Would you actively participate?

[disgracian]

Are you suggesting it's a bad thing that everybody be afforded a basic standard of living?

 

Cheers,

D.

[NoIDidn't]

Going back to the OP, I couldn't do something that goes against my basic beliefs of the world just for "world peace". The cognitive dissonance would kill me alone.

[disgracian]

You mention world peace as though it's a small, inconsequential thing. Beliefs are just ideas; are they really that much more important than the world?

 

Cheers,

D.

[NoIDidn't]

You mention world peace as though it's a small, inconsequential thing. Beliefs are just ideas; are they really that much more important than the world?

 

Cheers,

D.

 

I don't believe world peace is achievable, regardless of what I would be asked to change in order to accomplish it.

 

Humans really are as described in The Matrix. We don't *do* perfection very well. We always find a way to mess it up.

 

But yeah, my beliefs are more important to me than the rest of the world. Sorry.

[marlena]

Both systems failed. Communism did not respect individualism and capitalism did not respect collectivism. Both were greedy and the capital rested in the hands of a corrupt elite. Laziness had nothing to do with it.

[Trialbyfire]

Basic human nature defies Communism or any kind of extreme socialism.

 

Also, practically speaking, you cannot run anything, nvm a country or world, on a platform of true equality. Try it one day. Get three people together and see if you can all agree on....everything...or even anything...

[Ariadne]

Both systems failed. Communism did not respect individualism and capitalism did not respect collectivism. Both were greedy and the capital rested in the hands of a corrupt elite. Laziness had nothing to do with it.

 

Any system is as good as the people who run it. It's simply a reflection.

[blind_otter]

Eve, I love working. It's mentally stimulating and rewarding both intellectually and fiscally. I enjoy the competitive edge since it forces me to rise to the challenge.

 

What would motivate people to get out of bed in the morning, if they had no responsibilities? It's like a never-ending child-like existence, not something I'd enjoy.

 

Presumably, you wold get out of bed in the morning based on some kind of altruistic impulse to support and maintain not only yourself, but also society as a whole. Kind of like underlining and intensifying personal responsibility to absorb society as a whole.

 

And the Communists werent selfish

 

There has never been a pure communist system in existence on a large scale. There have been small scale communist communities, but the USSR and PR China are not communist. They are communist dictatorships, which as far as I'm concerned falls under the category of totalitarianism.

 

So when people bandy about the idea that communism failed, it irks me. There has never been a pure communist system as envisioned and outlined by Marx.

[Sibyl Vane]

Presumably, you wold get out of bed in the morning based on some kind of altruistic impulse to support and maintain not only yourself, but also society as a whole. Kind of like underlining and intensifying personal responsibility to absorb society as a whole.

 

That or you need to pee.

[Trialbyfire]

Altruism isn`t an inherent human quality. If it were, everyone would be taking care of everyone else, today, regardless if others are doing the same.

[NoIDidn't]

So when people bandy about the idea that communism failed, it irks me. There has never been a pure communist system as envisioned and outlined by Marx.

 

I agree. I remember being told that the USSR and Germany taught their school children "propaganda" to get them used to the ideas the government was practicing.

 

Guess what the school kids in the US learn in public school? Yep. Propaganda.

 

The day my kids brought home a certificate stating that they were being awarded for "understanding the pledge of allegiance", the deal was sealed. We can't tell our kids what to think and call it learning.