Communism is Overrated

[adampatterson]

Government and ideology is never cut and dry.

[drewmalesky]

I hate the false capitalism v communism dichotomy. There are other options. Utopianism philosophies are for children. An iterative, adaptable, and dynamic approach to policy will always be the best for the most.

[ludo]

The concentration of power is the problem, every time

[Somejaun]

“Russia has no drug problem” my mind immediately went to vodka

[Waldemarvonanhalt]

Which is why GoFundMe is the backbone of the American healthcare system.

[syncmonism]

If you include what she says shortly after this in the full interview, she implies that the abuses and failings perpetrated by the Soviet government are an inherent problem with socialism, but such abuses can be perpetrated by any government with such a monopoly on power, regardless of what political ideological labels they give themselves.

Democratically elected governments have often done horrible things, and many democracies have failed spectacularly, but that doesn't prove that democracy can't work.

[vultureculture]

We need a mix of everything. Healthcare shouldn't be on the stock market, and the free market, with reasonable caps and regulations, can help industry flourish. We even have communism: state-funded jobs and organizations like NASA and the CCC. We need a little of everything, because too much of any one thing will destroy society.

[markbanash]

I remember the American writer PJ O'Rourke talking about a trip he took with a bunch of American leftist to the Soviet Union. He listened to them tell about what a great system the Soviets had, but he did notice that they were bringing their own toilet paper.

[dirtylemon]

I made a brief trip behind the Iron Curtain while on a European vacation in 1982. I drove a car from the West. Some of the major cities, not great, were actually not as bad as I thought. In the countryside it was like the Middle Ages. They dress up the cities for party members and foreigners because most tourists are coming in by plane, but in the hinterland, I stopped in restaurants that literally had no food. That was the big lie I saw.

[AsianSupport]

Not everything has a solution that is black and white. There are trade offs that can be made inbetween.

[paintedhorse]

That was literally not a criticism that Marx made about Capitalism. It was a criticism Marx made about States.

[mithilbhoras]

She talked about socialism initially and suddenly pivoted to Marx and Communism. Anyone who has interacted even a little with leftist ideology will know there are so many differences between these terms. Most socialists, like me, don't view communism or its historical implementation as accurate way to remove the class system. The left has diverse philosophies and opinions on how to tackle these issues. The fact that these people are just mixing all of these concepts together in a hodge potch soup tells me they have no idea what they are talking about.

[Lexyboogie]

The problem is that most people never even explore these concepts in nearly enough detail.

[saintofspades]

Im so sick of the ”if youre not a capitalist by 30 you have no brain”…

seems the best option according to ALL statistic is the mixture of brain + heart. Capitalism with strong social safety net. Aka Nordic model. No brainer. Stop bloody polarizing heart and mind and start just taking care of your citizens for real. To me that is all it boils down to. Does a government take care of its people or not?

[Rickinsf]

they believe their koolaid, we believe ours

[jumpinjehoshaphat]

The Gilded Age was the closest the U.S. got to unfettered Capitalism. There was dramatic income inequality. And most Americans lived in poverty.

[gaghhuh]

Every ideology has its problems and usually the main problem is corruption. That goes for communism and capitalism both

[spodefollower]

The problem is hierarchies of power. It’s the thing that links capitalism, authoritarian USSR-style Marxist-Leninism, fascism, etc. Abolish power hierarchies by disseminating power equally, and DIRECTLY, across all people, and only then can be begin to build a society that actually works for us

[meckerhesseausfrankfurt]

One of the most shocking shifts in American culture has been how in the mid-2000s self-proclaimed "conservatives" suddenly started regurgitating the Moscow Cool-Aid ("Christian Country with no drug problem").

[iasminsilvestre]

I was interested in her lectures at first but after I saw her behavior toward Russia and China, also communism and socialism but kept her tone, sarcasm, jabs and criticism toward capitalism, North America and their partners very low I started questioning, than I found out she works for the USA government and everything became clear...

She herself is doing politics in her way, she doesn't dare to say nothing aggressive toward the country that gave her a job, not said partners...

She mildly paints them good rather than bad or mild but has really strong words and opinion toward Russia, China, communism and socialism and also their leader, while she does not dare to say anything about the USA....

I found it's best just to hear her talking about statistics and historical events when she's not involving her opinion...