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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Just like pure libertarianism, pure socialism cannot work in practice because human nature prevents it. There will always be those who seek to cheat the system, and thus the society must adopt some degree of governance in order to maintain equality. It is also not possible for everyone to be perfectly equal, and over time those inequalities will form cysts that have to be treated.
There are other factors to consider as well, such as the motivation to excel. If you're always given everything you need and can never hope to strive to earn more, then there's no reason to try to become better than you are. If you do better yourself, then it is natural to believe that you deserve a larger share of the pie. People who share that belief will gravitate towards positions of authority and will, in time, dominate the society. On such dilemmas has Communism always failed.
edited 2nd May '17 12:33:16 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"For my views, I guess I'd be a social democrat, with a pro-globalization bent. I believe humanity needs to start moving towards a single world government because many of the biggest societal problems (climate change, inequality, some human rights issues) nowadays are on a global scale and cannot be solved at a nation-per-nation level.
1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KVI'm just big on the social democrat ethos of 'equality, liberty and solidarity.' That and I think that, to some extent, people have forgotten that part of the social contract of living in a society isn't just your freedoms (which are important things), but also your obligations and civil duties to your fellow human beings.
This is one of the many problems from which tax dodgers are made.
Welcome to the social democrat club. Want a free leaflet and/or copy of the Worker's Book of Songs? note
edited 2nd May '17 12:40:25 PM by math792d
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.I am most definitely a social democrat, but as I've said, I don't believe that human beings are capable of functioning in a pure socialism; there must exist the capability for market incentives to drive innovation and efficiency. In short, I believe in mixed economies, where capitalist enterprises compete within a system tightly regulated by a transparent, democratic government, with public services either nationalized or regulated and subsidized.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"That seems like a somewhat pointless distinction given there's never been a country where it did work, and that the logical takeaway from that is that the system is broken. If every attempt at building the worker's paradise gets a Stalinist hellhole there is something wrong with the idea.
I've got my copy of the Communist Party manifesto somewhere.
Communism/full Socialism is one of thosue things that shodul be strived for but never achieved, it's a goal but one that we can never achive because to do so we'd have to compromise other key things (personal freedoms and democracy being the big two), but we should try and get as close as we can without compromising thosue other key principles.
My background will have had a big impact on my ideology, I spent six years at a boarding school that was basically a (very) small scale anarch-social commune.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran@math I won't lie but even though I don't like the USSR, I gotta admit they have the best epic songs:
Not necessarily. There are different variations of Marxism. All of them failed thus far but maybe one day someone can find one that works. So I'm not closing the door on it.
But I believe in the ideals behind it.
As a reminder, "someday someone can find one that works" has been applied to all sorts of loony ideas, many of which are diametrically opposed to Marxism. For example, it is the current mantra of the Republican Party, whose ideology "cannot fail, only be failed". In that sense the GOP shares enormous similarity with the Soviet Union, which would probably scandalize all of those devoted capitalists.
edited 2nd May '17 1:05:18 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I think we may be deviating from US politics here. Perhaps this is better suited for the General Politics thread?
Also, The DCCC is buying TV ads to help Rob Quist in a special election in Montana.
edited 2nd May '17 1:10:11 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised![]()
I really freaking hope they extol the virtues of voting for him, rather than just badmouth the opposition. That shit is what assured Maffei's loss in my district, as they kept running the same three talking points about his opponent in the race.
edited 2nd May '17 1:16:25 PM by ironballs16
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"If you get lucky, Republicans will be caught unaware.
In other news, Los Angeles now has 4 million inhabitants and still growing
. Housing's an issue there as well, though.
Are we still talking about our personal political leanings?
If so, here's roughly where I stand, I think it can be summed up quite simply as:
1) Capitalism is a fantastic system for generating wealth...
2)...But often fails to distribute that wealth fairly...
3)...So steps need to be taken to ensure that the benefits and possibilities are open to everyone.
I mean according to Marx Socialism is actually just the next natural evolutionary step after Capitalism, it's meant to be a gradual transition that a highly industrialised society goes though, not a rapid revolution in an underdeveloped society.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranOh my god, I love this headline. Slightly old news - we already knew Trump was talking about maybe shutting down the government in September - but best way of phrasing it:
White House: Government Shutdown Possible If Democrats Keep Hurting Trump’s Feelings
edited 2nd May '17 2:51:54 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.

I'm with math.
@Fighteer I guess I would be a Neo-Keynesian with Marxist ideals. But I'd vote socialist in America if given the choice.
I might be a Marxist if there was ever a country that could show that the system could work.
edited 2nd May '17 12:32:29 PM by MadSkillz