Poll: My friend is a Communist

[triggrhappy94]

The funny thing is (I'm pretty sure) a Communist take over of the US is polling just slightly above the US Congress in favorability. Still a very low percent though.

You know it's her life and if it makes her happy. I wouldn't call her naive (mostly because that's rhetoric Reagan used against his opponents when he wasn't blatantly lying about Panama or Grenada /political history).

 

[R Man]

The only problem is those numbers are bollocks. Stalin's death toll is between 3-5 million and Mao's is unknown.

Can you provide a source for this? Reading this made me have an "eerr..what?" moment.

It's actually harder than it sounds. The original figures come from Robert Conquest who gave the 20 million figure. But at this time the iron curtain was up so he basically pulled it out of his ass. Wikipedia does have an overview of this problem, but if you are interested in some heavy reading Richard Overy covers this issue in detail in 'The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia.'

 

[Karelwolfpup]

A Communist? as in a real "oppress the workers in the name of the workers, shove them in gulags and be slightly less racist than Adolf Hitler" Communist? or just a hipster Commie?

From the sound of it, your friend is a typical College Commie. All shirt and no knickers. Always going on about "revolution" and hanging Che Guevara posters up without realising what a mass murdering fascist fuckhead he was.

 

[FiveSpeedf150]

We can't all be winners in life, I suppose.

 

[frizzlebyte]

However I do think if she really supports Communism (or a planned economy), she should visit Vietnam for a few years. Not saying it's not a great place to live, but it's not for everyone. Or if she want's to live somewhere where individualism is not at important as it is in Western society, she should live in Japan for a few years.

Communism isn't that bad. West Europe and America just make Communism sound like the political party of Satan.

Though to be fair, North Korea and Cuba aren't exactly the best places to live these days. I hear Vietnam is only place where Communism is working well.

OP should ask his or her friend stuff like, "What is true Marxist Communism?" "How does it differ from a command economy?"

That's funny to hear knowing that I'm Vietnamese.

How is Vietnam as a place to live under communism?

 

[A Satanic Panda]

We can't all be winners in life, I suppose.

Nice avatar.

However I do think if she really supports Communism (or a planned economy), she should visit Vietnam for a few years. Not saying it's not a great place to live, but it's not for everyone. Or if she want's to live somewhere where individualism is not at important as it is in Western society, she should live in Japan for a few years.

Communism isn't that bad. West Europe and America just make Communism sound like the political party of Satan.

Though to be fair, North Korea and Cuba aren't exactly the best places to live these days. I hear Vietnam is only place where Communism is working well.

OP should ask his or her friend stuff like, "What is true Marxist Communism?" "How does it differ from a command economy?"

That's funny to hear knowing that I'm Vietnamese.

How is Vietnam as a place to live under communism?

It's not bad when you visit the tourist side. Everything else sucks though. Beggars are everywhere. Middle class is being middle classy. And the rich are getting richer. Just like always.

Hell, any Communist country has great tourism. Cuba's beaches are fantastic and the DPRK has wonderful food and great nature scenery.

It's also horribly depressing. I read a blog about a Chinese group taking a tour of the DPRK. On the train in they saw what were supposed to be crops, but it was just a pile dried dirt. And when they arrived, the guards at the train station were burning books and magazines right on the platform. What's even worse is when the blogger described a malnourished middle aged women picking weeds off the side walk. I'll let you piece together why. It's fucking horrible over there.

As for beggars, yeah they are everywhere. On my trip to Paris, I couldn't walk around a street corner with a beggar asking for Euros. It's the same in Washington DC as well.

snip

Nice hat.

 

[CaptainKarma]

yes,
I personally considered myself a communist to until I realized that in a communistic government some people consider themselves more equal then others.

And this is why i hate animal farm. What does this even mean? Its gibberish, just used as an excuse to dismiss the issue.

 

[Wintermoot]

yes,
I personally considered myself a communist to until I realized that in a communistic government some people consider themselves more equal then others.

And this is why i hate animal farm. What does this even mean? Its gibberish, just used as an excuse to dismiss the issue.

I never read Animal Farm, the only one of Orwell's works I ever read/saw is the movie adaptation of 1984.

 

[Moth_Monk]

Good. I hope the OP's friend is a Communist. Today's sick capitalist society needs more Communists. Here's to hoping she doesn't lapse into defending the status quo. Communism might not be the best political system but it's better than one based on the "free market."

Captcha: thinking cap

lol indeed.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Awwwwww, me too! I am a communist too!

 

[CaptainKarma]

yes,
I personally considered myself a communist to until I realized that in a communistic government some people consider themselves more equal then others.

And this is why i hate animal farm. What does this even mean? Its gibberish, just used as an excuse to dismiss the issue.

I never read Animal Farm, the only one of Orwell's works I ever read/saw is the movie adaptation of 1984.

Okay. So what does "more equal than others" mean? That was kinda the important bit of my post.

 

[Angie7F]

I dont think communism is any worse or better than democracy and capitalism.
Every idea looks great in theory.
It is not like our capitalist societies are working very well either.

 

[chadachada123]

I'm a strong, strong libertarian.

That said, my *ideal* political system is very much like communism, and something I like to call "voluntary communalism." It's basically socially-enforced communism/communalism, but with an emphasis on basic human liberty. I recognize that, because humans are naturally greedy assholes, this will never work, so I support the next best thing, libertarianism. My ideal system would only work if the majority of humanity was not greedy and not selfish like I am.

So in that sense, yeah, your friend's position is understandable to me. I'm not about to join an Israeli commune since my life right now is tolerable, and that's good enough for me. Whether I own my car or everyone *technically* owns my car is a little bit lower on my priority list compared to other rights and issues.

 

[Wintermoot]

yes,
I personally considered myself a communist to until I realized that in a communistic government some people consider themselves more equal then others.

And this is why i hate animal farm. What does this even mean? Its gibberish, just used as an excuse to dismiss the issue.

I never read Animal Farm, the only one of Orwell's works I ever read/saw is the movie adaptation of 1984.

Okay. So what does "more equal than others" mean? That was kinda the important bit of my post.

during the communist era some politicians took more then any other citizen.
thus making themselves "more equal" then a regular citizen.
the problem with communism is that humans are inherently imperfect.

 

[CaptainKarma]

yes,
I personally considered myself a communist to until I realized that in a communistic government some people consider themselves more equal then others.

And this is why i hate animal farm. What does this even mean? Its gibberish, just used as an excuse to dismiss the issue.

I never read Animal Farm, the only one of Orwell's works I ever read/saw is the movie adaptation of 1984.

Okay. So what does "more equal than others" mean? That was kinda the important bit of my post.

during the communist era some politicians took more then any other citizen.
thus making themselves "more equal" then a regular citizen.
the problem with communism is that humans are inherently imperfect.

That doesn't make them more equal, that means they take a greater share. "more equal" is an absolutely meaningless term, thats the whole point behind the phrase in the novel - its about how a totalitarian (which is not the same as communist) government uses propaganda and bends language for its own ends.

And the "inherently imperfect" thing is the greatest con-trick ever pulled. What evidence do we have that humans are imperfect and greedy by nature, and not just molded into that by a capitalist system? And even if they ARE inherently imperfect, surely it is better to have a system that alleviates the problems that greed and imperfection cause, rather than one that embraces them and encourages them to run rampant?

 

[Pyro Paul]

any one that truely says 'i'm communist' truely doesn't know what communism is and is usually just some type of 'reformist' which wants change from the current system because they feel it is broken...

Communism, in its most pure form, is equiality based on capability.
You are only as equial as what you are able to provide.

In a more direct comparison.
If your female friend is only really capable of having children, then she is as equial to a Whore and given the same lot in life. As high she may think her social status may be, or her keen intelect may carry her, it is only in a Republic based society where those attributes come to mean anything...

It is why most communist societies fail.
Some people are more equial then others.


As to the orginal question:
I can say i'm a dolphin.
I can say i'm the govener of Mars.
I can say that i piss gold and shit bricks.

saying and doing are two VERY diffrent things.

As much as she wants to say that she holds commuist ideals to heart or that she truely identifies with those said ideals is absolutely meaningless if she does not acctively engage or attempt to engage in those ideals in her normal life.

And no, you don't need to over throw a nation to be a specific 'ist'... an 'ist' is how your life is defined in your social interactions with others. You can be communist in how you and your friends/community interact with each other and deal with communal problems that arise in your society...

 

[Random Fella]

She's just a hipster, she can have her own views I suppose
Why not tell her to move then?

 

[RESURRECTION21]

Good. I hope the OP's friend is a Communist. Today's sick capitalist society needs more Communists. Here's to hoping she doesn't lapse into defending the status quo. Communism might not be the best political system but it's better than one based on the "free market."

Captcha: thinking cap

lol indeed.

(can not tell if jokeing)

 

[CaptainKarma]

any one that truely says 'i'm communist' truely doesn't know what communism is and is usually just some type of 'reformist' which wants change from the current system because they feel it is broken...

Communism, in its most pure form, is equiality based on capability.
You are only as equial as what you are able to provide.

In a more direct comparison.
If your female friend is only really capable of having children, then she is as equial to a Whore and given the same lot in life. As high she may think her social status may be, or her keen intelect may carry her, it is only in a Republic based society where those attributes come to mean anything...

It is why most communist societies fail.
Some people are more equial then others.

What? If she's "only really capable of having children" then how will living in a capitalist society (which is what I assume you mean, a republic can be capitalist or communist, there's no conflict there) suddenly make her capable of more?

That doesn't make them more equal, that means they take a greater share. "more equal" is an absolutely meaningless term, thats the whole point behind the phrase in the novel - its about how a totalitarian (which is not the same as communist) government uses propaganda and bends language for its own ends.

And the "inherently imperfect" thing is the greatest con-trick ever pulled. What evidence do we have that humans are imperfect and greedy by nature, and not just molded into that by a capitalist system? And even if they ARE inherently imperfect, surely it is better to have a system that alleviates the problems that greed and imperfection cause, rather than one that embraces them and encourages them to run rampant?

I'm pretty sure that's the way he's using the phrase.

It's a riff on people who say one thing and do another.

And human history is a history of greed, corruption and self service. A history that stretches back long before capitalism.

Here's the thing: If that happens, it is NOT proper communism. It is corrupt communism. And I don't give a damn how far back greed and corruption go, thats still no reason we should embrace greed and not combat it.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

America for example for its supposed hate for all things "Socialist" is a very Socialist society. Things like roads, government funded hospitals, military, police forces, fire fighters, teachers, public education, the VA, Medicare, and even the idea of elected officals, are all very very very "un-capitalist".

Not at all. Socialism in an American context refers to entitlement programs: medicare, medicaid, social security, and publicly funded education, but there's nothing "socialist" whatsoever about a government raising an army to protect its subjects or hiring police officers to enforce its laws. Public roads are also hardly "un-capitalist", as no private enterprise has ever bothered to build road networks and charge travelers for using them.

To a point. Ever hear of the military-industrial complex?

Spoiler: US Military Budget 2011 (They ain't even trollen)

That's a 700 billion USD injection every year that pays for millions of jobs right out of taxes.