Platitudes
- Thread starter Vee
- Start date
Please give some examples of countries that are communist or socialist that do not have any of the problems listed above.
It is amazing that people come to the conclusion that capitalism is the root of all evil in the world when all of their complaints are exponentially worse under communism and socialism.
Give me one example throughout history of a country with a sizable population that was socialist or communist that didn't end up as an oligarchy or a dictatorship.
See the true difference between capitalism and socialism/communism is that under capitalism anyone can make it to the top. Under socialism/communism the top is much smaller and you have to be of a specific bloodline to be at the top or there is no way to get there.
This socialist utopian dream is complete and utter bullshit. It will never happen. The only way it can happen is if humans suddenly lose the desire of competition/greed/envy/etc. People cannot want the prettier wife, nicer car, bigger house, etc. The entire idea of beauty would have to completely extinguished. Besides, who gets to live in the nice house on the beach and who gets to live in the armpit of the universe i.e., the valley in this utopian dream. Also, who gets to choose who lives in the mansion on the beach? In other words, people would have to cease being human. Competitiveness is in our DNA.
For example, I am sure that if you read the propaganda of Chavez or Castro before they took over that you would be in complete agreement. They both ended up as dictators with an enormous slave class and themselves with their families at the top.
Last edited:
I don't understand your question as it relates to what I wrote. You might as well have asked me to explain what I think about growing spaghetti on Mars. Normally I would ask you if you were drugged willingly or unwillingly when you wrote that, but I am going to assume that there is a disconnect in what I wrote and what you are interpreting.
If you can make the connection for me, I may be able to explain my line of thinking.
After you wrote this, I can go no further on this matter with you, since you lack education. I know that sounds condescending, but I don't have the time to educate you. If I am mistaken and you do have an education, run, don't walk, and ask for your money back.
Capitalism has nothing to do with communism and/or socialism. For example, China, a Communist country, runs its economy in a pseudo-capitalist way. Much of Europe is Socialist, and also runs its economy in pseudo-capitalist way. In the US, we have runaway neoliberal capitalism, a particularly deadly form of cancer.
But look, you are asking me for proof about something that has been explained in every single video I posted on this thread. I cannot do better than Professor Wolff in that explanation.
Perhaps a better approach is to turn around your question - if you take the entire population's well being into consideration, why are you so high on [neoliberal] Capitalism? How do you explain statistic after statistic that the US has been declining at an unprecedented way since the late 1950s? How do you explain an economy of the richest nation in the world where 50% of the population is in dire straights and living at or near poverty?
How do you explain that measured by its own constituents, a huge percentage of the US are unhappy? http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/norway-named-world-s-happiest-country-u-s-gets-sadder-n735616
You see, Capitalism measures happiness by one metric - profit. "The material can stand in the way of the human."
Last edited:
This is true and is why removing all regulations towards the environment and big business is bad in the long run. Human greed and selfishness needs to regulated to a certain degree. Banks and businesss need some regulations or in the end you will have a big mess both in the environment and in the economy. There needs to be a balance. There is no perfect solution or answer. The middle ground is the most sustainable. This is why I like the Canadian system. There is capitalism but there are enough regulations to keep human greed and selfishness from completely taking over.
Your description of Cuba is not accurate. There are no slaves and all citizens get free health care and college education. Drug addiction and crime are not serious problems in Cuba. But the situation still sucks because you do not have enoughpersonal freedom and the people in charge do live better.
The role of regulation is really simple. Without fail throughout history, people that have conflicting interests will kill each other in the absence of intermediary law that sides with human beings, over powerful interests, on average. People way over complicate it. Regulation exist for a very real reason, and abolishing a particular one should be done with care. The only regulations that I can think of that are bad are anachronisms in our code.
As far as Cuba and the old Soviet union etc, that is the same old tired example that these people use. Capitalism is in massive decline, and it too will fail. Those of us that aren't interested in one system or another, but are instead in finding what works, will study why it failed. That is what we should do with Cuba, Russia, etc etc etc. Take the good from those failed systems implement it in your own society. Throw away the garbage. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
Unfortunately, until very recently, these experiments took hundreds if not thousands of years and people suffered through those systems horribly. I think we are in a new golden age where people are more agile and have no patience for shitty thinking anymore.
I am not married to any particular system of setting up economies. If one works better than another, let's do that. If a new one comes along that is much better, lets shift to that.
"Better" is simple to measure - FOR THE ENTIRE POPULATION: life expectancy, level of anxiety and other psychological pathology in your population, quality of life. Level of stigma and intolerance for the poor. Living your life in dignity and purpose. Feeling connected to your society.
Last edited:
So you can't even attempt to answer any of my questions? Are you completely incapable of answering any of my questions? Are the questions too hard? Do I need to dumb them down for you?
You are confusing regurgitation with education and critical thinking. I have heard the exact retarded argument that you are attempting to make countless times. You think that repeating what you have read, what you have been told or what some libtard professor taught you in college is equivalent to intelligence. You libtards don't even attempt to write an original thought. You simply regurgitate what you hear like mindless sheep. You are not telling anyone on this board anything that we haven't heard before. We read and heard all of this multiple times.
I am sorry if that sounds condescending.
You libtards immediately go to you are uneducated and look how smart I am when all you are doing is essentially copying and pasting like a parrot.
Oh....word up fraudcurrents. If you are not fraudcurrents, you are giving him a run for his money for the best mindless regurgitating parrot on the board.
What is really stupid is people keep trying this failed socialist experiment over and over and over and over again with the same results......total and absolute failure. Again and again. Why do we have to keep repeating history over and over when we already know the results?
All anti-capitalist state the same things that you are stating. It will be different this time I promise. We are in a golden age of thinking. We have evolved. We will take the good things and get rid of the bad things and everything will be perfect. Bullshit. The same old bullshit will produce the same results.
We all know what comes next. You will attack my grammatical mistakes. Also, you will be further condescending because you equate intelligence with your failed belief system. Do you really think that anyone that doesn't have your belief system is either stupid or uneducated? If that is truly the case and all people thought like you throughout history, we would still be in the dark ages.
Back to one of my elementary questions....In your socialist utopia, who gets to live in the 20,000 sqft mansion in Malibu on the beach and who lives in the armpit that is known as the LA valley in a studio apartment? Also, who gets to decide who lives where?
Last edited:
Your Norway argument is extremely flawed. Besides, Norway is a tiny country and is in no way comparable to the US. Does Greece or India have runaway neoliberal capitalism?
Also, we do not have runaway neoliberal capitalism in the US.
https://taxfoundation.org/high-inco...marginal-tax-rate-over-50-percent-tax-season/
"Californians face the highest top marginal tax rate on wage income at 51.9 percent, followed by Hawaii (50.5 percent), and New York (50.3 percent). Even high income earners in states with no income tax such as New Hampshire, Texas, and Nevada face top marginal income tax rates over 42 percent. The average across all states is about 48 percent."
You clearly think that 52% isn't high enough. So, what is the right number? How high should the top marginal tax rate be? If the US had runaway neoliberal capitalism, there wouldn't be a 52% top marginal tax rate in CA.
Last edited:
The Young Turks? lol