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I think you might be inferring too much about my phrasing. I wasn't trying to add token disclaimers to pass off praise of socialism/communism - I was trying to

I think you might be inferring too much about my phrasing. I wasn't trying to add token disclaimers to pass off praise of socialism/communism - I was trying to get ahead of the reply "yeah but the cons far outweigh the pros"/"there are better ways to ensure equality than making everybody poor", which are actually positions I'd agree with. I don't know exactly how to articulate this, but I wish people were willing to consider "capitalism vs socialism" less as a black and white "good vs evil" dichotomy, and more as a vast spectrum or cluster of policies. In reality, those are the kinds of systems we live with. Even if you find yourself firmly on one side of the spectrum, or in favor of policies mostly in one cluster, I think we should be intellectually curious enough to look at the other side and see what kind of ideas they have, because some of them might be good.

the_af 3y ago
Thanks for the honest reply! I think we're mostly in agreement, and let me clarify I wasn't even trying to disagree with you on anything. > I wasn't trying to add token disclaimers to pass off praise of socialism/communism This wasn't what I tried to imply, but evidently I should have expressed myself better: I think you raised valid points, and my observation was regret about the fact you -- like many in forums like this -- must coach every topic like this with disclaimers about not being communist sympathizers. You had to preempt the accusation by making it explicit this is not what you're saying, which to me is a sad state of affairs for online discourse. Like you said, we should be able to examine ideas from all sides "because some of them might be good", but this becomes very difficult if one must fend off accusations of being a commie for even daring to suggest something is positive about socialism. > I don't know exactly how to articulate this, but I wish people were willing to consider "capitalism vs socialism" less as a black and white "good vs evil" dichotomy, and more as a vast spectrum or cluster of policies. In reality, those are the kinds of systems we live with. Yes, 10000000% agreed. This is also what I believe. I wish we could discuss the more "socialist" side of policies more openly and without disclaimers.

the_af 3y ago

Thanks for the honest reply! I think we're mostly in agreement, and let me clarify I wasn't even trying to disagree with you on anything. > I wasn't trying to add token disclaimers to pass off praise of socialism/communism This wasn't what I tried to imply, but evidently I should have expressed myself better: I think you raised valid points, and my observation was regret about the fact you -- like many in forums like this -- must coach every topic like this with disclaimers about not being communist sympathizers. You had to preempt the accusation by making it explicit this is not what you're saying, which to me is a sad state of affairs for online discourse. Like you said, we should be able to examine ideas from all sides "because some of them might be good", but this becomes very difficult if one must fend off accusations of being a commie for even daring to suggest something is positive about socialism. > I don't know exactly how to articulate this, but I wish people were willing to consider "capitalism vs socialism" less as a black and white "good vs evil" dichotomy, and more as a vast spectrum or cluster of policies. In reality, those are the kinds of systems we live with. Yes, 10000000% agreed. This is also what I believe. I wish we could discuss the more "socialist" side of policies more openly and without disclaimers.