Socialism

[christianpfc]

...why the country needs a good dose of socialism.
I think history has shown that socialism has truly and thoroughly failed.

Eastern Germany was lover developed than Western Germany.
Cuba is still socialist, but many try to get into capitalist USA.
N Vietnam won the war over S Vietnam, but now some of their boys work in Thailand's bars.
N Korea vs S Korea.
Taiwan ROC is higher developed than China PRC.

And other countries in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_states are not high in development.

[dab69]

average person has a 3" dick. one testicle and half a vagina...

[arsenal]

The UK gets it about right. We have a socialist govt about 25 percent of the time. This gives us all the benefits while allowing the conservatives to run the place properly the other 3/4.

[a447]

average person has a 3" dick. one testicle and half a vagina...

That's comforting to know.

I grew up thinking I was abnormal!

[christianpfc]

I forgot Cambodia under the Red Khmer. The closest mankind ever got to genuine socialism.

[goji]

Singapore gets it about right, with the socialists never getting elected.
With low taxation & good governance, living standards for all keep rising.

Of course, compared with Thailand, Singpore has advantages like much less corruption and a better education system.

[Brad the Impala]

I forgot Cambodia under the Red Khmer. The closest mankind ever got to genuine socialism.

I don't think that you can use the Cambodia of the Khmer Rouge as an example of socialism! They came out of the jungle having been carpet bombed to insanity, illegally, by the US!

[cdnmatt]

I would imagine capitalism is on its last legs, as this trajectory is simply unsustainable. Or are we just going to continue down this path until a handful of people like Bezos, Musk, Branson, and Ma own absolutely everything and everyone else is a peasant?

It's not like there's going to be huge free market competition going on when Bezos starts mining asteroids as bit of a high bar to entry on that one. And some of those asteroids have literally quadrillions of dollars worth of materials in them, far more than all the wealth on the earth.

[StevieWonders]

I would imagine capitalism is on its last legs, as this trajectory is simply unsustainable. Or are we just going to continue down this path until a handful of people like Bezos, Musk, Branson, and Ma own absolutely everything and everyone else is a peasant?

It's not like there's going to be huge free market competition going on when Bezos starts mining asteroids as bit of a high bar to entry on that one. And some of those asteroids have literally quadrillions of dollars worth of materials in them, far more than all the wealth on the earth.No wonder the Thai average is so high if you’re including them. Or are you derailing your own thread?

[cdnmatt]

No wonder the Thai average is so high if you’re including them. Or are you derailing your own thread?

Don't you have a rent boy in the shower to keep you busy, or something?

[Armando]

I forgot Cambodia under the Red Khmer. The closest mankind ever got to genuine socialism.
You surely forget China under the early years of Mao. The phrase "socialism kills" can surely never have been so apt. Pol Pot's madness killing 1.5 million or more of his own people, and Mao's madness killing around 30 million. But then it's a bit tricky to call those regimes socialist. They were revolutionary dictators putting utterly mad theories into practice.

[Moggy]

I think people on this forum are confusing Socialism with Communism.

[StevieWonders]

I think people on this forum are confusing Socialism with Communism.More to the point they’re taking someone’s assertion that they are a socialist to be accurate rather than self-serving. Priests who sexually abuse altar boys proclaim themselves to be practising Christians.

[cdnmatt]

I think people on this forum are confusing Socialism with Communism.

Or just straight up fascist authortarians. All these mentions about Pol Pot, Hitler, and Moa but not a peep about places like Sweden, Netherlands or even Canada for that matter.

What are some of these folks going to think when UBI becomes the new norm? I wouldn't be surprised at all if Canada ends up with a UBI sometime within the next 5 - 10 years.


Here, he explains socialism way better than I ever could hope to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hactcmhVS1w

[arsenal]

"You surely forget China under the early years of Mao. The phrase "socialism kills" can surely never have been so apt. Pol Pot's madness killing 1.5 million or more of his own people, and Mao's madness killing around 30 million."

Jung Chiang suggests that the actual number of dead under Mao was 70 million. 10 years research and almost certainly with the tacit support of the Chinese govt so it's probably close to the truth. But hey, great outfits and everyone got a bicycle.

[wingnut]

All socialism kills, and absolute socialism kills absolutely.

[goji]

I think people on this forum are confusing Socialism with Communism.

1 The basic principles and the results are the same. Always failure.

2 No matter how it was badged, Eastern Europe has Socialism. It failed. Even in the DDR.

[christianpfc]

You surely forget China under the early years of Mao. ...
I forgot. But my point was that the Red Khmer got closest, abolishing money and private property, than anyone else.

In socialism, all are equal ... ly poor.
Better in German, where adjective and adverb have the same form: Im Sozialismus sind alle gleich ... arm.

Look at Cuba, they have free healthcare [read this somewhere on the internet, citation needed], subsidized everything, but still half of the population would swim across to Florida if there were no US coast guard.

And another one:
Wenn alles allen gehört, hat keiner was.
My translation: if everything belongs to everyone, nothing belongs to anyone.
Or better: André Gide Quote: “When everything belongs to everyone, nobody will take care of anything.”
Or: When everything belongs to everyone, nobody will take care of anything.

[latintopxxx]

having as a tween experienced communism/socialism. ....I much rather prefer capitalism...,even if its the unbridled sort...

[goji]

having as a tween experienced communism/socialism. ....I much rather prefer capitalism...,even if its the unbridled sort...

Yes.
Oddly, we don't get "socialists" trying to flee from South Korea to the DPRK, from West Germany to the DDR or even from the US to Cuba.
There has been much traffic in the opposite direction.

I would even contribute to the re-settlement of people like Jeremy Corbyn to Venezuela, DPRK or Cuba. After all, if he wants to live in a socialist state, why not send him to one, rather than have him b*gger up another country ?

[christianpfc]

I had the same addendum as goji. If there is no natural border that prevents people from moving from socialist to communist countries (to live and work there permanently), the socialist governments have to keep them in by walls and guns.