INTERNET POLITICAL BULLSHIT THREAD

[Ferinex]

Understandable mistake. Different brands of socialism are fairly indistinguishable if you're ignorant.

[jorb]

Wouldn't that have made more sense if you put the "if you're ignorant" outside of the quotation?

Anyhow. Same shit, different names.

The Hoff says it allright. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ot_katYYiU

[jorb]

Take your pick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8vWww5g5-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjWDrTXMgF8

[Ferinex]

you seem to have a misconception that the soviets were communist.

edit: and you link propaganda to support your non-existent syllogism. i know you are better than that.

[Shrevident]

how did this become a political discussion.


it's like I'm really reading youtube comments

[jorb]

I do not wish to engage in a conversation over the finer points of socialist theology, but what I fundamentally oppose, and what my comments fundamentally pertain to, is totalitarian state control and planning of the social, economic and political life of a nation and its denizens -- such as was practiced in the Soviet Union -- if that then is or is not "true communism" is completely irrelevant. No historical society describing itself as socialist has deviated from the model presented by the Soviet Union, and if you wish to propose the existence, possibility or practicability of some other -- presumably better, since all experiments to date have been miserable failures -- form of "true communism" then the onus of proof really rests with you. Try not to kill too many people should you decide experiment with it.

In that sense Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro and Chavez and their respective "ideologies" are very hard to tell apart. The various socialist sects -- from Lenin to Luxemburg -- have almost without exception been named in direct reference to their intellectual figurehead -- Leninism, Maoism, Stalinism, etc. -- a telling sign that there is very little to be had from them other than one cult of personality or another. They resemble to no small extent the various sects of the protestant reformation. Luther and Zwingli claimed to disagree, but when the topic of disagreement is something as ephemeral -- and dependent on a very broad corpus of common premises -- as transubstantiation, the position that they are nearly indistinguishable becomes reasonable. Sure, there might be 1000 or 1001 angels on the pinhead, but -- really -- who gives a shit?

[Canaris]

you seem to have a misconception that the soviets were communist.

Out of curiosity, then, what were they?

[Oddity]

there is nothing as unbearable as political discussion, no matter how much knowledge the participants have about the topic at hand.

[jorb]

there is nothing as unbearable as political discussion, no matter how much knowledge the participants have about the topic at hand.

There's a part of me that agrees with that sentiment -- it rarely leads anywhere -- on the other hand I care about the subject, and my views have obviously been shaped by convincing arguments that I've had presented to me by others. Sometimes it does lead somewhere.

[Sotsa]

maybe it would be bearable if a: all parts were not dumb as shit b: the participants had some humility, and did not have absolute faith in their own opinions c: knew how to chill the fuck out.

i agree. sometimes it can bear fruit but it's pretty rare on an MMO forum.