Posted on Jul 12, 2020
Dear Marxist Students, Be Careful What You Wish For
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I can't believe people still confuse Communism and Socialism. Communism was an imperfect interpretation of socialism and is not what people are pushing for.
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LTC (Join to see)
Well, let me beg to differ here, with all due respect.
Karl Marx himself used the terms communism and socialism interchangeably. I would not consider communism an "imperfect" interpretation of socialism. I would probably call it a "clearer" and perhaps more "honest" (if the term can be applied to communism) interpretation of socialism.
In terms of hierarchy, socialism could be considered the overriding economic model. Communism, NAZIism, fascism, and "democratic socialism" are just variants on the model, each overlaying on the economic model their own particular political model, but all with the same objective.
Our "democratic socialists", in their typical hypocrisy, will claim that their particular political model will make the socialist economic model more palatable, but they are either woefully ignorant or they are cheap propagandists trying to sell garbage merchandise as if it were top of the line.
Philosophically and economically, there is no difference between communism, NAZIism, fascism and "democratic socialism". ALL these models are predicated on the premise that the level of wealth is "set" and that the only way to "spread it around" is to steal it from their rightful owners. But to steal it from its owners, you need to establish that property rights (or any individual rights) are really non-existent, and that rights, per se, are the property of the state, who will decide who gets what, both in terms of property and in terms of other rights, such as who gets to speak and what they are allowed to say.
Evidence of this is available by just watching a newscast or reading a newspaper in this country. We are seeing, every day, how our beloved "democratic socialists" are pushing to get people fired from their jobs because they said the "wrong" thing (they were not doctrinally compliant) or expressed an idea that is not allowed. And these people haven't even gotten a hold of official power yet! So we can all imagine what their approach will be to the whole "rights" concept.
Socialism is a cancer. It feeds on the ignorant and the power hungry. The latter use the former to further their "cause", through violence in all its forms, from character assassination to literal assassination, and we are seeing THAT too in this country. Socialism provides the excuse for political models that are totalitarian, whether run by a dictator or run by a raging mob that has managed to usurp the electoral system. Maduro's clique of thugs in Venezuela were originally elected to office through Chavez. Now, a few years later, over 3 million Venezuelans have abandoned their country because they can't feed their families. Which brings us to the other effects of socialism: destruction of a country's productive capacity and promotion of graft and corruption. Check out Maduro's wrist on a photo to see if you can spot the $10,000 Rolex. And the guy rolls in fat from excess food, while the country starves, except for the "annointed" of course. Yep! Socialism in all its glory!
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they wanted something different. You see socialism today and it is really no different that feudalism and the reign of kings in the past. Just substitute king for "state" and all the ingredients are there. The Founding Fathers said "enough!" and generated the first constituting document in the history of the world that declared rights to be the property of the individual and not the state. They also created an incentive mechanism for creativity and progress: the right to the fruits of your labor and private property. That system, called capitalism, accelerated progress so much, that in less than 190 years, we put a man on the Moon and beamed back the pictures. This was an impressive feat, considering that the colonists, when they arrived, had a level of agricultural subsistence technology comparable to what the ancient Egyptians used in 3000 BC. So the new model, courtesy of the Founding Fathers, allowed us to make an over 4,000 year leap in a bit less than 190 years.
Socialism is for fools... or for power hungry megalomaniacs who are willing to use the stupidity of those fools to achieve their own power objectives. Socialism destroys economies and the only "equality" it achieves is equality of misery. Ask any Venezuelan refugee near you. Or someone, like the video presenter, who has had family suffer the consequences of "socialism".
It behooves us to understand that communism, fascism, NAZIism, and many other "isms", including those who latch on the "democratic" tag as a "bait and switch" tactic, have a common conceptual root, and that is socialism. During WWII, it was said that the only difference between Hitler (NAZI) and Stalin (communist) was the size of their respective moustaches. It's true. Today the only difference between those ideologies and fascism and "democratic socialism" is the level of BS they throw out to "convince" people they "mean well".
Karl Marx himself used the terms communism and socialism interchangeably. I would not consider communism an "imperfect" interpretation of socialism. I would probably call it a "clearer" and perhaps more "honest" (if the term can be applied to communism) interpretation of socialism.
In terms of hierarchy, socialism could be considered the overriding economic model. Communism, NAZIism, fascism, and "democratic socialism" are just variants on the model, each overlaying on the economic model their own particular political model, but all with the same objective.
Our "democratic socialists", in their typical hypocrisy, will claim that their particular political model will make the socialist economic model more palatable, but they are either woefully ignorant or they are cheap propagandists trying to sell garbage merchandise as if it were top of the line.
Philosophically and economically, there is no difference between communism, NAZIism, fascism and "democratic socialism". ALL these models are predicated on the premise that the level of wealth is "set" and that the only way to "spread it around" is to steal it from their rightful owners. But to steal it from its owners, you need to establish that property rights (or any individual rights) are really non-existent, and that rights, per se, are the property of the state, who will decide who gets what, both in terms of property and in terms of other rights, such as who gets to speak and what they are allowed to say.
Evidence of this is available by just watching a newscast or reading a newspaper in this country. We are seeing, every day, how our beloved "democratic socialists" are pushing to get people fired from their jobs because they said the "wrong" thing (they were not doctrinally compliant) or expressed an idea that is not allowed. And these people haven't even gotten a hold of official power yet! So we can all imagine what their approach will be to the whole "rights" concept.
Socialism is a cancer. It feeds on the ignorant and the power hungry. The latter use the former to further their "cause", through violence in all its forms, from character assassination to literal assassination, and we are seeing THAT too in this country. Socialism provides the excuse for political models that are totalitarian, whether run by a dictator or run by a raging mob that has managed to usurp the electoral system. Maduro's clique of thugs in Venezuela were originally elected to office through Chavez. Now, a few years later, over 3 million Venezuelans have abandoned their country because they can't feed their families. Which brings us to the other effects of socialism: destruction of a country's productive capacity and promotion of graft and corruption. Check out Maduro's wrist on a photo to see if you can spot the $10,000 Rolex. And the guy rolls in fat from excess food, while the country starves, except for the "annointed" of course. Yep! Socialism in all its glory!
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they wanted something different. You see socialism today and it is really no different that feudalism and the reign of kings in the past. Just substitute king for "state" and all the ingredients are there. The Founding Fathers said "enough!" and generated the first constituting document in the history of the world that declared rights to be the property of the individual and not the state. They also created an incentive mechanism for creativity and progress: the right to the fruits of your labor and private property. That system, called capitalism, accelerated progress so much, that in less than 190 years, we put a man on the Moon and beamed back the pictures. This was an impressive feat, considering that the colonists, when they arrived, had a level of agricultural subsistence technology comparable to what the ancient Egyptians used in 3000 BC. So the new model, courtesy of the Founding Fathers, allowed us to make an over 4,000 year leap in a bit less than 190 years.
Socialism is for fools... or for power hungry megalomaniacs who are willing to use the stupidity of those fools to achieve their own power objectives. Socialism destroys economies and the only "equality" it achieves is equality of misery. Ask any Venezuelan refugee near you. Or someone, like the video presenter, who has had family suffer the consequences of "socialism".
It behooves us to understand that communism, fascism, NAZIism, and many other "isms", including those who latch on the "democratic" tag as a "bait and switch" tactic, have a common conceptual root, and that is socialism. During WWII, it was said that the only difference between Hitler (NAZI) and Stalin (communist) was the size of their respective moustaches. It's true. Today the only difference between those ideologies and fascism and "democratic socialism" is the level of BS they throw out to "convince" people they "mean well".
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Col Joseph Lenertz
LTC (Join to see) - Well Said! I appreciate your depth of discussion. True understanding of any topic requires more than twitter rant, and your depth of knowledge educates and informs without resorting to invectives and personal attacks. Nice work.
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Black lives matter is specifically mentioned in this video but the minders of rally point deleted that topic heading.
PO3 Bob McCord Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
PO3 Bob McCord Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
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LTC (Join to see)
SP5 Jim Curry I don't think they're stupid. They are just biased and refused to look at stuff from the other side. If someone showed me something from occupy democrats, I would look but I wouldn't run away like a girly man and not even look at what they're showing me.
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Sgt Bob Leonard
SP5 Jim Curry - “...sometimes its stupidity and sometimes it’s ignorance...”
I recently lost a good friend. We’ve known each other for about twenty years. He was an LA Cop in the 70s and 80s. We would talk about a wide variety of topics, discussions that sometimes lasted until midnight. Calling them “discussions”, however, is being generous. The training and experience he received as a LEO gave him the skill set and reflexes to dominate any situation he was in. A necessary skill for a Cop in LA, but not at all useful for meaningful conversation. Our conversations usually ended when I grew weary of trying unsuccessfully to get a word in edgewise.
About three months ago, when he interrupted me in mid-sentence for the third or fourth time, i finally lost it and blew up at him. We used to get together for breakfast at a local diner about once a week. Haven’t heard from him since the blow-up, he doesn’t return my phone calls.
He isn’t stupid, and he isn’t ignorant. He’s intelligent and very knowledgeable in a WIDE variety of topics. He can talk about the French Revolution, the IMF, and the NFL with equal ease. He’s not stupid, and he’s not ignorant. But he can be very impolite without realizing it. He always wants to talk, but doesn’t want to listen.
"I was watching the news last night," (Morgan Freeman) said, "and [a protester] said, 'You know, when we were out here marching peacefully, nobody was here. And now we start burning the place down, everybody is listening. What do you think we're gonna do to be heard?'
"It's like, hey, she's got a point there," Freeman said. Asked if he is supportive of the protestors, he replied, "Absolutely."
POC in this Country aren’t stupid or ignorant. They’re tired of being interrupted and being ignored. The White people of America have been grievously impolite for too long.
I recently lost a good friend. We’ve known each other for about twenty years. He was an LA Cop in the 70s and 80s. We would talk about a wide variety of topics, discussions that sometimes lasted until midnight. Calling them “discussions”, however, is being generous. The training and experience he received as a LEO gave him the skill set and reflexes to dominate any situation he was in. A necessary skill for a Cop in LA, but not at all useful for meaningful conversation. Our conversations usually ended when I grew weary of trying unsuccessfully to get a word in edgewise.
About three months ago, when he interrupted me in mid-sentence for the third or fourth time, i finally lost it and blew up at him. We used to get together for breakfast at a local diner about once a week. Haven’t heard from him since the blow-up, he doesn’t return my phone calls.
He isn’t stupid, and he isn’t ignorant. He’s intelligent and very knowledgeable in a WIDE variety of topics. He can talk about the French Revolution, the IMF, and the NFL with equal ease. He’s not stupid, and he’s not ignorant. But he can be very impolite without realizing it. He always wants to talk, but doesn’t want to listen.
"I was watching the news last night," (Morgan Freeman) said, "and [a protester] said, 'You know, when we were out here marching peacefully, nobody was here. And now we start burning the place down, everybody is listening. What do you think we're gonna do to be heard?'
"It's like, hey, she's got a point there," Freeman said. Asked if he is supportive of the protestors, he replied, "Absolutely."
POC in this Country aren’t stupid or ignorant. They’re tired of being interrupted and being ignored. The White people of America have been grievously impolite for too long.
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LTC (Join to see)
On June 4, 1972, Angela Davis was acquitted of kidnapping and murder. Her trial still resonates –...
On June 4, 1972, Angela Davis, a philosophy professor and Black radical, was acquitted on charges of kidnapping and murder related to the death of a U.S. judge. As History.com describes it:
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MAJ James Woods
LTC (Join to see) If movements were defined by a few individuals then every revolution throughout history would always fail and be deemed wrong.
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