a philosophy cannot commit crimes, only those who practice it.

I think communism works as long as all the participant volunteer. The problem is that if you do it on a country scale, you get alot of disgruntled party members.

/Also don't forget about the leaders scraping off the top. That tends to piss off the working class.

Basically, I'm saying you need a high level of buy-in.

True believers still have faith in capitalism despite its crimes, and beca-IS THAT A NEW iPOD?!?

I've got a lot of drab clothes anyway, so it wouldn't be a huge adjustment for me.

Cake Hunter: I've got a lot of drab clothes anyway, so it wouldn't be a huge adjustment for me.

But you need plenty of babushkas too.

Pale_Green_Pants_With_Nobody_Inside_Them
But you need plenty of babushkas too.

No, the State would need plenty of babushkas. I'd just need to wait in line for 9 hours to get one.

Communism has become the Left's version of Intelligent Design.

How inappropriate for this not to get the redlight...

How inappropriate for this not to get the redlight

why?

Not quite, filth. You can prove that communism is a crock of shiat. ID only appears to be a crock of shiat if you think that science holds all the answers.

/not that they should teach ID in science class -- they shouldn't.

Pale_Green_Pants_With_Nobody_Inside_Them: I think communism works as long as all the participant volunteer.

Which is why communism doesn't work. You can't force "equality" on people.

albo, it was a poor attempt at humor, Communists=Reds.

filth
Communism has become the Left's version of Intelligent Design.

What the hell does that even mean?

So is Capitalism equal to Evolution? Theocracy is Creationism?

Nonsense is still nosense, even if you use big words to say it.

Croooow!: So is Capitalism equal to Evolution?

What he's saying is that communism is just a bunch of stupid bullshiat being propagated by people who really just want to force their own agenda on people.

A lot like the ID people.

tarrant84
Pale_Green_Pants_With_Nobody_Inside_Them: I think communism works as long as all the participant volunteer.

Which is why communism doesn't work. You can't force "equality" on people.

Which is why capitalism "works". Because you can force inequality on people.

filth: Communism has become the Left's version of Intelligent Design.

Comments like these have become the Right's version of intelligent discussion.

NYMoogle: Which is why capitalism "works". Because you can force inequality on people.

Um, capitalism has failed?

Inequality exists in nature. Some men are tall, some are short, some are big, some small, some good hunters, others are extremely intelligent. They can cooperate to achieve, but their traits aren't equal.

tarrant84
communism is just a bunch of stupid bullshiat being propagated by people who really just want to force their own agenda on people.

Granted, I didn't RTFA, but can someone show me where someone on the left is trying to force Communism on people?

Russias attempt at communism was about as good as our efforts today at democracy. Both are a LONG ways from the goal.

Communism will fail if there is no way to determine contributable value and reward appropriately. Capitolism thrives on this failure to calculate value. That's the bottom line.

btw, strictly speaking we're not really a democracy. What we most closely resemble at this juncture is rather depressing..

Mussolini's reply when asked to define facism: "The marriage of state and corporation."

It works on Star Trek.

Communism is the perfect theory.
All you need is some Fascists to enforce it, and some Capitalists to pay for it....

Submitter's mom is a communist. I heard she sleeps with her whole community.

hb0mb
a philosophy cannot commit crimes, only those who practice it.

Just like my kitchen knives and machine guns. They are guilty of nothing...so far as you know.

tarrant84

Inequality exists in nature. Some men are tall, some are short, some are big, some small, some good hunters, others are extremely intelligent. They can cooperate to achieve, but their traits aren't equal.

So... rape and murder are good because they mimic the state of nature?

Well, Ayn Rand said so. It must be true.

Axias said:
a bunch of stupid shiat

Jesus Christ.

America was never supposed to be a democracy.

/Stfu noob

"Communism doesn't work because human beings like to own stuff."
--Frank Zappa

Personally, I'd much rather earn something on my own than have my government ration it out to me. Where's the sense of accomplishment in that?

Submitter's mom is a communist. I heard she sleeps with her whole community.


From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.

yeah, communism works, as long as you arent one of the 25,000,000,000 people killed by it. And as long as you think removing any incentive to work, do a good job, or not be corrupted is no big deal. Communism works just fine. Just ask any liberal retard who hates God, Family & even his own country. In fact, Communism is the chosen policy of anyone who thinks freedom is a bad idea.

what's this? a flamewar on political ideology come to rescue me from a devastatingly boring monday? oh joyous merriment!

Kind of like Capitalism.

Zealots on both sides annoy me. Both boil down to people with power using it against people how don't have power.

This link is a dupe, this was posted back in 1955.

tarrant84

Um, capitalism has failed?

Inequality exists in nature. Some men are tall, some are short, some are big, some small, some good hunters, others are extremely intelligent. They can cooperate to achieve, but their traits aren't equal.

Inequality exists in nature, government structure does not. Hierarchy exists in nature, profit margins do not. The inequality I am referring to is quality of life. Capitalism hasn't failed, IMO, it is a joke. Any system under which a person can own five cars and live within driving distance of someone who can't feed their family even though they work multiple jobs is a failure. I am not a die-hard communist, but I believe in egalitarianism. Capitalism is fueled by two main lies. The first: That working hard and paying dues is the road to success. This lie is exposed by two examples that are prevalent in today's society. People who get ahead through cheating, fooling those less intelligent than themselves, and inheriting wealth. Keep in mind, I don't blame these people for playing a crooked game, it's the only one we have. The second lie is that material objects are where man find happiness and motivation. This dependance on external objects robs many people of their character, stifles artistic pursuit in order to obtain a "comfortable" life, and is cyclical in nature.
And to anyone who thinks communism "failed" and is therefore inherently flawed should go back and talk to Thomas Edison, or an abolitionist, or to Jesus Christ and ask them what constitutes failure. Failure wasn't when communism killed millions and got hijacked by rotten autocrats, failure was when people collectively gave up on a good idea for the fear of living in a world where they weren't better than someone else.

Communism is fatally flawed, but it attempts to address a real need, which is the plight of the working classes in the face of increasing power on the part of the capitalist elite.

Capitalists used to play West Virginia off against Maine to screw the workers, now they play Mexico off against Indonesia against the US. The net result is a declining standard of living for those workers in the economies with the most prosperous capitalists (Japan, US).

Communism is not the answer, but there will have to be some system that addresses the dignity and human rights of workers in a global economy. Revolution is inevitable, it's just a question of what form it takes - velevet or bloody.

Where's the sense of accomplishment in that?

Did you make the wheel, chasis, engine, etc. on your car? Where's the sense of accomplishment if you didn't do it all yourself?

Did you walk to school backwards, barefoot, naked, uphill, through the snow?

/Now get off my lawn
//Those meddling kids

ok general comment goes here then, cuz that was funny but denied

Communism works fine, you even have a bunch of it in the states. I believe you call them the Amish.

It's when you try and scale it up past a few hundred people that it all goes in the crapper.

I hate Communism both in theory and in practice, but I don't think this headline has anything to do with the article.

Personally, I'd much rather earn something on my own than have my government ration it out to me. Where's the sense of accomplishment in that?

Shut up and take your pill.

Actually, the communism is simply the slave economy...except the government is the slaveholder and master...and we little people the slaves. Sorta what would happen if the IRS ran the rest of the government.

Social democracies work quite nicely. Me likey.

The problem with communism is that they don't leave when you vote them out. The real problem with it lies with the dictatorship aspect of it, not the economic system. Free market dictatorships are brutal and horrible as well.

Grrrrr...This lie is exposed by two examples that are prevalent in today's society. People who get ahead through cheating, fooling those less intelligent than themselves, and inheriting wealth. Three examples.

It seems fashionable to declare that communism is dead and that capitalism has triumphed once and for all. I think this is premature. Not that I am a fan of communism (having visited a couple of European communist lands in the 1980's), but it could come storming back in the coming decades under certain circumstances.

Consider the idea that non-renewable natural resources may become scarcer with time, and scarcer to the poiint that key substances need to be strictly rationed. IOW, consider the possibility that capitalism and market economies might fail to adequately conserve and distribute key precious resources in an emergency situation. In such circumstances, the rebirth of communist government is plausible.

Croooow!: filth
Communism has become the Left's version of Intelligent Design.

What the hell does that even mean?

So is Capitalism equal to Evolution? Theocracy is Creationism?

Nonsense is still nosense, even if you use big words to say it.

I believe he meant that it is an article of faith that is clearly ridiculous, but still clung to with blind fervor.

As previous poster said communism only works if everyone chooses to participate fairly. This is the exact reason why capitalism works because if you don't participate at all you starve, and it handles participating unfairly bad, but a hell lot bette than communism.

Russias attempt at communism was about as good as our efforts today at democracy.

Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner.

We have a constitutional republic, and are better off for it.

Communists=Reds.

Red? Fred! Who's Fred, ha!

LocalCynic: So... rape and murder are good because they mimic the state of nature?

Communism is more like, because rape and murder exist in nature, let's have the state ban all forms of sexual activity and potentially violent relations such as sports.

That is communism. Capitalism lets inequalities operate within reasonable parameters and sociatial values.

Communism simply can't allocate resources as well as a free market.

/biatch-slap with the invisible hand

LocalCynic:
So... rape and murder are good because they mimic the state of nature?

you sir, are crazy as a loon. Observing inequality in nature is the same as condoning rape and murder?

He's not even saying that inequality is good. He's just saying it exists and it really f'ing hard, if not impossible, to make people blind to that fact.