Authoritarianism is about taking things from me. Communism, in its noncorporeal theoretical form, is about giving things away.
I read a book once which argued that the problem with modern political discourse is it pits the “I don’t want things taken from me” (liberty!) people against the “XYZ is a human right” (entitlement!) people. And that a better way to frame the cultural argument is “XYZ is my responsibility to society.”
As a simple example, “Internet access is a human right,” is just a sneaky way of saying “someone should give people free Internet.” Who is someone? It’s left unspecified, which is skipping over the entire mechanism by which we deliver the Internet. It’s much more revealing to write, “To live in a healthy society, it’s our responsibility to make sure every person has Internet access.”
