Dispelling the Illusion: ‘Things Are What They Do, Not What They Are Called’

Arnold’s Capitalism, Communism and Fascism are really just another form of Cohen’s transcendental nonsense – fictions, folklore, ceremonies and clichés created to distill complex political and legal realities into convenient and manageable compartments. But things are what they do, not what they are called. Communism is not the same in all its forms. It is does not have the same effects, structure, and impact at Time 1 and Time 2, or in Country A as in Country B. It is a malleable construct that can be tweaked, adjusted and refined so that it is no longer ‘COMMUNISM’, in the abstract sense, but a living, breathing system that has the potential for positive affect and social consequence. Just as rules don’t actually explain how legal cases are decided, ideological labels fail to account for the opportunities presented by the actual application of the rhetoric embodied within them. They are far too simplistic and discrete to explain the mass influx of forces - individual personalities, society, economics, history, institutional dynamics - working upon them, within them and for them at any given time. Acknowledgment of the restrictions posed by faithfulness to folklore in both politics and law enables us to capitalize upon political and legal opportunism. Creeds, symbols and slogans don’t need to be completely abandoned – in fact, they may be successfully manipulated for our own purposes. But we must recognize that blind faith to ideals can stifle creativity and improvement – only then can we move forward to create complex composites that more accurately reflect reality, enabling us to engage dynamically with society and affect substantive change. (996) \ No newline at end of file