Quote:
Originally posted by Oblivion437:
I don't know, quite a few people I know who hate Socialist systems to death are either veterans of it or at least know a lot about it. Meanwhile, as one of the latter once told me, "I have often found that the loudest cheerleaders for a socialist system are those who have never lived under one."
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However, Oblivion, nothing you say here disproves Barry's point that "outing" yourself as a Commie will make you a public target. Your reply post addrsses the merits of communism but not the merits of the statement that communists are often treated with disrespect or prejudice. In fact, your post just may support that argument very well.
Barry, you're not usually one to mince words, yet you're playing loose and fast with "communism" and "socialism." Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the HAVE been socialist states, but not communist ones. In my mind, socialism is the broad range of "government ownership" of property sliding between pure governmental ownership (communism) and no governmental ownership (pure capitalism). I realize this definition is a bit broader than most people like (because it points out that the current US governmental system is partially socialistic), but still, aren't there countries -- in Europe even -- that are validly considered "socialist?"