Oh god, im confused!

[Anonymous]

Oh, and one more thing 16:00, you were right to point out the technical mistake I made in my post. I haven't spent years studying up on socialist and communist doctrine like I'm sure you have. My knowledge of communism is limited and partially based on the stories of my relatives living in Poland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how I explained to my daughter: Everybody in the class has to bring in 50 cents for cupcakes. But one little girl's mommy didn't have 50 cents to give her. The democrats would say the little girl could still get a cupcake, everyone could share. Republicans would say, you didn't bring in your 50 cents so no cupcake for you!!

To continue the story...the following week, the little girl still doesn't have 50 cents to buy a cupcake so her classmates chip in to buy her one. And then the following week, the girl still doesn't have 50 cents so her classmates chip in again to buy her one. This goes on for several months and eventually, the little girl learns that she never has to have 50 cents, other people will always pay her way. The little girl never develops a work ethic and becomes dependent on government assistance and the charity of others. With no gainful employment and no self-esteem, the little girl turns to a life of drugs, alcohol and petty crime. This cycle continues for the next thirty years and destroys a community.

Great story, OP. Another liberal idiot is born.

[Anonymous]

To the original poster --

You might want to take a look at the respective parties' platforms:


http://www.demconvention.com/assets/downloads/2008-Democratic-Platform-final.pdf


http://www.gopplatform2008.com/2008Platform.pdf

[Anonymous]

My dad, quoting some dead notable (Twain, maybe?) said if you're a Conservative at 20, you have no heart. If you're a Liberal at 30, you have no head.

Another one, also from dear old dad: Republicans want everyone to be rich, or as many as possible, even at the expense of equality. Democrats want everyone to be equal, or as close as possible, even at the expense of wealth.

My own breakdown, no where near as campy: Republicans in this day and age stand for (but fail to achieve) fiscal responsibility and military superiority. Democrats stand for (and fail to acheive) social good. Republicans support institutions over people, for example: if we balance the budget today, it will be there for the next generation. Democrats support people over institutions: if we help people today, they can help balance the budget tomorrow.

(I find that I cannot hit "submit" without a disclaimer: me an' dad don't agree about much.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how I explained to my daughter: Everybody in the class has to bring in 50 cents for cupcakes. But one little girl's mommy didn't have 50 cents to give her. The democrats would say the little girl could still get a cupcake, everyone could share. Republicans would say, you didn't bring in your 50 cents so no cupcake for you!!

To continue the story...the following week, the little girl still doesn't have 50 cents to buy a cupcake so her classmates chip in to buy her one. And then the following week, the girl still doesn't have 50 cents so her classmates chip in again to buy her one. This goes on for several months and eventually, the little girl learns that she never has to have 50 cents, other people will always pay her way. The little girl never develops a work ethic and becomes dependent on government assistance and the charity of others. With no gainful employment and no self-esteem, the little girl turns to a life of drugs, alcohol and petty crime. This cycle continues for the next thirty years and destroys a community.

Great story, OP. Another liberal idiot is born.

I am so not ever sharing my cupcake with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's right, communism doesn't work. It is a political idea which is impossible to implement. Although, from your comment, you'd certainly be willing to give it another try.

Imagine if you were serf in the Middle Ages in Europe talking to someone who is asking you to try capitalism. You'd be saying, "You mean I should be able to have my own business and make money (what is that?) and move freely around the country? Nah, couldn't happen! That's never worked! I'll just be here farming my little plot and giving part of my harvest to my lord just like my parents did and just like my kids will after me. And we'll never ever leave because we belong to this land and the lord who rules it." If people thought the way you do, we'd never have had capitalism because people couldn't imagine it working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's right, communism doesn't work. It is a political idea which is impossible to implement. Although, from your comment, you'd certainly be willing to give it another try.

Imagine if you were serf in the Middle Ages in Europe talking to someone who is asking you to try capitalism. You'd be saying, "You mean I should be able to have my own business and make money (what is that?) and move freely around the country? Nah, couldn't happen! That's never worked! I'll just be here farming my little plot and giving part of my harvest to my lord just like my parents did and just like my kids will after me. And we'll never ever leave because we belong to this land and the lord who rules it." If people thought the way you do, we'd never have had capitalism because people couldn't imagine it working.

So what are you saying? We should give communism a try? I thought China has done that already, we can all see the result, no?

[Anonymous]

PP, please point me to a country where an attempt was made to move to communism and the people didn't suffer economically and socially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's right, communism doesn't work. It is a political idea which is impossible to implement. Although, from your comment, you'd certainly be willing to give it another try.

Imagine if you were serf in the Middle Ages in Europe talking to someone who is asking you to try capitalism. You'd be saying, "You mean I should be able to have my own business and make money (what is that?) and move freely around the country? Nah, couldn't happen! That's never worked! I'll just be here farming my little plot and giving part of my harvest to my lord just like my parents did and just like my kids will after me. And we'll never ever leave because we belong to this land and the lord who rules it." If people thought the way you do, we'd never have had capitalism because people couldn't imagine it working.

So what are you saying? We should give communism a try? I thought China has done that already, we can all see the result, no?

No, as an earlier PP pointed out, true communism (little "c") hasn't been tried. What has been called Communism (big "c") has been some form of state socialism and isn't what Marx meant by communism. Actually I don't know if communism little "c" can work but I don't reject it out of hand. (Not going to go into the details here but trust me China is NOT what Marx meant.)

The other thing that is important to note is that people sometimes conflate economic systems with political systems. Communism is an economic system as is capitalism. Democracy is a political system as is a dictatorship. It is possible for a country to be capitalist and democratic or capitalist and a dictatorship. It is also theoretically possible for a country to be both communist and democratic. Personally I would never support socialism or communism unless it were democratic so I have a long-term view of these things. And my long-term view is that one day I hope Americans will choose to support a democratic socialist economic system.

I'm just raising the possibility that we could be like those serfs in the Middle Ages, assuming that the world would always be the way we had known it. There's nothing natural about the US economic system. Lots of countries in Europe have made different choices and are thriving. Maybe most Americans would not want to take that route but it's important to realize that this is the result of choices we have made rather than some kind of natural evolution of the economic system. (which of course is contrary to what Marx believed -- he thought there was a logical progression to these things and that it was inevitable. Don't think it went the way Karl expected it to!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's how I explained to my daughter: Everybody in the class has to bring in 50 cents for cupcakes. But one little girl's mommy didn't have 50 cents to give her. The democrats would say the little girl could still get a cupcake, everyone could share. Republicans would say, you didn't bring in your 50 cents so no cupcake for you!!

To continue the story...the following week, the little girl still doesn't have 50 cents to buy a cupcake so her classmates chip in to buy her one. And then the following week, the girl still doesn't have 50 cents so her classmates chip in again to buy her one. This goes on for several months and eventually, the little girl learns that she never has to have 50 cents, other people will always pay her way. The little girl never develops a work ethic and becomes dependent on government assistance and the charity of others. With no gainful employment and no self-esteem, the little girl turns to a life of drugs, alcohol and petty crime. This cycle continues for the next thirty years and destroys a community.

Great story, OP. Another liberal idiot is born.

I am so not ever sharing my cupcake with you.

That is fine because I work hard to earn money for my cupcake so I don't fall into needing welfare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That is fine because I work hard to earn money for my cupcake so I don't fall into needing welfare.

Well, when your cupcake pan breaks and you go bankrupt trying to replace it and then lose your job, don't come crawling to me.