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Yet another example for the large segment of people who I encounter who think that "profit" and "capitalism" are the only reasons there's environmental damage,
by epistasis 4y ago
Yet another example for the large segment of people who I encounter who think that "profit" and "capitalism" are the only reasons there's environmental damage, and the only way to stop environmental damage is to eliminate profit and capitalism.
- behnamoh 4y agoJust because X is bad and X opposes Y, doesn't mean Y isn't bad.
- mc32 4y agoIt's rather unrelated to economic system and more related to culture and shared principles. The economic systems can reflect those values, however. The Soviets did a lot of things "because they could"
- xhevahir 4y agoI don't know how much communism specifically has to do with the USSR's degradation of the environment, but their pursuit of autarky certainly is to blame for a lot, especially the depletion of the Aral Sea.
- tjr225 4y agoDo you really think that the soviets who were whaling weren’t concerned with profits? Do you seriously think that the Soviet system was some sort of perfect expression of a political ideal? Come on.
- epistasis 4y agoPerhaps I wasn't clear enough in my comment, but I am not the one who thinks that the Soviet system was close to achieving even most of its own goals.
- tjr225 4y agoNo; it was perfectly clear. Who can you even point to in our society comes even remotely close to aligning with Soviet ideals? Like who are you even talking about? Nobody with leftist ideals thinks that the Soviet regime did things right.
- jibe 4y agoNow? Of course not, it would look stupid. At the time? The Soviets had plenty of advocates on the left.
- binbashthefash 4y agoNot to rain on the parade but we have an entire sub-section on the 'left' who idolizes Stalin and will defend even the worst Soviet atrocities. We call them 'tankies'
- KennyBlanken 4y agoThe person you're replying to was speaking informally. Informally, they're correct: tankies are a tiny minority. That's not even accounting for the fact that many of them are trolls, teenagers who bumbled across some old manifestos and think they're the most amazing thing ever, Russian/Chinese trying to shit-stir, or conservatives false-flagging to have a boogieman to point a finger at. Tankies are not part of any important political dialog or decision-making. They are irrelevant.