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Many countries include 'Democratic' or 'People's' in their names, even though they are not democratic and do not serve their people. Examples: Democratic People's Republic of Korea Lao People's Democratic Republic People's Democratic Republic of Algeria Democratic Republic of the Congo And German Democratic Republic (East Side) in 1949–1990. None of these states are democratic, power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a small ruling elite. Who are they fooling with these names?

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[–] whereitsat@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 hours ago

same reason america espouses freedom but then has 304830483048 laws that restrict every possible thing you can do other than go to work.

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago

Boy wait until you find out the "Patriot Act" was actually about the government spying on you. It's like politics 101 to give things names that aren't at all related, but sound good.

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 7 points 3 hours ago

Why does trump say he's "the peace president"? Because they are all evil fucking liars trying to confuse dumb dumbs.

[–] MithranArkanere@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

It is usually because whoever grabbed power in that place fooled the people to garner their support, telling them that they would actually become a democracy, socialist, or communist, and then, once they are in power, they mask off and never relinquish that power. Sometimes they may excuse that as a "transitional period" before moving on to the promised state. But those are obvious lies.

There are other reasons, tho, like confusing voters and muddying the waters so the people can't really know who is actually working for them, or just mockery, like the nazi.

This is why the way countries do elections is very wrong. Votes should not be for parties; they should be for policies and objectives. Then get in power people who claimed to aim for the same policies and objectives, and heavily punish them if they don't really work towards them once in power.

[–] raef@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

There's usually a populist factor that authoritarians use to seize power

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Or they swoop in with rizz after the people's democratic revolution stumbles...

[–] godsammitdam@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 hours ago

Similar reason why they were called National Socialists.

They had nothing to do with socialism.

[–] Alexfire@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Language is the framework of thought. By controlling, twisting, and restricting vocabulary, high-control systems directly restrict what people are capable of thinking. High-control systems maintain power by manipulating fundamental human biology, cognitive architecture, and language. They actively work against societal advancement because their primary goal is self-preservation and the consolidation of status. High-control systems shut down critical analysis, nuance, and long-term planning, trapping individuals in primitive, survival-driven cognitive states. Learn more and ask further questions here: share.google/aimode/A07xJDl8zEiKH71NI

[–] Aatube@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 5 hours ago

Since the 20th century, linguistic determinism has largely been discredited by studies and abandoned within linguistics, cognitive science, and related fields.

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Just like they call the army that has attacked multiple countries and committed genocide the "israel defence force"

[–] gandalf_der_13te@feddit.org 0 points 2 hours ago

I mean the stuff that is produced within the country is produced by the people. So it's people's stuff, in the same sense that milk is cow's milk. It's not for the cow, but from the cow.

[–] Kaligalis@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Usually, they are rebranding after a revolution with the goal to establish a democratic or communist government. But then the inherent weakness of those forms of government leads to internal instability due to outside influence and/or internal corruption. The new and unexperienced government gets more and more extreme in an attempt to defend or due to simple greed. The original idea becomes more and more distant until not even a faint shadow of it is left.

[–] raef@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

It's not so much that they become more extreme, but they start out that way and just continue. They justify it because they are in a state of revolution to force the change the want; it's just that the revolution continues indefinitely

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