<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV>I disagree. The problem with communism is that it's an unworkable theory. It's akin to a perpetual motion machine. The problem with libertarianism, in so far as application to real work societies, is more one of getting enough people to agree with it and changing some institutional arrangements. This is a practical obstacle and not a theoretical blocker.</DIV>
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<DIV>And to see how far humanity has come in a libertarian direction, one has only to think of things like the decline of chattel slavery, forced marriages, wife beatings, child abuse, persecution of religious (or irreligious) individuals, and persecution of individuals based on sexual orientation (this last just in my lifetime) in all Western societies. There are, of course, no irreversible trends here, but these trends do give cause for optimism -- even if only of the cautious and tentative sort.</DIV>
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<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
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<DIV>Dan</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> police dept <policedepts@gmail.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Fri, September 10, 2010 1:27:55 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: [ExI] don't let your guard down, not for a minute...<BR></FONT><BR>
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<DIV>"That is not communism. In communism the collective owns everything and the individual owns nothing. ">From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" is a common slogan of communism at its most idealistic. That is utterly unworkable. When everyone owns everything and nothing no one has the right to do with anything at all what she wishes. >Samantha"</DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<DIV>Yes, to be genuinely communistic the human race would have to evolve so far ahead of itself it would be unrecognizable. Unfortunately, the same lack of civilization means libertarianism is also Utopian at this time and for the foreseeable future.</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></div><br>
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