Reverse China

[SuburbanFarmer]

Marxism does provide a sense of perverse satisfaction to Losers.

That's one way to take first-person testimony, I suppose...

[boethius]

One of my First Tenets is: productivity must exceed consumption. In the 300 million unemployed situation, that axiom would be violated because certainly all the productivity would be somewhere else, with America simply printing the money & flashing big military penis.

The productivity will be in the robots. The time will come when the least capable robot is more productive than 90% of Americans. So what do you do then? Tell the 300 million to lay down and die?

They might object.

[nickle7]

People may think they want Marxism. But once they're experiencing it, I doubt they'd still want it. This may sound too objective but where and when have people under Marxist rule honestly been able to say that they liked it? We'd be pretty hard pressed to come up with and answer.

Actually, the vast majority of Russian/Lithuanian ex-pats that I've spoken with long for the 'good old days' in the USSR. Sure, the economy sucked, but the culture was extremely egalitarian, and family was the center of their lives. Sort of how we pine for when 'America was great'.

Egalitarianism is great except that the ability for the individual to take risks, entrepreneurial risks for example. Plus, look at everything else that came with living under Marxism in Russia in the "good old days"... Great for those who were obedient to the state... not so much for everyone else.

[SuburbanFarmer]

People may think they want Marxism. But once they're experiencing it, I doubt they'd still want it. This may sound too objective but where and when have people under Marxist rule honestly been able to say that they liked it? We'd be pretty hard pressed to come up with and answer.

Actually, the vast majority of Russian/Lithuanian ex-pats that I've spoken with long for the 'good old days' in the USSR. Sure, the economy sucked, but the culture was extremely egalitarian, and family was the center of their lives. Sort of how we pine for when 'America was great'.

Egalitarianism is great except that the ability for the individual to take risks, entrepreneurial risks for example. Plus, look at everything else that came with living under Marxism in Russia in the "good old days"... Great for those who were obedient to the state... not so much for everyone else.

I'm not arguing in favor of establishing Marxism in American in 2016.

Just countering the previous point that "You'd totally hate it if you were there".

[nickle7]

Actually, the vast majority of Russian/Lithuanian ex-pats that I've spoken with long for the 'good old days' in the USSR. Sure, the economy sucked, but the culture was extremely egalitarian, and family was the center of their lives. Sort of how we pine for when 'America was great'.

Egalitarianism is great except that the ability for the individual to take risks, entrepreneurial risks for example. Plus, look at everything else that came with living under Marxism in Russia in the "good old days"... Great for those who were obedient to the state... not so much for everyone else.

I'm not arguing in favor of establishing Marxism in American in 2016.

Just countering the previous point that "You'd totally hate it if you were there".

Ha yeah, gotcha. I guess I'm just not convinced that the majority of people would like it.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Egalitarianism is great except that the ability for the individual to take risks, entrepreneurial risks for example. Plus, look at everything else that came with living under Marxism in Russia in the "good old days"... Great for those who were obedient to the state... not so much for everyone else.

I'm not arguing in favor of establishing Marxism in American in 2016.

Just countering the previous point that "You'd totally hate it if you were there".

Ha yeah, gotcha. I guess I'm just not convinced that the majority of people would like it.

No way to know for sure, really. It's only been attempted under authoritarian regimes. China is a decent test case. I've not met a Chinese expat that considers it oppressive. Even for all of our squealing about conditions there.