Republicans are often the first to decry accessible education and healthcare as "socialism," but in the case of GOP consultant Frank Luntz, it backfired this time.
Luntz was staying in the Hotel Imperial in Austria. The country, though recently ruled by a Right wing government and widely considered capitalist, has public programs like universal healthcare (through the European Union) and accessible college, which certain Americans would deem socialist.
Luntz complained about an elevator in the 200 room hotel which had been broken for three days.
He blamed "European-style socialism" for the repair delay in a tweet.
Luntz, however, didn't realize that the Hotel Imperial is owned by Marriott, a private American icon of capitalism.
People were quick to point this out to Luntz.
Even if the hotel wasn't owned by Marriott, people were still confused as to how Luntz made the leap to elevators being bastions of socialism.
To his credit, Luntz took the roasts with a good sense of humor and provided some stunning pictures along the way.
Fortunately, they didn't feature elevators.
Socialism has become a bit of a buzz word, but what is it? Or, perhaps more importantly, what is NOT socialism?
Author Ryan Rogers offers an in-depth look at socialism with the book What is Socialism and Why is it Important in America?: Exploring Socialism from Karl Marx to Bernie Sanders, available here.
"Across the country people were praising or slurring this new (or not so new) way of approaching government. However, one question was left unanswered: what is socialism? There is great confusion in the United States about what socialism is and why people love or hate it. This book sets out to explore socialism's historic roots, different experiments in socialism, and how it can be applied today."
"Topics covered are the following: - what are the different branches of socialism, such as Marxism, Anarchism, or Communism? - Why did some experiments in socialism fail, and why have we not heard about the ones that have succeeded? - What is a path to socialism in America, and what do different socialist parties believe?"
"This book will generate fresh conversation about a topic that is both timely and important."
If politics doesn't excite you, but elevators do, the book Elevators (Engineering Wonders) is available here. Learn how elevators work.
"We would not have skyscrapers without the modern elevator. Learn all about elevators and how they work."