The Pitters' Place

I ended up talking with a local communist activist who's a strong advocate of it as a solution to colonialist capitalist oppression, saying that those who are alright with capitalism are people who are protected by their privilege or have been brainwashed into siding with their oppressors. They pointed out that black and brown people (of which they are one, and queer) are already suffering horribly under capitalism, particularly in the US, and that the ills of communism are greatly inflated by propaganda.

But at the same time, one of my best friends (probably among the three people I'm closest to) grew up in the communist regime of Romania and it was a nightmare for her, and she strongly resents communism because of how much she and those she knew suffered under it. It's a big trigger topic for her, so I don't want to pry too much.

I don't know how to reconcile the two. I agree with the point that it's my own racial/class privilege that enables me to have a decent life within capitalism, but at be same time I cannot ethically support a system that has done so much harm to someone I care deeply about, because that would be a massive betrayal. I've seen the topic come up more and more in activist circles of late, and its creating a lot of painful cognitive dissonance. I don't know how much of this is down to the difference between the ideals of communism vs the realities of its execution, but the activist I talked to has friends living happily in Cuba and plans to move there, so it's not just a theoretical issue.

This is gonna be a good thread.

Communism should be criminalized.

Death penalty?

Yes. If we can punch Nazis in the face then we can kill communists.

Capitalism = Everyone has as much stuff as they can steal. The biggest thieves end up with all the stuff and gloat about it.
Socialism = Everyone shares the stuff they steal equally. The biggest thieves keep huge secret stashes of stuff and don't share it.
Communism = The government steals everyone's stuff to "redistribute" it. Only the political elite have any stuff; everyone else works until they die.

Chuckles_Otoole wrote:Capitalism = Everyone has as much stuff as they can steal. The biggest thieves end up with all the stuff and gloat about it.
Socialism = Everyone shares the stuff they steal equally. The biggest thieves keep huge secret stashes of stuff and don't share it.
Communism = The government steals everyone's stuff to "redistribute" it. Only the political elite have any stuff; everyone else works until they die.

This is basically the same impression I have of all three systems. Practically, I think Capitalism + Socialism is the best combination.

I'm not a huge fan of communism or socialism because I think they necessarily lead to a strong totalitarian government.

But, if people want to voluntarily form their own communist/socialist communities on a smaller scale then I have no problem with that.

My problem with any political ideology, be it communism or libertarianism, is that their adherents often have a dogmatic view, as in that people should follow the doctrine and not vice versa.

Communism could only work to achieve a society with happy people if people were compatible with the communist proletarian who disregards private property in favor of communal ownership. Libertarianism could only work to achieve a society with happy people if people were members of the species homo oeconomicus; meaning: Rational agents who always do what's best for them and for everybody.

But in both cases, humans are too diverse.

Usually, when people get older, they realize that ideas should serve people, and not the other way round.
Or to put it in an old (slightly exaggerated) formula: If you are not an idealist at age 20, you have no heart. And if you are still an idealist at age 40, you have no brains.