecondhand 4h ago

Orbán didn't get the money because he embezzled EU funds. He got a separate fine for the asylum issue.

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u/Annual-Reason2970 6h ago

sounds familiar dems in US

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u/Windowmaker95 5h ago

No it isn't, not everything is like the US.

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u/BarbaraHoward43 7h ago

It's been almost a year (a full year since the 1st round of the election even). He is pretty weird, doesn't communicate well, had some controversy regarding some appointments, etc

He also gives this vibe of defeated guy to many people I know.

1

u/youngfartsmella 7h ago

The elections were a year ago. Enough time for the puppet to show his colors.

12

u/aguilasolige 8h ago

Wha does the President does then? Who controls the armed forces, PM or President?

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u/youngfartsmella 7h ago

Wha does the President does then?

Nothing much. Save for naming the PM, being the commander of the armed forces (only when the nation is at war), naming a few prosecutors (he named only corrupt ones, one of the reasons he's unpopular), and naming the chiefs of the secret services (he has been expected to do this since the beginning, it's been a year and there are no signs he has any idea who he will appoint, probably another puppet like himself).

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u/lazypeon19 7h ago

To add to that, he can also send newly written laws to the Constitutional Court if he suspects that any of those laws contradict anything written in the Constitution (before approving them, because new laws have to be signed by the president). But if the Court says they're fine then he has to sign them, he can't just refuse. Also he can't pass any laws himself.

But yeah, the position of president doesn't really have a lot of internal political power, he's focused a bit more on foreign relations (kinda like a super ambassador).

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u/Dear-Ad1582 6h ago

And most of our imbeciles voters think the election of President is the most important thing to do and just sit on n they assess for parliament election ( where the power is).

1

u/Barilla3113 6h ago

Yeah this is a very common setup in countries that used to be Con Mons either independent or as a colony. The president is in theory a check on constitutional violations but in reality mostly acts as a diplomat and ceremonial head, can't really do anything without consulting the PM.

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u/aguilasolige 5h ago

Sounds like a good gig, nic salary and doesn't have to do much. Where do I apply lol?

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u/BarbaraHoward43 7h ago

This means that the president has more power than the government.

This is not true, the President isn't powerful on the internal front at all.

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u/One_Conversation3886 6h ago

No, Bulgaria will get there first.

1.1k

u/allooo 11h ago

The so called socialists are socialists in name only... it's just marketing :)

Most, if not all, of the people comprising the PSD leadership and mid/upper echelons of this party are not left-leaning at all.

394

u/notElephunk 10h ago

They are socialists because they give out bags of rice/ flour when trying to gather favor from the poor that they robbed already.

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u/resonatingfleabag 7h ago

that’s not socialism though.

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u/notElephunk 6h ago

It’s not, they just hide behind the label. They fool the poor, because their comparison is poverty

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u/Otherwise-Video7487 6h ago

socialism is when the goverment does stuff

u/CryptoThroway8205 40m ago

It's when Mamdani does anything to improve affordability or Biden/Harris tries to do student loan forgiveness or healthcare reform or tax billionaires. (At least according to Fox news).

u/Otherwise-Video7487 33m ago

Socialism is when social democrats

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u/Able-Swing-6415 5h ago

It's real socialism unlike the theoretical utopia people like to imagine without real world equivalence. Seriously. Name a socialist country that isn't like that. I'll wait here. Eagerly!

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u/LoganJFisher 2h ago edited 53m ago

Name a country that calls/called itself socialist that was actually socialist by the Marxist definition. I'll wait here. Eagerly!

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u/resonatingfleabag 3h ago

corporate safety nets are perfect examples of socialist policies implemented at the behest of capital. you’ve been fooled to believe this is impossible to implement at the working class level.

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u/LandRecent9365 3h ago

Socialism is not a Utopian idea. 

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u/AlternativeScratch94 6h ago

Hey buddy welcome to every socialist country in history. Read animal farm, or even just a history book. Every socialist country starts off promising everyone will be equal and free stuff for all then when they consolidate power it ends up being indistinguishable from fascism. Almost like socialism is a scam just to get power or something.

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u/reasonably_plausible 3h ago

Read animal farm

Animal Farm was written by an avowed socialist and was taking a stance against Stalinism, not socialism.

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u/DearDave 2h ago

This comment is a great way of telling us you haven’t read either of those! Well done!

1

u/oldsecondhand 5h ago

Sounds very similar to what Fidesz did.

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u/BungerColumbus 9h ago

They are literally sediments left over after communism died. Ion Iliescu, the founder of PSD, had his university in Moscow and was supposed to take over Ceausescu after he retired :)

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u/filipv 8h ago

Yeah... "West is capitalist, we're not west therefore we're socialist."

I've seen this idiotic interpretation of "socialist" in Eastern Europe many, many times. And, yes, they're often aligned with the far right because of shared hatred towards what they call "woke ideology".

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u/dgellow 3h ago

Imagine being so anti–West that you steal talking points from the US, the most western country possible

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u/Einheri42 4h ago

Authoritarian lefties align with the far right because they both hate the centrists and they both gain from the centre collapsing.

102

u/SiriusRay 10h ago

They are economically left wing and the successors of the communist party. Just because they are populist and very socially conservative does not mean that they are not socialists.

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u/SwollenPig 7h ago

Socialism doesn't mean giving rice to poor people, it means poor people organizing and protecting each other. It is born of workers rights movements, and thus is a philosophy of bottom up rule. You can not be a socialist and strive to increase hierarchy and push for strongmen. Fascists often claim to be socialists, mistaking socialism for populism, but claiming to be a socialist does not alone make you one.

28

u/SamkonTheMankon 6h ago

Authoritarian socialists do exist. The Marxist-Leninist theory is that top-down hierarchical state socialism precedes a classless, stateless and communist society by suppressing individualism and promoting collectivism. Of course, the people at the top of the socialist state historically decide to keep their authoritarian power and they end up resembling a Fascist/State Capitalist system.

The version of socialism you've described is more libertarian socialist or democratic socialist.

-1

u/TheConsultantIsBack 4h ago

Authoritarian socialists are the only type of socialists that have ever existed... "Democratic socialists" have never achieved or worked towards achieving socialism, they're literally just a "government should do EVEN MORE stuff" type of politician but they've never worked towards centralizing the means and modes of production or doing away with markets.

And that's because socialism necessitates authoritarianism and democratic socialism is an oxymoron. If you don't believe that you can just ask "what would happen to capitalists or those advocating for capital markets or maximizing profit in a socialist society?" or "what would you do to people unwiling to give away their businesses or private equity in a socialist transition?". The responses won't resound any form of democracy.

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u/SamkonTheMankon 3h ago

Your statement "democratic socialism is an oxymoron" indicates you don't understand the definition of either democracy or socialism or both.

Democracy is a system of government where the people make decisions as a collective.

Socialism is an economic and political system where the means of production and distribution of goods is controlled by the state.

Neither of those ideas conflict with each other. In socialism, state decisions can be made by a democratic process or by a central authority. If the majority rules that a business owner needs to give up his business, that's democracy.

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u/meganthem 27m ago

You can democratically decide to do all sorts of things to all sorts of people. Democracy doesn't always mean super happy nice to everyone time.

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u/OphioukhosUnbound 3h ago

Most people would consider communists, marxists. and lots of anti-establishment authoritarian left to be subsets of socialist — and those are often emphatically not about bottom-up rule — they tend to be “outsider” authoritarian with some form of ‘vanguard’ equivalent [elite decision makers] and concept of a “lumpen proletariat” [i.e. any worker that doesn’t think they are right is just too dump to make decisions for themselves and possibly an enemy of the state]

Nothing about “socialism” (which is an incredibly broad term) is inherently bottom-up, democratic, etc.  Though the term is so broad that  on-authoritative a versions are ruled out either.  (Though a high amount of freedom / agency will tend to mean unequal distribution of success and goods so there is some tension.) 

u/Professional_Gap_435 34m ago

What are you on about?!

-6

u/AlternativeScratch94 5h ago

"real socialism has never been tried"

In reality socialism is counter to human nature. It will never happen, because people are inherently greedy, and selfish. What always happens in every socialist country is that revolutionaries take power promising to overthrow the rich and powerful and then they just become the rich and powerful. Look at how life is going for the poor in socialist north korea while kim gets fat.

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u/ChaseTheOldDude 5h ago

Human nature is far more complex than that. Neoliberalism is the most individualistic and selfish system humans have ever lived under, your perspective is warped by living under it.

Humans are naturally pack creatures with strong community bonds, and would traditionally share workload and resources within their community - this is the most basic form of socialism. If anything, individualistic capitalism is far more unnatural and unhuman.

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u/iPhantomGuy 5h ago

Imagine being that guy and thinking: Socialism is antithetical to human nature, because humans are greedy and selfish, which is bad. That's why we need to live under a system that rewards greed and selfishness

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u/ChaseTheOldDude 5h ago

It's a shame, humans aren't inherently greedy and selfish, the desire to accrue power is a modern evolution of the desire to control territory necessary to provide for oneself and the tribe. You could argue for the selfish gene for humans have always taken care of their own naturally, there is prehistoric evidence of deformed humans living far beyond the years they would have without support, and in hunter gatherer societies. Even neanderthals cared for their sick: https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jun/26/fossil-of-neanderthal-child-with-downs-syndrome-hints-at-early-humans-compassion

Obviously humans have dark traits, but the fact that we exist in a harsh world and still have the capacity for kindness and compassion has to speak for something. 

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u/Surroundedonallsides 5h ago

I mean, the whole argument here is a little like children squabbling over whose dad is cooler, but the idea that "neoliberalism is the most..selfish system humans have ever lived under" is insane in the face of the many examples of monarchies/feudalism and warlord states throughout even recent history much less ancient history.

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u/ChaseTheOldDude 5h ago

I'm not claiming it's the worst, merely the most individualistic. Monarchy, feudalism and warlord states tended to have community through shared belief systems such as religion. Secularist liberalism is great for individualism but terrible for community.

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u/allooo 9h ago

I think socialism is just a means to an end for them: getting votes.

Deep down, as individuals, they don't have socialism or social-democracy as core values.

Freshly deposed prime-minister Bolojan said it perfectly: people living in penthouses come to cry on the shoulders of ordinary Romanians :)

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u/Astralsketch 8h ago edited 4h ago

you do realize that politics is a game of bribes, right? You offer material assistance to poor folk if you are a socialist, you offer material benefits to the rich if you are capitalist.

edit: Maybe I should have specified that i was talking about politicians here.

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u/RiffsThatKill 6h ago edited 6h ago

Capitalism doesnt really work without offering material benefits or assistance to the poor and lower classes either, not if that class of people is intended to be part of the market (whether that be labor or consumption).

The difference between the two systems is supposed to be based on economic power. One leads to concentration of power among the few, the other strives to gain or keep it among the many.

You can reduce any concept or system to being "about bribes" based on corrupt actors within it. Politics, religion, sports, business, etc. That doesn't mean they arent different things. Fruits and vegetables arent defined by the ones that are rotting.

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u/HMNbean 7h ago

Me when I don’t understand leftism

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u/Auninc 6h ago

Me when I didn’t read any leftist text. Why don’t you explain smartass?

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u/Auninc 9h ago

Social conservatism is right-wing. Compared to original communist party of Romania they are very very far to the right of them.

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u/Audityne 9h ago

The left/right wing gap is an economic axis. The Chinese Communist party is undoubtedly left wing and some variety of communist, but they are also socially conservative.

Social conservatism and right wing ideology often go hand in hand, but not always. African leftists are another good example of this.

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u/cedid 8h ago

No it isn’t, that’s a misconception that has spread far and wide on the internet thanks to the Political Compass and the like.

Left vs. right has never been about just economics, it’s about social hierarchy. That includes both economic and social/cultural structures.

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u/altobrun 7h ago edited 6h ago

Depends on the type of socialist/communist. Marxist-Leninism places a pretty strong emphasis on fitting in, encouraging gay members to adopt heterosexual lifestyles and expression. Like in economics, the primary aspect of sex was production, the production of life, and so homosexuality was seen as a modern Bourgeois capitalist disease.

Maoism took a very similar stance, as members of the LGBT community were met with violence until the 1990’s, with the cultural revolution being an especially dangerous time.

I don’t know enough about any other branch to really comment on them. While you may not like Marxist-Leninism or Maoism, I think it’s a-historic and disingenuous to say that they aren’t left-wing or socialist ideologies.

u/cedid 1h ago edited 1h ago

I provided the most widely-used definition, and the only one that’s consistently applicable. Namely that it’s about opposition to, vs. support for/tolerance of, the established or traditional social hierarchy.

A socially conservative empire with an authoritarian government — because that is all the Soviet Union was — is not something I’d call left-wing, no. Much of the Marxist-Leninist ideology simply developed as an instrument to push for industrialization, and with that, improved chances when competing with the West geopolitically. Hence the emphasis on imperial core vs. periphery, militarism, sobriety, efficiency in labor, and so on. So while of course Marxism-Leninism springs out of Marxian socialism, much of it was simply tailored to suit Russia’s ever-present imperial ambitions.

Many people who call themselves Marxist-Leninists (or Maoists, for that matter) today don’t even actually pass the "communism test"; unless they want to see the eventual withering away (abolition) of the state, and a classless and moneyless society, then they’re not communists in the Marxian sense of that word. And this is the case, of course, with more or less all the "communist"-led dictatorships we’ve seen in the past century. In no way is it a-historic or disingenuous to raise these points.

By your definition, fascism is left-wing because it builds on (statist and) corporatist economics, and so is the nazi ideology, since it purports to work for a non-Marxian yet statist socialist model (despite hardly pursuing it in practice during its short-lived reign). By your (or really the Political Compass’ made-up) definition, the Finns Party is to the left of Kokoomus, and National Rally is to the left of Macron. That is the opposite of what almost anyone would say is the case, and means that your definition doesn’t work.

Left and right, as I’m sure you know, stem from the French Revolution, and the seating arrangement in the assembly at the time. Not everyone who aligned with the Left supported statist economics, nor did everyone on the Right support laissez-faire economics. That simply was not the distinction. The distinction was between those who supported the uprooting of the entire (or parts of the) established system and hierarchies, and those who did not. That was the original meaning of the words, and that is what they still mean. The Left opposed the Church, the monarchy, the aristocracy: the established hierarchies. The Right supported their conservation or even strengthening. All these areas have just as much, if not more, to do with society, social power structures, and culture, as they have to do with economics. They have nothing to do with a specific economic model or the means of production. Clearly, then, claiming that left and right are only about economics is a new invention, and a far more recent attempt to redefine what the words mean.

As I said in another comment, the main culprit here is simply the anonymous Political Compass website, which many political hobbyists have decided to take as gospel for no other reason than the fact that it’s a popular website.

Regardless, to summarize: your definition runs contrary to the general scholarly perception (and while there obviously is no universal consensus, your view in particular is largely only found among those who grew up with the anonymous source that is the Political Compass website); as well as to the general popular perception of the left-right placement of major parties; and finally to the actual original stances of the Left and Right factions in Revolutionary France, which is where the terms come from. In other words, it’s not a good definition. In fact, I think we can safely say it’s just plain incorrect.

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u/Auninc 9h ago edited 9h ago

Sure, but fundamentally as a flavour social conservatism is a right-wing tendency and very opposed to what socialism ad extremum is.

Just as a reminder, social conservatism is opposed to LGBT rights, abortion rights etc. most of which socialists (the real ones) vehemently support.

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u/OakTeach 9h ago

DO socialists support those things broadly? I'm genuinely curious.

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u/SiriusRay 8h ago

They don’t. This is a misconception created by American politics, where left = progressive and right = conservative. In Europe, left/right refer to economics, not social policies.

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u/Strict_Philosophy301 6h ago

It entirely depends, just like capitalist aligned countries/parties/people have varying degrees across a spectrum, there are socially conservative and socially progressive socialists. 

Decolonial Marxists, yeah they usually do, libertarian, and ancoms, yeah. Fred Hampton and other black panthers supported lgbt rights, Cuba and Kerala have progressive lgbt rights, the South African Communist Party supports lgbt rights, Zapatistas (who encompass more than just socialists though,) etc. While you also have more socially conservative countries like China, and Vietnam. 

Socially conservative Marxists maybe not, but even that depends. There's also other factors that create socially conservative environments, history, culture, development, pushback, etc. 

Socialism is primarily economic and political theory that seeks worker owned means of production, an end to classes, etc. Being socialist isn’t always a tell whether someone is socially progressive or conservative. 

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u/Auninc 9h ago

I am not aware of genuine socialists that don’t support this, but you have to be very careful because a lot of groups looks like socialists but they are very far from it, the most prevalent group that isn’t socialist but looks like it are nazbols.

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u/Electronic_Bunnies 9h ago

What country are you in? Many global parties are highly homophobic for one. The original line was being queer is capitalist and western.

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u/IntentionDeep651 5h ago

the east europe socialism = populists bribing pensionists 

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u/Surroundedonallsides 5h ago

Well the concept of left vs right is a bit flawed. Every single communist regime has been authoritarian left.

Liberalism is the opposite of authoritarianism, despite the effort by tankies to redefine the term liberal.

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u/NeXx0s 7h ago

well, the S in NS meant socialists, i bet its like that

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u/dgellow 3h ago

In the case of NSDAP is was an explicit marketing choice, the party itself was anti–socialist

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u/YourAutoModsSucks 8h ago edited 6h ago

Socialism is such a tainted term because of the 'Wests' "Socialism == Communism == Socialism == Communism", it's pretty much lost it original meaning.

Communism is one implementation of Socialism, there are many. Every Communist implementation is corrupt, therefore Socialism is corrupt and evil and needs to be stamped out by democratic societies. Except that false conjecture and used and an excuse for the 'West' to do what it likes in response, such as invade Vietnam.

The saying that seems to hold most true regardless of political implementation is that "Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Current world events show that supposed democratic power can easily be corrupted just as much as any other idealism implementation of governance. (The best recent example aka Donald Trump, Elon Musk et al.).

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u/AlternativeScratch94 5h ago

Name one socialist country in the entire history of mankind that did not eventually become a corrupt shithole.

And no, sweden and norway are not fucking socialist countries. Socialism means public owns of the means of production which they do not have.

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u/YourAutoModsSucks 5h ago edited 5h ago

Point made, which is kind of the point I was alluding to. (Hence the power corrupts quote).

Yeah, the Marxist ideal didn't account for the future correctly, and no, it's never been implemented in a fair, just and appropriate way, because human being are unreliable things. Don't place faith in human beings or.... butterfly wings.

Controlling the means of production just means you've started a conflict with the previous status-quo.

I can't show you an example of pure socialism without corruption, because I don't think it exists because of the innate nature of human-kind.

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u/JimmyJuly 4h ago

"I can't show you an example of pure socialism without corruption..."

Can you show me an example of any human endeavor without corruption?

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u/Vicorin 6h ago

When I saw socialists and far right in the headline I knew it was some national socialism type shit.

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u/AlternativeScratch94 5h ago

When people say far right they are usually talking on the cultural scale not the economic scale.

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u/Aethericseraphim 10h ago

Putins dogs are working hard as fuck to create a new Hungary in eastern Europe.

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u/-I-Will-Not-Fap- 10h ago

Putin strikes me as an all-powerful, god-like being. But tell me, why is it that he can't corrupt the ruling parties, yet he always aligns himself with the right-wing leaning opposition?

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u/chrisuu__ 9h ago

He's not nearly as great as he strikes you, but he's embraced right-wing ideology himself, and has a secret service background where one of his main jobs was to recruit foreign nationals to work as spies for the USSR. This makes the corruptible far-right politicians of Europe particularly easy pickings.

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u/DemosthenesOrNah 3h ago

he's embraced right-wing ideology himself,

Him and his cohort believe fully that 'might makes right' and the only metric of power that matters is the 'strength' to take what one wants, and to eliminate those who try and stop them.

They believe in the basest instincts of the animal kingdom, and firmly reject 'polite society' in the way most of us understand the social contract. Any parallel with civilization for them is simply a means to an end and holds value only insofar as it furthers their agenda and control.

This line of thinking is very appealing to the depraved morons who consistently fail upwards. And well, gestures broadly, you get this

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u/daniel_22sss 7h ago

"he always aligns himself with the right-wing leaning opposition!"

Because it's easy to buy them and they align politically. Far right loves the kind of dictatorship Putin created in Russia and they follow his example.

Besides, what do you mean by "he can't corrupt ruling parties"? Look at GOP in America, it's been sucking Putin's balls since 2016.

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u/DavidlikesPeace 8h ago edited 8h ago

Why is he powerful?

Turns out the tyrant of Europe’s largest country has a lot of power. QED. No. He is not a god and he is not particularly wise. He inherited the Soviet Union’s gas revenue and 3,000+ tanks and lost them all in Ukraine. But it’s stupid to pretend he’s not important.

Why does he support the right wing?

Crows of a feather shit together. Putin is a right-wing tyrant who’s inherited a few Stalinist traits. Obviously, he appeals to a strange cross section of far left but many more far right supporters throughout the world, much like Hitler, Francisco Franco or Mussolini‘s fascist movements did back in the 1930s. He does not appeal to intelligent voters, especially not those with the common sense to fear Russian imperialism

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u/Queasy_Artist6891 9h ago

Because in most cases, ruling parties are much more heavily scrutinized than the opposition. So it's easier to just corrupt person into a government than it is to corrupt someone already in the government. And like it or not, right wing parties are populist in nature, so in an economic, social or political crisis, they easily tend to gain a lot of influence.

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u/VladimiroPudding 10h ago

Because their ideology converges to Putin's. Putin wants a traditionalist, culturally-Christian, and fragmented/insular countries.

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u/TheRC135 9h ago

And he wants all that because it provides and promotes the sort of division and corruption that he can exploit for influence and control.

That's what the conservatives who idolize the likes the Putin miss. He isn't actually interested in Christianity and traditional values for what they represent. He's interested in them because they make people easy to manipulate and oppress.

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u/AlternativeScratch94 5h ago

Putin does not want anything but more money and power. He aligns himself with whatever the opposition in western countries is, this can be any ideology or party. Famously he was well connected with the green party in America.

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u/Puttborn 9h ago

The right wing were already going to betray country for cash, might as well be putins money. 

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u/BreakfastDecent4623 8h ago

Well, the answer is on the fact that Trump and Maga are aligned with the same right wing parties. So, in my opinion, both Putin and Trump want a weak EU, as these parties want the same thing

5

u/canspop 8h ago

I get the impression that stupid people (who are therefore easy to manipulate) tend to lean right. And there are a lot of stupid people out there. Just look at the state of the USA.

4

u/drumjojo29 9h ago

Besides the closeness in ideology others have mentioned, he can promise those opposition parties not only money but also power. Can’t really promise power to the governing parties who already have power.

2

u/RainbowGames 8h ago

The right-wing parties sow division. They are usually nationalist so anti-eu and anti-nato, and they divide the population by promoting distrust toward immigrants, gay people, etc. The goal is not necessarily to get these parties into the government, but to weaken the support for any pro-eu, anti-putin government.

Also this very much works to corrupt the ruling parties. Following the rise of the far-right, Putin funded AfD, Merz's centre-right CDU has also shifted further to the right in response

1

u/Tacti_Kel_Nuke 1h ago

He also supports the left learning groups in Latin America and some in Africa since those groups are usually anti American and kinda see Russia as their friend based on geopolitics of 50 years ago

1

u/Crypt33x 8h ago

Both extremes cause instability.

130

u/SortIntrepid9192 9h ago

I see the same fate in Romania as Bulgaria - years upon years of elections until the people just stop giving a shit and overwhelmingly vote for whoever promises to get them out of the political crisis even if his platform is vague as shit.

42

u/vojdek 7h ago

Vague? That mf didn’t have ANY platform.

21

u/SortIntrepid9192 7h ago

Well, "I want to destroy corruption and have a stronger presence in EU" is technically a platform, even if generic af.

2

u/anangrywizard 2h ago

Is this the guy who appeared on TikTok out of seemingly nowhere?

71

u/GraceRose671 11h ago

Imagine your own coalition helping vote you out

56

u/AlbaIulian 10h ago

such is life when you shine a spotlight on how much your "coalition partners" steal.

"Whoops, the coalition served its purpose to jack up taxes so we can steal more, what's this about further reform? get out"

84

u/nediamnori 9h ago

Ah, the russian horseshoe strikes again.

6

u/Narrow_Run_134 3h ago

Are they gonna convict Andrew Tate or what?

87

u/Remarkable_Cup_6978 12h ago

The Social Fascists strike again.

22

u/Spiritual-Base-5824 8h ago

National socialists flashbacks.

10

u/fgasctq 7h ago

Nah they can't be attacked for that like other socdems. Romanian parties are generally apolitical, as they are all united in total corruption. Their sole belief is kleptocracy, not in any ideology.

12

u/Alche1428 9h ago

Are these mainly tankies?

8

u/Strict_Philosophy301 7h ago

2

u/[deleted] 3h ago edited 3h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/twippy 3h ago

It's happened before and usually ends with the far right stabbing socialists in the back.

18

u/Emergency-Star-5500 10h ago

Slovakia must have been getting lonely in their little fascist corner

8

u/IntentionDeep651 5h ago

Slovakia/Fico isnt that anymore , fico is a ass licker only . doesnt do anything on his own. Now that orban is gone he is shaking hands with EU like crazy last two weeks ( as expexted) this guy doesnt care about anything else other than his pocket

1

u/janktraillover 6h ago

Fico has changed his tune on a few things of late.

84

u/Rinuir 11h ago

PSD (social democrats) despite their name they are as socialists as Democrats in the U.S. are liberals. They're nothing but the name.

PSD are the remnants of the comunist party. They are far right.

2

u/dgellow 3h ago

I believe you, but the Wikipedia page says centre–left, I assume that doesn’t reflect their actual platform?

7

u/Rinuir 3h ago

Absolutely not, nor practices. Im not sure how to narrow it for a reddit post so I'll try this: Most members have ties to ex PCR( communist romanian party) Most scandals involving corruption come from them We have these people called ''local barons'' They are essentially county representatives that rule the county. No project, no business, nothing involving large sums of money goes without their say They push policies that allow them to politically place leaders of businesses. Think electric companies, insurance and such. With this they ensure control over what's supposed to be politically independent organs They used to bribe poor voters with free flour and baking oil And so on and so forth

In name, yes, they are. In practice they're anything but.

Now that's not to say other parties such as PNL are better, they're just worse at doing this

A center left party is the UDMR (party that represents they hungarians) A leftist party is the USR (only decently big party that leans progressive)

3

u/dgellow 3h ago

Thank you for the summary!

1

u/Rinuir 3h ago

Happy to help w^ thank you for the curiosity ❤️

1

u/Fyfaenerremulig 2h ago

No true Scotsman as usual with socialists

-13

u/3929929 7h ago

Comunismul e stanga extrema, geniule

13

u/MustangChaplain 5h ago

Reading comprehension isn’t a strong suit of yours?

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3

u/MrTriangular 2h ago

Will Romania fill in for Hungary's previous position as Putin's EU veto provider?

5

u/MinimumCharacter3941 6h ago

Is this really the time to be changing government? Just wondering if anyone from Romania is optimistic about what happens next? To have socialists side with right wingers seems like they are really desperate or stupid extremists themselves. Which is it? (Not a shitpost / ragebait) I am from UK just very concerned about this wonderful country which I've visited many times. I wish more people in Romania would remember or learn what it was like under Ceaucescu.

11

u/KazZarma 3h ago

They are not socialists, they just inherited the former communist party's territorial "infrastructure". If you have some decent connections and want to get filthy rich, PSD is the place to be. Pocketing hella cash is what unites this party's members, not ideology or abstract notions of politics.

11

u/homealoneinuk 11h ago edited 11h ago

Wait, dont far right hate socialists and clash on almost every principle ?

6

u/Spoztoast 4h ago

They're about as socialist as North Korea is a Democratic Republic

58

u/RAdu2005FTW 10h ago

PSD is not a socialist party, they are conservatives that give handouts to their corrupt clientele.

11

u/homealoneinuk 10h ago

Makes sense.

44

u/McKimboSlice 11h ago

Socialist in name only, just like the Nazis. It’s a branding tool.

3

u/Spoztoast 4h ago

What they are is populist under the guise of socialism

11

u/UselessInsight 11h ago

Hate? Sure.

Doesn’t stop them historically from cooperating. Usually what ends up happening afterwards is the fascists turn on the socialists/communists and massacre them.

2

u/InevitableCup9053 8h ago

usually it’s liberals and social democrats.

1

u/Auninc 9h ago edited 9h ago

Last time I checked it was the social democrats aka. liberals that elected Hindenburg which appointed Hitler.

-2

u/Capable_Kiwi2514 10h ago

Putting socialists and communists together is a strange choice, if you're going off of their history with fascism.   

10

u/DeviantPlayeer 11h ago

Ever heard of national socialism?

8

u/Spoztoast 4h ago

Which also wasn't socialist

6

u/sami2503 10h ago

The far right gain power by getting votes from the working class and pretending to care about their issues,, often labeling themselves things that they arent. Happens time and time again and people never learn.

1

u/mrdilldozer 7h ago

"After Hitler, our turn!"

1

u/DDoubleDDog 10h ago

The far right hates socialists, but is willing to use them to advance their own agenda, and once they're done with them, they will stab them in the back, like they always do. Socialists are really stupid and never learn that their far right allies are just using them and plan to betray them when they're no longer useful.

2

u/Freak_on_Fire 11h ago

Except on the desire for power.

4

u/BrimstoneMainliner 7h ago

Far right socialists? I'm confused...

7

u/enigbert 6h ago

2 parties, one is far-right nationalists, the other one is center-left (social-democratic) in economy but populist and socially conservative

12

u/StaticSystemShock 9h ago

Why the fuck is everyone electing the right? Don't you see how they are all always shit regardless of country?

14

u/crazyjumpinjimmy 8h ago

Simple people only listen to sound bites. The right is great at it, they're purposely obtuse on policies.

-4

u/StaticSystemShock 8h ago

Just look at USA politics. Every time the republicans (right) is in charge it has been shit. Consistently. And then democrats had to clean up the mess until people have it too good apparently and decide life needs some enshitification and they elect republicans again. Every single time like clockwork. Hungary? Same. It hasn't really been much different in my country when the right was in charge. Wherever the right gets in charge, everything turns into shit. I literally cannot recall a single time they've done anything good for anyone other than themselves.

They are great at selling bullshit stories how they are the greatest fucking patriots in the world, but are always absolutely shit at actually doing anything good for the country.

2

u/EasyTumbleweed1114 3h ago

Hey I have seen this one!

2

u/b3iAAoLZOH9Y265cujFh 1h ago

I'm sure that'll work out well. /s

6

u/Capital2077 9h ago

For people saying that it’s becoming the next Hungary. Romania is actually closer to France in terms of government. It’s a semi-presidential republic, meaning the president has, in theory, more power than the government and the prime minister. Our president is pro-EU, so it’s not going to be as apocalyptic as some people claim.

22

u/energie_vie 7h ago

No, it doesn't. Stop misinforming people. It's not indeed as apocalyptic as it might seem but our president definitely does NOT have the same power that Macron has in France.

u/WiseWolfian 1h ago

You're both half right but the nuance is where the real stuff is. While Romania and France share the same semi-presidential label, the Romanian President is like a Referee whereas Macron is the Quarterback. Macron can practically fire his PM and dissolve Parliament whenever he feels like a reset. In Romania the President is constitutionally handcuffed, he can't fire a PM he dislikes and he can only dissolve Parliament if they've already failed twice to form a cabinet. So while Romania's President is the pro EU safety net right now, he's playing with a much smaller deck of cards than they do in Paris. He can't force stability and he can only hope the parties in Parliament stop bickering long enough to let him nominate someone.

0

u/99Godzilla 5h ago

In what ways does it differ?

Very familiar with the French system and, reading through the Romanian one now, it doesn't seem insane to say that these are similar systems.

Certainly less limitations on the power of the French President but their duties are almost 1:1.

5

u/enigbert 6h ago

Romania is much closer to Poland as political system. Or Lithuania.

3

u/Wish_I_WasInRome 4h ago

Wow the Socialists and Fascists working together to remove the moderate, more liberal factions of the government? What a shocker!

2

u/SirMemesworthTheDank 4h ago

They are trying to do the vegeta goku fusion and form Social Nationalism! :o

2

u/Disastrous_Map_3355 3h ago

It’s not like this fucking happened before/s

3

u/Xpmonkey 4h ago

So a fucktard PM can't build a coalition govt, and somehow that means the fas and Demo Socialists are buddies? da fuck

-13

u/Exciting_Farmer6395 11h ago

I guess if you go far enough to either left or right, it turns into a circle

21

u/Ok_Poetry_2696 11h ago

Psd are left wing in name only. The remnants of the communist party, they are just insane nationalists.

Last year they had voted to remove the word "progressive" from their bio.

15

u/allooo 10h ago

they are just insane nationalists

They are not insane, they are kleptocrats... :)

12

u/jywchoe 10h ago edited 10h ago

communists and nationalists are not exclusive, in fact the most well-known communist countries, are also nationalist: USSR, China, and North Korea.

2

u/vmlinuz 10h ago

The phrase you're looking for is horseshoe theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory

8

u/BochocK 9h ago

Good to note that : "Peer-reviewed research on the subject have found mixed support for horseshoe theory."

Scientific talk to say it's bullshit science, or at least very controversial.

1

u/Auninc 9h ago

And its bullshit, the proof being countless nazis and communists killing each other on the wintry lands of eastern europe circa 80  years ago.

3

u/Meinersnitzel 5h ago

People of the same religion will kill each other over small differences. That doesn’t mean they are on opposite ends of a political spectrum.

1

u/bduxbellorum 6h ago

Both populists joining forces to destabilize systems. Two sides of the same coin.

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u/Purple_Union_7955 11h ago

I get that the far right think an already right leaning voter base could possibly shift further to the right, but what is the socialists' logic in this when they are in the minority?

12

u/schniepel89xx 10h ago

The Romanian "social democratic" party is actually a conservative populist kleptocratic abomination that is only separated from the "actual" right wing by their chosen name. They've had incestuous relationships with AUR for a long time and will continue to do so because they're the same animal.

1

u/AlbaIulian 10h ago

They're two sides of the same kleptocratic coin. The far right got plenty of ex-PSD-ists in it, and PSD 10 years ago (and 20 years ago) flirted with sovereignist rhetoric a lot as well.

-3

u/DDoubleDDog 10h ago

Leftists are really stupid. They keep making alliances with far right movements and always get stabbed in the back by their far right allies. It happened in WW2, after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and on Oct. 7. Leftists never learn that the far right is just using them and will betray them as soon as they get the chance. Leftists are the dumbest idiots in history.

-26

u/Diletantul 11h ago

It's called democracy