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Why can't we respect human dignity like those communists who murdered and starved tens of millions of people, ruined economies, and consigned countless people t
by ImSkeptical 9y ago
Why can't we respect human dignity like those communists who murdered and starved tens of millions of people, ruined economies, and consigned countless people to oppression and deprivation?
- joemi 9y agoCommunism as you're referring to it is not what many supporters of communism (and/or opponents of capitalism) are advocating for.
- announcerman 9y agoAs a citizen of an ex Eastern Bloc country I'd rather not have any other humans co-opt me into another helping of true communism™
- coldtea 9y agoWell, other members of ex Eastern Bloc countries disagree, so?
- announcerman 9y agoWe'll decide in a democratic and respectful manner to not fall for the red plague again. If that was your point.
- coldtea 9y agoHow is a response about what communists did relevant to a critique of capitalism? Except if one can't think of any other alternative or starting point from which to criticize capitalism but communism (and even more so, how some specific regimes practiced it).
- ImSkeptical 9y agoCommunism is the typical alternative to capitalism.
- macintux 9y agoNice but irrelevant. It's like saying "But Hillary!" every time someone offers a critique of Trump.
- ben-schaaf 9y agoBut what about... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
- coldtea 9y agoThere are tons of alternatives to capitalism. From anarcho-syndicalism and social democracy, to more obscure religious, environmental and so on approaches.
- MisterBastahrd 9y agoYes, human dignity like those capitalists who drilled giant oil wells in Nigeria, poisoned the land and the people, hired hit squads terrorize the native populace, then fled the country overnight when the regime changed.
- pdx 9y agoI think you're talking about Shell Oil in the 1990's, and their requesting the Nigerian military to help them deal with violent protesters, and allegedly peaceful protesters as well. Yep, that sounds like a problem that needed addressed. That pales compared to the atrocities that have been done in the name of communism. It's frightening that young people have forgotten those lessons, even the oldest of which is less than 100 years ago. The ideal of sacrificing the individual to benefit the group is where communism always ends up, and from there, it's never a long slide to the disappearings, the executions and the starvation. The American ideal of protecting the individual, even at the expense of the group is much more inline with the world I want to live in. Happily, you still end up with a strong group, since it's composed of motivated individuals that feel safe.
- dang 9y agoIdeological boilerplate is not welcome here. Please don't post any more of it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: this account has been using HN primarily for ideological battle. As the site guidelines say, we ban accounts that do that, so I'm banning this one. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.