4 ms·

The point is that these things are faults of leaders, not necessarily ideologies, because you find them in every system. Do you want me to point you to hundreds

The point is that these things are faults of leaders, not necessarily ideologies, because you find them in every system. Do you want me to point you to hundreds of wikipedia links for atrocities committed by non-communist governments? Furthermore, socialism is inevitable. Just look at the world today- distinctly more socialist than it was 100 years ago. My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe a mixed society is probably the best.

maratd 13y ago
> The point is that these things are faults of leaders, not necessarily ideologies, because you find them in every system. While you find them in every system, you find them more frequently in totalitarian ones. > Furthermore, socialism is inevitable. Just look at the world today- distinctly more socialist than it was 100 years ago. Yes, but less socialist than 50 years ago, which suggests it's an ebb and flow type of deal, rather than some death march toward communism. > My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe a mixed society is probably the best. My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe capitalism is best.
zhemao 13y ago
> The point is that these things are faults of leaders The leaders were driven by the ideology. Their actions were driven by a desire to achieve their vision of a communist utopia. People went along with these plans because the ideology promised them a better life. By your logic, was National Socialism not evil because the Holocaust was the fault of Hitler and his Lieutenants? > Just look at the world today- distinctly more socialist than it was 100 years ago. I'm not criticizing socialism, I am specifically criticizing hard-line communism as practiced in the past by the Soviet Union and in the present by nations like North Korea and Cuba. The fact that the Soviet Union collapsed and the People's Republic of China moved away from orthodox communism is an indication of how valid that ideology was. > My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe a mixed society is probably the best And that's what we have today in most western countries. In fact, that's what we had in the west even during the Cold War. Again, not saying that any semblance of socialism is inherently bad. I'm saying that orthodox communism has, does, and will always, lead to suffering for the general population.

maratd 13y ago

> The point is that these things are faults of leaders, not necessarily ideologies, because you find them in every system. While you find them in every system, you find them more frequently in totalitarian ones. > Furthermore, socialism is inevitable. Just look at the world today- distinctly more socialist than it was 100 years ago. Yes, but less socialist than 50 years ago, which suggests it's an ebb and flow type of deal, rather than some death march toward communism. > My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe a mixed society is probably the best. My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe capitalism is best.

zhemao 13y ago

> The point is that these things are faults of leaders The leaders were driven by the ideology. Their actions were driven by a desire to achieve their vision of a communist utopia. People went along with these plans because the ideology promised them a better life. By your logic, was National Socialism not evil because the Holocaust was the fault of Hitler and his Lieutenants? > Just look at the world today- distinctly more socialist than it was 100 years ago. I'm not criticizing socialism, I am specifically criticizing hard-line communism as practiced in the past by the Soviet Union and in the present by nations like North Korea and Cuba. The fact that the Soviet Union collapsed and the People's Republic of China moved away from orthodox communism is an indication of how valid that ideology was. > My parents have lived in both communism and capitalism and believe a mixed society is probably the best And that's what we have today in most western countries. In fact, that's what we had in the west even during the Cold War. Again, not saying that any semblance of socialism is inherently bad. I'm saying that orthodox communism has, does, and will always, lead to suffering for the general population.