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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 1216 Views
Rocket Man was hilarious. - 21/09/2017 02:57:15 AM 559 Views
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Are you sure that's strategy? - 24/09/2017 08:39:19 AM 538 Views
Pretty sure - 24/09/2017 11:07:00 PM 547 Views
that is funny - 21/09/2017 07:03:17 PM 628 Views
You said something similar a while back. And really, I just don't get it. - 21/09/2017 07:52:31 PM 676 Views
Oh, and just to add... - 21/09/2017 07:55:35 PM 579 Views
such as? - 21/09/2017 08:16:48 PM 623 Views
Alright, let's see. - 21/09/2017 08:46:43 PM 621 Views
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Now I'm curious. - 21/09/2017 09:40:32 PM 491 Views
Sure, I'll bite... - 21/09/2017 10:07:00 PM 542 Views
He's right on socialism - 25/09/2017 12:42:26 AM 541 Views
Sure, by the original meaning of the word. - 25/09/2017 05:22:50 PM 546 Views
People misuse words all the time (cf. ironic). That's their problem. - 25/09/2017 07:25:55 PM 557 Views
I'm making the argument... - 26/09/2017 07:12:56 PM 628 Views
Socialists are taking it back - 26/09/2017 08:03:39 PM 571 Views
...democratic... fascism? *NM* - 26/09/2017 08:22:36 PM 306 Views
Sure - 26/09/2017 08:32:17 PM 551 Views
It's an interesting idea. - 27/09/2017 02:19:19 AM 537 Views
Sounds like Singapore to me. *NM* - 27/09/2017 02:33:06 AM 287 Views
See, I wouldn't call Singapore democratic. - 27/09/2017 05:03:14 AM 485 Views
Did you see their hilarious presidential 'election' recently? *NM* - 27/09/2017 07:55:15 AM 334 Views
*shrug* - 27/09/2017 01:05:47 PM 513 Views
I think that's a weakness of your spectrum argument, though. - 27/09/2017 11:06:16 PM 452 Views
the non military is the further stretch - 27/09/2017 02:16:03 PM 541 Views
lol - 27/09/2017 02:37:00 PM 523 Views
Hmm. - 27/09/2017 06:52:46 PM 541 Views
Almost missed this reply, hiding down here. - 27/09/2017 09:40:41 PM 501 Views
Uh. You say no, but what follows makes it sound like yes? - 27/09/2017 11:42:11 PM 589 Views
You're again making an idiotic argument - 27/09/2017 07:25:36 PM 560 Views
Which you then did your best to prove? Thank you for that, by the way. - 27/09/2017 09:13:28 PM 595 Views
No, socialist is socialist. What is so hard about that? - 28/09/2017 05:05:27 AM 512 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 549 Views
He's doing jack shit. He tells people everything they want to hear, then blames Congress... - 21/09/2017 08:57:36 PM 597 Views
That's absolutely not what he's doing - 22/09/2017 09:54:34 PM 542 Views
If you say so. - 25/09/2017 05:31:00 PM 583 Views
I can see where you're coming from... - 21/09/2017 08:50:03 PM 582 Views
Oh, that people voted for him over Clinton, I can understand well enough. - 21/09/2017 09:02:50 PM 486 Views
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It is? Like what? - 25/09/2017 06:37:01 PM 518 Views
By the by - 25/09/2017 07:23:39 PM 502 Views
That's a good point. - 26/09/2017 06:44:13 PM 489 Views
I get it.... - 26/09/2017 09:00:35 PM 472 Views
Re: It is? Like what? - 25/09/2017 08:09:53 PM 584 Views
Re: It is? Like what? - 26/09/2017 02:08:17 PM 569 Views
Trump lost credibility to me on the 'anti-PC' / 'pro free speech' issue - 26/09/2017 07:54:06 PM 483 Views
Let's hold the phone here for a moment.... - 26/09/2017 09:07:07 PM 460 Views
Too late to hold the phone! The horses are out of the barn. - 26/09/2017 09:20:06 PM 501 Views
Yeah. And not just Trump. - 26/09/2017 11:59:05 PM 466 Views
Re: Yeah. And not just Trump. - 27/09/2017 02:27:40 AM 500 Views
keep it in one thread n00b - 27/09/2017 02:52:55 AM 537 Views
Don't confuse PC with social norms - 27/09/2017 02:21:49 PM 458 Views
So... - 27/09/2017 02:39:01 PM 505 Views
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He was in town today, stumping for Luther Strange - 23/09/2017 03:58:49 AM 567 Views
You're an Alabamian, huh? Me too! - 26/09/2017 06:05:24 PM 454 Views
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