Yes JS on the internet it is sometimes easy to misinterpret, however it
does appear to me often that those on the Left race to point out the worst about America.
Ya know "the glass is half empty".
I have two countries I call home. It made for an interesting childhood. They are: Germany and the United States. This has given me a vantage point that is not so emotionally invested in nationalism. There are things I love about both countries, but a joke about America or Germany does not send me off a cliff in anger, either.
Germany has a history that is not whitewashed. There is no paint that can cover the historical sins of the Nazis. The atrocities of the Holocaust, especially to the Jews, the Roma, and the Slavs, are imprinted on history forever (or at least for a long, long time). This history should be there. It should be a stain on German history. It is something Germans have to come to terms with.
To me, Americans a bit like children when it comes to their history and their sense of nationalism. They are insulted very easily even at words meant in jest. As for history, much of our history is whitewashed to make the United States look very good. The Revolutionary War or the Civil War are two excellent examples. Even at a High School level, these tend to be taught with a clear bias towards the idea of a "glorious America." It is a very sophomoric cowboys and Indians approach to national history. We were the good guys and these were the bad guys. God Bless America!
I think that one day Americans will come to terms with their history and nationalism. We're just a young country, like a teenager with too many hormones going on at once and who thinks he knows everything.
JS doesn't socialism advocate the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production
and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the hands of governemnt? Wouldn't that be turning
over power to the governemnt that the government does not currently have?
No. That isn't what socialism advocates at all.
Socialism advocates at the most basic level, turning over the means of production to the proletariat and creating a classless society. Not all socialists believe that land should be communal. There would be far less government to the point of eventually having none at all.