There are lots of people fairly far apart on a number of important issues. It is wisest, when trying to figure out what to do about The Other Side, to have an *actual* understanding of The Other Side. When your understanding of them is limited not only to bumper sticker statements, but strawman bumper stickers, you will not only fail to truly understand The Other Side, you will come off as an idiot not only to The Other Side but also to potential allies who actually understand The Other Side. Anyone on the right who has listened to lefties bloviating about right wingers being “Nazis” or “Fascists” or “racists” will know this. Any non-religious person who has listened to a preacher or an imam or just some idjit going on about how non-believers *really* *do* actually believe in some god or other, they just pretend not to so they can behave immorally, will know this. Anyone who knows by not just education but experience that the Earth is spherical-ish and has listened to Flat Earthers blather on about a conspiracy to keep the Truth hidden, will know this. Anyone who owns and respects firearms and has heard idiots going on about how the only purpose of an AR-15 is to murder people will know this.
Communism died three decades ago. Or at least it should have when the Soviet Union went down, dragged into the abyss by the weight of the chains that socialism forged and draped around its neck. But thirty years later… here we are, still having to contend with the most destructive economic ideology of the last millenium. Why? What could actually appeal to people about an economic system that revolves around slavery, theft and the stifling of the human spirit? Is it because those touting it are crazy, or stupid, or just young and naive? Sure, all possible. But… why not ask? Someone did, and the answers are so balls-to-the-wall bizarre that it’s clear that at least some such people, and some of us other people, will *never* see eye to eye. Hell, even agreeing to disagree might be a challenge. But it’s best to see where they come from. Behold:
“People don’t want to cooperate. You will have to use violence to stop those who resist having their riches nationalized. You will have to fill up the prisons with people who refuse to pay their taxes,” I hear. If a bunch of insulin manufacturing executives take up arms to prevent the people from nationalizing the industry and saving lives by bringing down the cost of insulin, then if violence is used to resist their violence, why is this a moral problem for me? I would enjoy smashing them. It would mean justice is done. Same thing with putting those who don’t pay taxes in jail. Why is this controversial? How is it different anywhere else? And yes, Marxist classes would be required, so the people can learn to be more prosocial and less selfish. China has them and they are a great idea.
Huh. He’s up front about wanting “re-education camps” and to use violence in order to take your stuff.
No, I don’t feel sorry for the kulaks. They killed many families during their riots. They slaughtered half the livestock used to farm the land. They hid grain to speculate on prices, knowing people were starving. They encouraged others to stop growing grain, which would have made the famine worse. They deserved it. In this photo Soviet workers found them hiding grain. The kulaks deserve what they got.
The kulaks, you may remember, were relatively small land owners and farmers. “Private owners of the means of production.” They resisted having their stuff stolen. They were slaughtered. This guy would seem to approve of doing the same to any American farmer who would resist having his home and livelihood stolen. By the standards of the early Soviet Union, a Kulak today would be someone who ran a *very* small home-based business.
If anything, under socialism people would work harder knowing their bosses aren’t getting rich from the unpaid value of their labor, while they survive on food stamps because they are getting ripped off so badly.
He actually seems to believe that people would work harder when they know that doing so would not only not earn them more, it wouldn’t even earn them the *chance* to earn more. People would just work harder… because.
Democracy stinks. Studies have shown there is no relationship between what the public wants and policy enactment. Zero. American style representative democracy is a farce. The rich own the politicians. At least in China they have a functional and well run government that plans the economy and is doing a good job.
That’s neat. If you like how the Chinese are genociding the Uighurs, you’ll love *this* guys vision of a proper government.
No, Joseph Stalin wasn’t a monster. No, he didn’t cause the Holomodor, he didn’t kill 60 million people, he didn’t become besties with Hitler, the kulaks deserved it, and the purges were not a cynical attempt by him to grab power. The people voted for the purges and wanted them.
Ayup.
If you have a bunch of time and a bunch of excess brain cells to kill, go and read the rest of it. Like many Communists, this guy goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Like many Communists, his idea of dealing with people is to lecture them into oblivion (and if that doesn’t work, I guess lining them up against a wall might be ok too). But note that when he trots out horrific notions, it’s not a matter of accidentally saying the quiet part out loud. No, he’s open and clear that he wants to take your stuff and your land and your factory. He certainly seems ok with the idea of killing you to take them.
Following his screed, there are numerous other answers to the question “What do communists want?” from numerous other communists. They are generally pretty open about their desires. It is a mishmash of power fantasy and a stunning disregard for the basic human desire to own and control the products of your own mental and physical labor, to live as *you* wish, not as some government tells you to. As nightmarish as their desires are… there they are, for anyone to see.
