Mass murder and death in a country called the Union of Soviet _Socialist_ Republics (a country which, of course, never claimed to be communist) - I don't think the word 'socialist' has any cleaner hands than 'communist' in that respect. Besides which, using the term 'socialist' runs the risk that people will confuse you with the Spanish government, or the French Socialist Party, or even, heaven forbid, the British Labour Party (still a member of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, last time I checked) - with a very specific set of policies (post-war European social democracy) which is being rapidly ditched by its own nominal adherents.
> still can shock people butit's a shock that can be used to educate on the
> narrowness of language in the US. "Communism" overwhelmingly has meant
> alliance with the Soviet Union, so why make a fetish of it?
The advantage of calling yourself a communist is precisely the absurdity of doing so - the shock produced can't be disavowed by finding some respectable bearer of the name. Communism is the most general term I can think of for an egalitarian non-capitalist form of society, and it's that combination of generality and intransigence which makes the term so useful. 'Communism' was rejected by its self-appointed keepers 15-20 years ago, and so is floating free to be reclaimed as an absolutely general banner of resistance.
--
"The bourgeois want art voluptuous and life ascetic; the
reverse would be better."
-- Adorno Tim http://www.huh.34sp.com/