Question: How can socialism serve as a veil for implementing harsh totalitarian regimes.
Body Paragraph 1
Conclusion
Body Paragraph 2
Introduction
Main Idea (Thesis): Due to its appealing ideals, socialism can manipulate the youth as a means of implementing totalitarian regimes
The youth is crucial when you need to control a country (brainwashing)
We can see a trend where the youth are attracted to socialist beliefs, and their numbers are increasing
Throughout history, there have been countless socialist regimes (and capitalist, too, but we'll focus on the socialist)
China, USSR, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Vietnam, Iron Curtain
Hitler did it, Lenin did it
Several sources show this trend (magazines, articles, etc.), but there is a survey
There have been countless regimes throughout history, and several socialist ones come to mind
Socialist regimes committed atrocities, but they tend to be more overlooked by the public than fascist ones
We tend to believe socialist regimes are a thing of the past, but some of them still exist even today
Most of the notable ones existed in the past (USSR, China) but their influence is still felt nowadays and it affects the country's citizens
Putin's nationalism and militarism and chinese oppression of its people (Taiwan, Hong Kong) besides their failed 'socialism'
Mainly in WWII-era regimes, and during the Cold War, we can see that socialist and communist regimes both committed war crimes which can be considered on par, if not worse, than those committed by the Axis (gulags, genocides, the Great Purge, the Great Leap Forward, etc.)
Venezuela, Cuba, China, and North Korea are the most notable examples, and they all have many controversies
It is evident that the youth is crucial for a regime intending to possess complete control over a country
Lenin's Komsomol is another notable example, and one of the first ones (also less talked about than the Nazi equivalent)
We must assume that this hasn't changed, and that if someone intends to take over a country in a totalitarian manner, then the fist thing they will do will be trying to control, or at least convince, the youth
Nazi Germany's Hitler-Jugend comes to mind, one of the cruelest examples
There is a clear brainwashing into Nazi ideals through propaganda and routines
Lenin quote in attached reference (fist lines)
There are many first-hand accounts of this happening. Some might be objective, and others subjective, but that is up for the reader to decide. Either way, there is an evident bias.
Re-estate thesis and wrap up our work
If someone intended to take over a country, or have absolute power over it, the first step they would take would be to win over the youth
Some might say leftist ideas are the latest trend, and they are indeed being popularized within the world's youth.
Socialist, and generally left-wing, regimes have been very common in history, both in the past and today, though they tend to be overlooked by the general public (at least when compared to similar right-wing regimes)
It can be said that the left is just as harmful, if not more, than the right, though the public tends to think otherwise
It has been seen before in history, and we'll most certainly see it again. It might even be a mistake to think it won't, and that this time it will be different
As we can see in this poll from Axios, the popularity of socialism is increasing in the country, a trend that can be seen world-wide. Considering all of this: Can we say that the youth brainwashing is already occurring? Is this a bad omen, a sign of the coming times? Should we be worried, or is this the lesser evil, if even an evil at all?