American media creating stereotypes of socialism.

Ok, so this is only the rough draft of my op-ed, there are going to be a lot of changes I expect, so be nice if you choose to comment on it.

Since the beginning of the cold war, American media has been packed with propaganda against communism and socialism. Movies, newspapers and republicans have been having the tendency to utter the word “socialism” as if it was a dirty word their mom forbids them to say out loud. This is a problem for future politicians if this keeps getting worse than it already is. If a democrat tips slightly over the edge of being liberal, well, I guess he is a communist. And if there is one thing Americans hate, it`s paying their hard earned money as taxes to the state, so they can`t decide what to spend them on themselves.

I was born and raised in Norway, a country that has been awarded as the best country to live in several times, similar to its neighbors: Denmark, Sweden and Finland; who all score very high on the list of best countries to live in. The income per person is high, the average person is very happy with their life, and is expected to live until 81 years. Furthermore, all of these countries are social democracies.

Imagine presenting your beliefs to another person, and a few moments later, they are criticizing you for being a protestant. They keep going on and on forever about how you are wrong, and you have to stand there taking it from them, when you in fact are a catholic. I am not going to compare religion and politics, which are two very separate things. Yet this is not so far from the reality of confusion between social democracy and socialism. Yes, these ideologies share some of the same traits, but they`re not the same. If this is getting too complicated for you to understand, then imagine someone mixing up Twilight and Vampire diaries. Do you follow me now?

Apparently, calling Obama a socialist is supposed to make him a less wanted leader. “Obama wants to take your hard earned money by increasing the taxes”. That being liberal is what`s giving people poor life conditions. I have heard politicians comparing Obamas followers to Soviet spies. With a falling economy, it must be nice having a scapegoat that does not involve themselves.

Their ignorance might not be their fault though. Chances are that they are affected by the stories their fathers told them, older people who learned about communism by being in war with it, and early 60s propaganda. Or, it might be that they just watch a lot of movies.

Communists have since the 1980s been the major bad guy of American movies; the biggest threat, who might look strong on the outside, but is easy to take down. This is where the media seriously starts making a socialist and communists into what they think it should be, and what they want you to think it is.

If you have seen the “Rocky” movies, about the true American boxer, with the fair game attitude who runs through storms and up mountains to get in shape, then you might have noticed how they portray his opponent from the third film. This is the movie where he has to take down the highly intimidating Ivan Drago. A boxer who is an insane 6-foot, 5 inch and 261-pound. Not only does is he given medications, he is trained with advanced machines; he shows no form of sympathy or personality, so of course he is from The Soviet Union.

This is just one of many, many movies. The joker from the dark night rises was dressed to look like a Russian dictator and a French fascist. I mean, if the Europeans always are the bad boys in the movies, I guess it must be true.

None of these sources actually give any insight or background information on any of these ideologies. It just mixes them all up until we get three words with the very same meaning; failure. I have to admit that I learned about the structure of DNA, and the process of a rotting corpse by watching C.S.I, and many of us probably learned moral from Disney movies. Still, not all we see in movies are facts that can be used in real life. If you dance on the street, every person bumping into you is not going to automatically know the dance moves you do, and medieval peasants did probably have as good teeth condition as it might seem.

When I grow old enough to pay my taxes; I will grin my socialist smile and laugh mockingly in the direction of America. Apparently, their whining can`t get me out from under the iron curtain separating our worlds.