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He's right on socialism Tom Send a noteboard - 25/09/2017 12:42:26 AM

I realize that everyone these days doesn't understand nuance, and social democracy which was supported by socialist and left-leaning parties is now equated with socialism, when in fact it never was or is the ultimate goal of those parties. I get it. But that doesn't make it socialism. Socialism is state control of the means of production, and it's the goal of every socialist party out there. Strict Marxists fight for it. Marxist-Leninists fight for it. Trotskyists and Maoists fight for it. Contemptible revisionist splitters (sorry, channeling Leninism there for a second) following Bernstein and Kautsky merely agreed to fight for it through democratic means rather than open conflict and revolution, and that latter group comprises pretty much every moderate Left Eurosocialist group out there. It also includes Bernie Sanders and much of the US socialist Left (though not their fellow travelers, who are naive enough to think it's all about healthcare for everyone).

Now, by those standards, I have yet to see socialism work. Every time the state takes something over, it becomes hideously corrupt, grossly inefficient and ends up failing. Then it either gets bailed out by the state (the preferred French method for dealing with state-controlled industry) or sold off (as Maggie Thatcher did, along with most eastern European post-communist states).

So let's see: we know planned economies fail 100% of the time. State industries have a failure rate approaching that if not at it (I'm sure there's one exception out there that's made money for brief periods of time due to market inefficiencies, like state-run oil companies in 2007). So then how is Trump wrong when saying socialism fails?

Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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I don't care if Trump deputizes the Klan or outlaws Spanish; Rocket Man is worth it. - 21/09/2017 01:00:46 AM 1220 Views
Rocket Man was hilarious. - 21/09/2017 02:57:15 AM 566 Views
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Are you sure that's strategy? - 24/09/2017 08:39:19 AM 543 Views
Pretty sure - 24/09/2017 11:07:00 PM 554 Views
that is funny - 21/09/2017 07:03:17 PM 633 Views
You said something similar a while back. And really, I just don't get it. - 21/09/2017 07:52:31 PM 680 Views
Oh, and just to add... - 21/09/2017 07:55:35 PM 584 Views
such as? - 21/09/2017 08:16:48 PM 629 Views
Alright, let's see. - 21/09/2017 08:46:43 PM 629 Views
And yet....and yet....and yet.... - 21/09/2017 09:13:30 PM 576 Views
Now I'm curious. - 21/09/2017 09:40:32 PM 496 Views
Sure, I'll bite... - 21/09/2017 10:07:00 PM 547 Views
He's right on socialism - 25/09/2017 12:42:26 AM 547 Views
Sure, by the original meaning of the word. - 25/09/2017 05:22:50 PM 551 Views
People misuse words all the time (cf. ironic). That's their problem. - 25/09/2017 07:25:55 PM 562 Views
I'm making the argument... - 26/09/2017 07:12:56 PM 633 Views
Socialists are taking it back - 26/09/2017 08:03:39 PM 576 Views
...democratic... fascism? *NM* - 26/09/2017 08:22:36 PM 310 Views
Sure - 26/09/2017 08:32:17 PM 554 Views
It's an interesting idea. - 27/09/2017 02:19:19 AM 542 Views
Sounds like Singapore to me. *NM* - 27/09/2017 02:33:06 AM 289 Views
See, I wouldn't call Singapore democratic. - 27/09/2017 05:03:14 AM 493 Views
Did you see their hilarious presidential 'election' recently? *NM* - 27/09/2017 07:55:15 AM 337 Views
*shrug* - 27/09/2017 01:05:47 PM 517 Views
I think that's a weakness of your spectrum argument, though. - 27/09/2017 11:06:16 PM 457 Views
the non military is the further stretch - 27/09/2017 02:16:03 PM 546 Views
lol - 27/09/2017 02:37:00 PM 529 Views
Hmm. - 27/09/2017 06:52:46 PM 545 Views
Almost missed this reply, hiding down here. - 27/09/2017 09:40:41 PM 505 Views
Uh. You say no, but what follows makes it sound like yes? - 27/09/2017 11:42:11 PM 596 Views
You're again making an idiotic argument - 27/09/2017 07:25:36 PM 564 Views
Which you then did your best to prove? Thank you for that, by the way. - 27/09/2017 09:13:28 PM 601 Views
No, socialist is socialist. What is so hard about that? - 28/09/2017 05:05:27 AM 518 Views
It was a brilliant speech all around, and you don't understand Trump based on those comments. - 21/09/2017 08:32:29 PM 553 Views
He's doing jack shit. He tells people everything they want to hear, then blames Congress... - 21/09/2017 08:57:36 PM 605 Views
That's absolutely not what he's doing - 22/09/2017 09:54:34 PM 547 Views
If you say so. - 25/09/2017 05:31:00 PM 590 Views
I can see where you're coming from... - 21/09/2017 08:50:03 PM 588 Views
Oh, that people voted for him over Clinton, I can understand well enough. - 21/09/2017 09:02:50 PM 491 Views
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PC is about much more than not saying things to offend people - 22/09/2017 01:26:16 PM 581 Views
It is? Like what? - 25/09/2017 06:37:01 PM 524 Views
By the by - 25/09/2017 07:23:39 PM 509 Views
That's a good point. - 26/09/2017 06:44:13 PM 494 Views
I get it.... - 26/09/2017 09:00:35 PM 478 Views
Re: It is? Like what? - 25/09/2017 08:09:53 PM 591 Views
Re: It is? Like what? - 26/09/2017 02:08:17 PM 576 Views
Trump lost credibility to me on the 'anti-PC' / 'pro free speech' issue - 26/09/2017 07:54:06 PM 488 Views
Let's hold the phone here for a moment.... - 26/09/2017 09:07:07 PM 464 Views
Too late to hold the phone! The horses are out of the barn. - 26/09/2017 09:20:06 PM 505 Views
Yeah. And not just Trump. - 26/09/2017 11:59:05 PM 471 Views
Re: Yeah. And not just Trump. - 27/09/2017 02:27:40 AM 504 Views
keep it in one thread n00b - 27/09/2017 02:52:55 AM 542 Views
Don't confuse PC with social norms - 27/09/2017 02:21:49 PM 462 Views
So... - 27/09/2017 02:39:01 PM 511 Views
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He was in town today, stumping for Luther Strange - 23/09/2017 03:58:49 AM 571 Views
You're an Alabamian, huh? Me too! - 26/09/2017 06:05:24 PM 460 Views
I'm a Kansan, I live in 'Bama - 26/09/2017 06:19:13 PM 494 Views

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