Communism as we see practiced is not genuine communism, I thought I made that abundantly clear... It takes an evolved enlightened self interest to understand that individuals benefit when all benefit, and that individuals are less than they could be when others go without...that we see the spirit of Marx and Engles perverted is not much different than the perversion of the teachings of Christ that we see by the RWFINOCs. Read John Donne... Churches have sufficient wealth to make sure no child goes hungry or without proper nourishment, education, etc. That however, is not what happens, as we have seen historically how the wealth of the Church was spent on lavish edifices and luxury, while the people starved... Oh I don't blame true Christians, what I read for the most part here at ET are the angry white Kristians, the INOC fundamentalist right wing klannish who rationalize their own greed as something Jesus, their Master, would want for them or others...
I am young but I hate commmunism...no one know how bad it was there. My parents are from Belarus, one of the USSR blocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus And I hate nazism, my gandpa is German. I love capitalism..My idea is to stop all of this communism in the government now a days. So stop Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama...I do not want communistic social healthcare.
"pure communism" ............ Communism, it's what Jesus wanted! How is it that the people shrieking about the feds data mining phone calls are the same who rhapsodize about "pure communism". The wonders never cease. Even communism in its purest form, requires that virtually every aspect of the proletariats' lives be controlled by the state. How else could it be ensured that nobody is outdoing someone else? Virtually every attempt at a communal society, outside of anything more sophisticated than a pygamy village, has failed miserably. The US is probably as close as a society has ever come to true classlessness. Being rich is not an officially recognized class. Hugo Chavez is practing "pure" communism as he seizes private property. How about univseral healthcare, will we be *allowed* to opt out? You can stick your "pure" communism straight where the sun don't shine.
I am afraid you are terrible misinformed, intentionally or otherwise... Pure communism is never forced... We saw a few examples in the 60's communes which is about as close as we have seen in our society, and while there was an administrative process, nothing was forced on anyone. Some of the religious communities like the Mennonites are also close to communism ideals, as there is communal living according to their view of Christian principles... http://www.gameo.org/index.asp?content=http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/C65418.html In pure communism, nothing is forced, it is all completely voluntary...
So, it's impossible to implement pure communism in a society more (EDIT:not sophisticated ) DIVERSE than a 18th century farming communitiee. At the very root of communism's problems are the same as that of Capitalism, the fallibility of people. Capitalism, however, is a system with far greater fault-tolerance. Capitalism distributes power far more wide-spread than communism. (suggesting no-body has power, is not distrubiting power, it's a delusion) Here's something interesting.... Does anyone have any theories as to why this might be? ( I certainly do )
dont' sweat me, ZZZzzzzzzzz, I'm just screwing with you. It's just that as a Capitalist, I take offense at the notion that I worship money, that's far from the truth.
Then give all your money away if you don't worship, or put it to good use helping the impoverished, right? Really, this is not the dark ages when there was real scarcity. With the advances in technology, there really is no reason that poverty continues to exist...unless those with the majority of money and power sanction it. We have no real famine, we have moral famine that allows unnecessary pain and suffering. We are not an example of what capitalism can bring to all men and women, we are an example of what greed can do in the name of a free market... Wealth and power are concentrated in less than 1% of the world's population...that really is not rational, as those with the wealth and power make the rules that the other 99% must abide by. That is not a free market, when those with the wealth and power make the rules... Is it not a truism that the rich get richer, by the power they have over the making and exercise of the laws that govern how money is earned and distributed, and written in their favor? All for one, and one for all, a communistic ideal...but not a capitalistic ideal, quite the opposite...
Your entire argument is a red herring. Capitalism isn't at fault. The international banking cartel is at fault. Read Confessions of an Economic Hitman. Run away monetary policy - and the shotgun IMF loans that fuel it - are responsible for most third world poverty. Yes, there is corruption (everywhere, under any economic system). But given a stable monetary unit and a system whereby private property rights are protected, wealth flourishes.
ZZZ you are a typically naive idealist. Communism doesn't work without force because it runs counter to the totality of human nature. Maybe one day humans will evolve to the point where a collective society will be possible but we are so far from that point, millenniums at least and I am sure we will do ourselves in as a species long before we evolve to that point anyway. All the examples you cite have the force of ostracism involved to keep people in line. The community may not "force" you to abide by their rules physically but emotionally and psychologically the price to pay for not conforming is extremely high (ask Ghandi's wife) and it is usually a form of dictatorship anyway in a cultish way(personality, lofty unrealistic ideals), all members are certainly not equal as you idealists would have us believe. Following up on the premise posted by the OP I don't understand why more people don't find religious symbols of the main religions offensive give the destruction, carnage, misery, and loss of life that can be laid squarely at the feet of most of the world's major religions? And before all you delusional idealist religious freaks come out of the woodwork to attack me think about this: Love is not words and tounge but action and truth. I am sure the more fanatic amongst you will know what I am talking about. I have felt for some time now that the idealists of this world are the cause of a great deal of the world problems. The idealists and those savvy few who use and exploit their idealistic fervor (all too easy to do as the idealists are too caught up in their dogma to exercise any reality based critical thought that would protect themselves from the exploiters).
Wow... are you ever wrong a lot. Do you just make these things up and hope that the occasional one is right? Yes. Capitalism is the most natural economic system, because it reflects the competition implicit in the natural world. Idealists are arrogant. They feel that because we just crawled out of the slime a tick of the second hand ago (epochally speaking), we've somehow evolved beyond the need to compete for survival. Of course this is ridiculous. However, I would not classify the Disgusting Troll as an idealist. As Rearden Metal has pointed out, the Troll simply adopts the position that will incite the most people. In another thread he will argue the other side of the issue. His contradictions on these boards are legendary, and his flip-flops almost as frequent as his alcoholic relapses.