Winston Churchill in The Crown has got to be one of John Lithgow's all-time greatest roles.
We stand mesmerized.
The way he portrays the English public servant is so gruff, grumbly, growly, and shouty, it's amazing I can stand him, but I can. His aim is not malign. He's a Good Guy.
...When he starts yelling about people who he believes to be
"socialistic"
or
"individualistic"
-- you get carried on a wave of Yeah-OK, and then it's like, "Wait a minute, hold it." Because he's objecting to / criticizing the idea of anyone being a "so-oow-cialist" and yet he is also, and equally, grousing about terrible people who are "individualistic."
He almost has to pick one, because in socialism you're not supposed to stand out, you're supposed to stay in as one of the group and work for what's good for the group. In other words, you're not supposed to be "individualistic." (Such a weird word.)
So if Churchill decries individualism, then he is agreeing with socialists.
If he decries socialism, he's agreeing with individualistic people.
He has to pick one, but he doesn't, he uses both words (ideas) as verbal bats to imaginarily whomp people with.
It's pretty funny. I think maybe it illustrates how, in politics, some people use words that they believe are unpopular with their audience to "whomp" their competition, and the words themselves are meaningless.
Churchill calls somebody a socialist. The person is not a socialist; Churchill just wants to insult him. Or -- manipulate others' image of the person.
If he called the person a socialist in front of an actual socialist, then that guy might say, "How lovely! I'll look forward to meeting him!"
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