Are pot-luck dinners really a disguised form of socialism?

Yeah, and you can do the same with first aid kits, and the likes.
Everybody brings their own put together box of medical emergency care stuff, and expertise, and services, and you put it all into, let’s say, a big building.
Later, if one needs medical attention, you take/get from the big pile what you need.

“Everyone is compelled to bring a dish… but no one is compelled to attend.

But even if it is “socialism”, that doesn’t mean it is bad, it means it is probably a pretty good idea as a way for people to come together in a community.

No not at all simply because the Pot Luck meal is entirely optional. IMHO, no form of Socialism in a free society is a “pretty good idea”. I can get together with my family, friends and neighbors any darn time I wish to or not free of any Socialist agenda.

No one is compelled to attend, and if attending, none are required to bring anything to a pot-luck.

Pot Luck dinners are also single events, not a wayof life and not a government
.
It is usually suggested that each participant bring enough food for themselves (or their family) and one other person. People bring whatever they want, or voluntarily are assigned from a category.they agree to.

No.
It is just a form of taxation.

Not really. It’s just a slick way of having a dinner party and not have to cook.

@Vignette ”...IMHO, no form of Socialism in a free society is a “pretty good idea”.”

How do you feel about public libraries? Fire departments? K-12 Free public education? Social Security? The National Weather Service? The Department of Health and Human Services? All sucessful economies are some form of Mixed Economy. If you want a model of pure, completely unregulated capitalism at work, take a look at Somalia for inspiration.

As far as pot-lucks, I think there is a kind of informal socialism at play. It’s in our DNA to behave altruistically within our communities.

Not going to go toe to toe on this with you @gorillapaws as we apparently come with widely differening opinions/expectations of what Socialism in terms of a free society mean. To me Socialism is all about some form of social ownership of the means of production thusly having a say so in the accumulation and distribution of the wealth from that controlled production.

What you listed are purely forms of societal niceties that in a free democratic society are provided by taxation of the workers income who freely work at a job for the pay they agree upon.

Before you reply, which of these public niceties would you prefer? The ones provided by a free and Democratic society or the ones provide IF you are lucky under a Socialistic Government? A library you have access to now in the US or a library if they even have one in Venezuela or any of those benefits you listed? No matter what answer you can come up with mine will always come with the freedom of choice.

@Vignette “What you listed are purely forms of societal niceties”

If that’s how you want to define things, then I’m in total agreement with you. I’m pro “social niceties” along with most of my democratic socialist buddies. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many Americans (including Bernie supporters) who want the government producing/selling tennis racquets, watches, iPhones, washing machines, soft drinks, etc. If you prefer the “Democratic Social Niceties Party” instead of the “Democratic Socialist Party” then I could live with that rebranding.

Also, I’m having a hard time understanding how people in a democratic, mixed economy aren’t free? Are participants in a pot luck sacrificing their freedom?

@gorillapaws A simply as I can put it, being beholden to a collective that decides what is best for me is not what I consider to embody the freedom(s) I currently have.

There is nothing disguised about it.

Today, it’s a few casseroles. Tomorrow, workers seize the means of production.

^^^^As my Investments professor often mentioned, “given the ownership of common stocks by pension funds, 401ks, and IRAs, the workers own the means of production far beyond Marx’s wildest dreams.”

Since most pot lucks are organized by churches, I guess organized religion is the hotbed of socialist thinking!

I would simply call it “socializing.” I like them because I’m not compelled to eat nasty food that I don’t want to eat, like I have to do if some one person cooks all the food. Plus people can bring their own preferences, like if they’re vegan or vegetarian.

I have a pot luck dinner to attend in a couple of weeks.

@Vignette _”...being beholden to a collective that decides what is best for me is not what I consider to embody the freedom(s) I currently have.”

That’s kind of the point of the social contract isn’t it? If we want to be protected by the collective from external threats like foreign invaders, WMD’s or viruses, then we have to agree to participate in the collective right? E pluribus unum and all of that. Otherwise you’re looking at something like Somalia where you have all of the freedom to do whatever you want, except nobody can because there is so much instability that society can’t move forward. When you look at it like that, you end up with more freedom in practice by sacrificing some of your ideological freedom.

They are gross and nasty and I am never a participant.

Pot luck dinners are gross and nasty??

If you hang out with some nasty gross pots, your “luck” might be reflected in the results. The quality of the food will be reflected in the company YOU keep.

That’s the beauty of pot luck. Try a little of everything and don’t eat what you don’t like. The best pot luck ever was at this function these guys used to have a long time ago. It was called Boxcar. It was a night of camping a music and people hanging out on about 10 or 15 acres in the country. Dinner was pot luck, and they provided the meat. There were probably 200 people there. Most of them I did not know. I took my baked beans. They went quick!
Food was delicious.
It was so cool when the dinner call went out. All of these people came walking in from all over, converging on the food tables, carrying their own donations. It was right out of Little House on the Prairie. Every thing was so peaceful, and you walk by a campsite and people would invite you to sit down…and give you beer. That was good!
They had been throwing these parties for about 10 years. I only got the opportunity to go to 2 of them, before they finally shut it down because some asshole brought a gun one year and fired it off.

What may I prepare for your table?

Society?

Interesting that both words have the same root. Pot luck is actually socialism idealized and at its best.

When you think about it, very often when someone has company for dinner, it turns into a pot luck in that the guests will say “What can we bring?” and one person may bring a salad and one person will bring some vino, and another person will bring dessert, and one person will bring an appetizer and it turns into an impromptu pot luck.

Actual pot lucks tend to have a lot of pasta dishes, because pasta’s cheap and most people tend to not want to spend a lot of money on an entrée when they can cook up a dollar box of pasta and throw some sauce on it or turn it into a pasta salad or something.