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Honestly, the sort of True Believer who classifies Stalinist Russia, Maoist China, Pot's Cambodia, Castro's Cuba, etc, as all "true Scotsman" communism isn't wo
by justratsinacoat 10y ago
Honestly, the sort of True Believer who classifies Stalinist Russia, Maoist China, Pot's Cambodia, Castro's Cuba, etc, as all "true Scotsman" communism isn't worth talking to about communism anyway.
Rare is the person who is willing to describe some randomly selected totalitarian dictatorship as a "capitalist" regime.
- mc32 10y agoThat's because capitalism isn't a form of government. It's an economic system. Communism is both a form of government and an economic system (although there is variance in the form of the economic aspect of it).
- justratsinacoat 10y agoHand-wavy conflation of communism-as-economic-system and communism-as-government to describe brutal totalitarian states that happen to have a communist economic system is exactly what I'm talking about. It's an easy thing to do, because >Communism is both a form of government and an economic system (although there is variance in the form of the economic aspect of it) My example of calling some randomly selected totalitarian dictatorship "capitalist" isn't interesting or informative because it's clearly referencing the economic system, rather than making the implicit claim that it's also the government form, as does describing the regime as "communist".
- oldmanjay 10y agoWhat is it about communism that gets you so passionate?
- justratsinacoat 10y agoIt's actually totalitarian dictatorships that get me passionate. Try reading my comments again. Or, just keep saying "communism" until it becomes what I was talking about -- it worked for the vast majority of Western culture.
- makomk 10y agoIf you look at where the actual political power lies in (say) the United States, it's clear that capitalism is both a form of government and an economic system too.
- theli0nheart 10y agoUntil we create a form of government where money and politics can't mix, a country's economic system and form of government will always be complementary.
- ue_ 10y agoMoney is not required for an economic system; furthermore, Communism is by definition moneyless.
- theli0nheart 10y agoMy point stands. It doesn't matter if you're bribing someone with seashells or hundred dollar bills: it's still a bribe. Corruption can exist in any form of government. Just because a form of government might be moneyless doesn't mean that you can't exert influence with power or wealth.
- eru 10y agoDon't they say that Pinochet's regime was 'neoliberal'?
- CamperBob2 10y agoRare is the person who is willing to describe some randomly selected totalitarian dictatorship as a "capitalist" regime. It's rare to see people being shot trying to escape a capitalist regime. That's one way to resolve the moral ambiguity that some here are trying to introduce.
- throwaway_exer 10y agoIt used to be rare. Try to leave the USA without papers now.