- Capitalism and Alternatives -

An offsides point

Posted by: Quincunx ( IWW ) on January 13, 1998 at 09:51:28:

In Reply to: Missing the point posted by Walter Prytulak on January 09, 1998 at 03:54:09:

Buck: Communism didn't work folks. Give it up.

Walter: I donÆt know how did the word "communism" sneak into this discussion. I guess that you have low immunity to the communist virus. Communism failed for two reasons: it forced its people to work and it was a ruthless dictatorship. It practiced what Christianity preached, to the extreme: "the man who will not work shall not eat." It tried to build the workersÆ paradise here on earth, and rewarded every hard working person with a medal of a "hero of work." Whoever shunned the hard work was labeled as a social parasite and banished to the forced-labour camps in Siberia for re-education and indoctrination.

: Perhaps, here again you have missed my point: freedom NOT to work makes you immune to dictatorship, whether coming from the right or from the left. It also provides immunity against the virulent strain of the communist virus. The Universal Prepaid Food Staples Plan sets up the stage where such freedom can flourish. Thus, donÆt praise the work ethic too much or else the communists will get you!

Qx: Congratulations Walter. Now you're a communist and can join the rest of us (whether we are pro-capitalists or non-capitalists) who have been lumped together as "commies" for the most spurious of reasons. I'm kind of getting used to these accusations of being a communist being bandied about in such a cavalier fashion on this and other bulletin boards. J. Krebs uses the label without much self-questioning. Mike Sprout considers just about all of us as "commies" and now Buck has an idea (of dubious logic) that you are advocating a communist system.

I guess even mentioning helping other people will get anybody (regardless of political beliefs) into hot water.



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