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<div class="gmail_quote">2010/9/9 samantha <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com">sjatkins@mac.com</a>></span><br>
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<div class="im">On 9/9/10 6:55 AM, Tim Halterman wrote:
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial"><span>Really, what do you make of this?</span></font></div>
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<div><br>No current system is perfect and everlasting, communism, capitalism or otherwise. </div></div></blockquote><br></div>Why? What makes them fail? Are some better than others? In what ways. </div></blockquote>
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<div>The fact that governance is requried. As long as there is a human in authority there will likely be envy and certainly inequality. This is imperfect. And sure I find some better than others.</div>
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<div>I don't think any system which requires people to do something they don't wish or relies on exploiting another being as a permanent solution. </div></div></blockquote></div>Laissez faire capitalism requires neither. </div>
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<div>I'd say produce or starve is a flaw. Capitalism requires people to do something they possibly may not wish to do, or even have the ability to do.</div>
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<div>These systems are simply biding their time until technology advances to a point that a true communism is possible.</div></div></blockquote></div>BARF. Communism is utterly broken by design. <br>
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<div> Communism in that sense being a society where individuals are free to do as they wish and do not require the exploitation of others to do so. I think Marx felt this way, although specific quotes elude me (It's been a number of years since I read his work).<br>
<br></div></div></blockquote></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. </div>
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<div>The ideal communism I speak to does not contain the word "own" nor does it take anything from each. And yes I've read Atlas Shrugged.</div>
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<div>I always looked at the Soviet Union as simply picking a model close to a hopeful end-state. Had technology progressed at a faster rate I'm not sure the collapse would have been inevitable, they could have simply evolved. I see the most technologically advanced societies the closest to achieving true communism.<br>
<br></div></div></blockquote></div>A state that killed tens of millions on its own citizens on purpose is held up as an ideal and just before its time? This is utterly abhorrent. <br><br>- samantha</div></blockquote>
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<div>I'm not going to defend the Soviet Union, that wasn't really my point. I will say however that unless you live on another planet we're all pieces on the same game board. Until a day comes when not one person goes hungry the same day a resource is spent on the defense or offense of one nation against another I'm not going to participate in finger-pointing. We all pay taxes, we all own a piece of a gun.</div>
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<div>-Tim</div></div>