All Communists are dead-beats

[Mark6]

Huh, I thought they were ivory tower, elite, college professors.

Who are often quite successful in their chosen niche.

And quite well-off.

 

[Mark6]

I think communism considers ideas worthy of study, and has certainly been important for worker's movements and the like, but True McCommunism is a pipe dream.

Of course, when people bring up Stalinist CCCP in order to criticize communism, that's a bit silly.

It is silly to criticize an idea by bringing up its most successful practicioner?

 

[Mark6]

The whole comic complete with translations.

Do you realize this was published in 2000? And makes fun of Stalin (and Hitler)? And is clearly a Harry Potter reference?

Communist propaganda this ain't.

 

[Kotatsu]

A large villa he shares with everyone equally?

Certainly, if anyone wants to stay there. Like me, he is a member of Couchsurfing, meaning that he lets other members, on request, stay at his place when they need to. As he lives in a smaller town than I do, he doesn't get many requests, but it has happened several times.

I have shared my flat (54 square metres) with as many as ten people at the same time. During these times, all my possessions are free for the use of anyone who lives with me (the computer is actually a work computer, though, so that's off limits unless someone asks to use it), and we buy food together and cook together. It works out wonderfully.

A job given to you by a company that employs you to make a profit?

No, not at all, actually.

I admit, I'm being intentionally obtuse here. I also have the sneaking suspicion that in a true Communistic society, one that adheres to communal ownership of land and a centrally planned economy, there would not be students living in large villas and jet-setting about as is guy I commented on.

Probably not. However, I see no reason why there wouldn't be students living in villas. Not on their own, certainly, as is the case with my friend now. But the villas would still be there, so why shouldn't they be used to live in?

As to "jet-setting" -- if that is what you want to call a 7h train ride in the middle of the night -- that would depend entirely on which of the many ideas of how much people would actually have to work you'd use. I believe some have imagined -- quite fancifully -- that no one would have to work more than an hour a week in their utopia, and if we suspend reality for a while and assume that he (I forgot who it was) is correct, then what would stop anyone from working 8h for a few weeks, and then go on a trip?

Republican Spain

It was different only until the communists actually took control. More or less.

We ran the neo-nazi skinheads out of downtown.

Yay!

 

[Kotatsu]

It is silly to criticize an idea by bringing up its most successful practicioner?

No more silly than to use Ahmedinejad as the poster child for religious tolerance.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Do you realize this was published in 2000? And makes fun of Stalin (and Hitler)? And is clearly a Harry Potter reference?

Communist propaganda this ain't.

Really? I saw it mentioned somewhere as being propaganda and then when I googled it to find pictures I found that website. I assumed the 2000 thing was for the site, not the comic. My bad.

 

[Mark6]

No more silly than to use Ahmedinejad as the poster child for religious tolerance.

Did Ahmedinejad ever claim to be religiously tolerant?

 

[RockNroll]

While I'm no fan of communism, and wouldn't be even if it worked as advertised (I like to own nice things and take great pride in making more money than the unwashed masses ), I have to say that none of the communists I've met were particularly deadbeat-ish. Many of them did volunteer work and some even started small businesses/cooperatives.

Although my sample size is also pretty small.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

While I'm no fan of communism, and wouldn't be even if it worked as advertised (I like to own nice things and take great pride in making more money than the unwashed masses ), I have to say that none of the communists I've met were particularly deadbeat-ish. Many of them did volunteer work and some even started small businesses/cooperatives.

Although my sample size is also pretty small.

Communism doesn't prohibit you from owning nice things or earning money.

 

[KingMerv00]

Are you normally satisified with such a small sample size?

Well, are you?

Are you?

 

[Kotatsu]

Did Ahmedinejad ever claim to be religiously tolerant?

I have absolutely no idea. Why?

 

[Mark6]

I have absolutely no idea. Why?

Because unless he did, your analogy is meaningless:

Stalin -- poster child for communism
Ahmadinejad -- poster child for religious tolerance

 

[TubbaBlubba]

Because unless he did, your analogy is meaningless:

Stalin -- poster child for communism
Ahmadinejad -- poster child for religious tolerance

What they claimed to be is irrelevant. North Korea claims to be "demcoratic".

 

[RobRoy]

Are you?

Of course. If it proves the point that I was trying to make while drawing broad generalizations about a very intangible group based solely on my own anecdotal experience, then I am definitely happy to have any scientific, pseudo-scientific, or Twitter-feed-Glen-Beck poll to support me. This allows me to ignore all the logical, well-conceived, and fact-based observations, counter-arguments and contradictions that have been pointed out to me, and instead focus on the few personal jabs that were taken at me, to exclusion of all else. Then, in the middle of the thread, I can disappear, content with my biases intact and my ignorance unscathed.

 

[Kotatsu]

Because unless he did, your analogy is meaningless:

Stalin -- poster child for communism
Ahmadinejad -- poster child for religious tolerance

Not at all; you are approaching this at the wrong level. Look here:

Using the USSR as an example of the failures of communism = silly.

Using Ahmedinejad as an example of someone who is tolerant towards other religions = silly.

Using Winnie the Pooh as an example of one of the Moomin books = silly.

Using Libya as an example of a country in South-East Asia = silly.

Using Ricinus as an example of the "core Laemobothriidae" = silly.

See? The analogy lies in using something which is not X as an example of X. In all cases, it is silly to do so.

 

[Thunder]

Using the USSR as an example of the failures of communism = silly.

what if you add in the failures of China, North Korea, and Cuba?

 

[Thunder]

know what you're talking about? Agreed.

OMG you're sooooooo clever!!!

 

[MarkCorrigan]

what if you add in the failures of China, North Korea, and Cuba?

Do you have me on ignore or something?

Have you READ this thread?

None of those are Communist countries. Once AGAIN for the slow of thinking, Communism is unattainable, and Marxist Socialism has never been implimented, the countries that people think of as Communist actually adopted a major corruption/bastardisation of Marxist thinking, Marxist Leninism, which was further corrupted into Stalinism and then later into Maoism.

Seriously, Parky, you know NOTHING about Communism, so what makes you think you can opine on it?

 

[Thunder]

Seriously, Parky, you know NOTHING about Communism, so what makes you think you can opine on it?

prove it.

you don't even know my name.

 

[RobRoy]

prove it.

you don't even know my name.

Nice strawman you got there! How much?