TheIronRuler said:
The problem is this echo-chamber. At least I can respect the users, even with extreme views (to my own), that engage in actual debate with each other besides tossing shit around and debating definitions just to justify their opinions or weasel their way out of a conversation.
Oh, spare me, I just asked for what you were considering to be socialist. The fact is that the term has a hundred different meanings, depending on who you ask, so the question is a valid one.
I assumed, for instance-- correctly-- that what you are describing as 'socialist' is a far throw from what I would describe as 'socialist'. And I consider myself a socialist.
TheIronRuler said:
There are more examples of socialist countries but they are all examples of failed socialist countries (I may have overlooked more examples, I'm not familiar with the nearly two hundred countries in the world). Zimbabwe is a good example for a failed socialist country. Africa is riddled with socialist failed states thanks to soviet aggressive diplomatic policies and the limp diplomatic actions of European de-colonizers like Portugal and Britain.
Ah, Zimbabwe, of course. I'm sure you'll have no objection in my use of, say, Iran as an illustrative example of conservatism in government.
TheIronRuler said:
You don't want to engage this argument because you lost it before it even started. You can argue socialism on a philosophical, social level. I can indulge you, even if I think the theory is mostly morally repugnant.
I don't want to engage in a debate in which we're talking at cross-purposes, and using terms that the other person is using differently. I only asked for clarity.
The fact that this evoked such a pointlessly antagonistic response has told me all I probably need to know about whether you actually wanted to have a conversation on a respectful footing.
TheIronRuler said:
I can share this with you here, mostly because you've known me for years and this is wholly anonymous. The reason I'm so adamant against this method of thinking, which permeates itself into philosophy and governance stems from a short little story by Kurt Vonnegurt, 'Harrison Bergeron'. I want every single person to have the opportunity to be the best, strongest, smartest, kindest, most beautiful creature it can be, and populate the world around me. I don't want everybody to be equal in misery, for the sake of this value men created that is equality. This value philosophers created and fell in love with... We are all equal in the eyes of god, and in my view, we should all be equal in the eyes of a mortal judge - but not anywhere else.
I'm familiar with Vonnegut; he's perhaps my second favourite author. I love his work to bits.
He was a socialist, recall.
