Modern arguments for communism?

[theweatherman]

a communist state says nothing about mediocrity, this is always added by anti commusinsts. In a true communist state there is great incentive to excell in order to improve your community and your fellow man.

[bobman0330]

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Of course there are legitimate arguments for communism, true egalitarianism is a pretty perssuasive one to me. Basically the arguments for communism are the same today as they were when marx wrote em down. The working class is in no better situation (even though the upper classes trick them into thinking they are).

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That's not even close to true.

Communism, or at least socialism, is not only likely, it is inevitable.

Technological advances will eventually allow us to create robots which do anything an unskilled human could do. After a little while, they will be able to do any kind of skilled labor. At that point, only a small percentage of the population will have economically viable skills. Essentially, the only people able to find jobs will be those who own and manage companies and those who do research and other tasks requiring very high-level intelligence.

This will have two strong effects. First, society will have the means to fulfill everyone's material needs. Second, if a relatively laissez-faire capitalist model is continued, the vast majority of people will not have jobs, and will not have the money to buy much of anything. Therefore, there will be enormous political demand for redistribution of wealth and income. Any democratic government would be forced to provide some kind of guaranteed income to everyone.

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a communist state says nothing about mediocrity, this is always added by anti commusinsts. In a true communist state there is great incentive to excell in order to improve your community and your fellow man.

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Egalitarian = same for everyone = mediocrity = average.

So if I choose to excel, the fruits of my my labors go to my "fellow man" whether I want them to or not. Sounds like slavery to me.

[Olof]

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why is universal egalitarianism good?

Well everyone would have an equal chance at life, not the skewed system of the rich staying rich and the poor staying poor. This is one of the best parts of communism in my opinion.

education for all, health care for all, a real chance at a decent life for all. This is miles above the capitalist system of education for the rich, health care for the rich, a great lifefor the rich, all bulit on the backs of the poor.

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Do you propose to do anything about genetic differences? I can't see how true egalitarianism could ever be achieved as long as some people are born intelligent and healthy whereas others can be born stupid or terminally ill.

Also, why the focus solely on material inequalities? Why should someone who can't secure sex through voluntary agreements with other adults be forced to accept his situation, and someone unable secure food/healthcare in the same way get help from the government? Why is it ok to use force in order to make people provide money, but not to make them provide sexual favours/kidneys etc?

[theweatherman]

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a communist state says nothing about mediocrity, this is always added by anti commusinsts. In a true communist state there is great incentive to excell in order to improve your community and your fellow man.

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Egalitarian = same for everyone = mediocrity = average.

So if I choose to excel, the fruits of my my labors go to my "fellow man" whether I want them to or not. Sounds like slavery to me.

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Egalitarin means equal opportunity for everyone, this also does not imply average at all. Everyone could have the same opportunity to recieve top notch health care it needs not be average nor mediocre.

Since everyone in a communist society is intertwined your excellence in one area would benefit you as well as the entire community. Say you are a doctor, you work extra hard and invent some kind of uber medice which drastically imporves the health of the entire society. The other members are now able to work more efficently (since they are not getting sick) and thus produce more, you benefit from increased production as well as from decreased work load(as no one gets sick anymore)

I'm pretty sure communism relies on everyone working as hard as they can, in this way everyone's work load is reduced and people have to do less actual work. However I am no communist, I am a socialist who believes totally in egalitarianism so this argument is a little forgien to me and thus may not be 100% correct.

[theweatherman]

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Of course there are legitimate arguments for communism, true egalitarianism is a pretty perssuasive one to me. Basically the arguments for communism are the same today as they were when marx wrote em down. The working class is in no better situation (even though the upper classes trick them into thinking they are).

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That's not even close to true.

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Please add content to your next post.

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Egalitarin means equal opportunity for everyone, this also does not imply average at all. Everyone could have the same opportunity to recieve top notch health care it needs not be average nor mediocre.

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I refuse to debate with you anymore until you buy a dictionary and take a math class.

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Since everyone in a communist society is intertwined your excellence in one area would benefit you as well as the entire community. Say you are a doctor, you work extra hard and invent some kind of uber medice which drastically imporves the health of the entire society. The other members are now able to work more efficently (since they are not getting sick) and thus produce more, you benefit from increased production as well as from decreased work load(as no one gets sick anymore)

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I do not want my labor to benefit everyone equally. I should be rewarded for my labor. If I choose, then others should benefit as well. It is my labor. I do not wish to be a slave to the community or society or anything else.

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I'm pretty sure communism relies on everyone working as hard as they can, in this way everyone's work load is reduced and people have to do less actual work. However I am no communist, I am a socialist who believes totally in egalitarianism so this argument is a little forgien to me and thus may not be 100% correct.

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So you think that socialism = egalitarianism?

[theweatherman]

egalitarian

adj : favoring social equality; "a classless society" [syn: classless] n : a person who believes in the equality of all people [syn: equalitarian] [ant: elitist]

you do not only benefit from your labor right now. Unless you are teh owner of your own bussiness there are many others profiting from your labor (they are called the booses/owners). Your selfish assertion that you want your labor to benefit you and you alone is impossible. If you want it to be so you can go live in the woods and become a subsistence farmer. Right now society is bulit around working together to acomplish goals. The only difference in a communist system is that your labor is valued at its actual value, and you are not paid in money, but rather in returned labor from other members of society.

Yes, socialism is a hell of a lot closer to and egalitarian society than this capitalist "democracy" I live in now.

[vulturesrow]

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egalitarian

adj : favoring social equality; "a classless society" [syn: classless] n : a person who believes in the equality of all people [syn: equalitarian] [ant: elitist]

you do not only benefit from your labor right now. Unless you are teh owner of your own bussiness there are many others profiting from your labor (they are called the booses/owners). Your selfish assertion that you want your labor to benefit you and you alone is impossible. If you want it to be so you can go live in the woods and become a subsistence farmer. Right now society is bulit around working together to acomplish goals. The only difference in a communist system is that your labor is valued at its actual value, and you are not paid in money, but rather in returned labor from other members of society.

Yes, socialism is a hell of a lot closer to and egalitarian society than this capitalist "democracy" I live in now.

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Communism and egalitarianism both revolve around ignoring the indisputable fact that people at their heart are a)inherently inequal and b) inherently selfish.