Understanding Socialism: A History of Socialist Thought from Beccaria to Trotsky.

This week on UNFTR we have the first in the series on socialism. After our “ISMs” refresher last week, we dip our toes into the communal water and begin the process of unpacking an economic and ideological philosophy that inspires rage on the right, hope on the left and (mostly) fear in the middle. The essay starts off with listener feedback from a call we put out on social media and YouTube. We asked listeners to explain socialism in a couple of sentences and the responses were amazing. The essay continues with examples of how socialism is portrayed in the mainstream media, some basic misconceptions and UNFTR style level-setting on key terms and definitions.