Vortex said
That's like saying all bugs are insects (which they are not), just because I live in a undeniably privileged country does not mean I am automatically part of the bourgeoise or get the perks associated with them. Yes I am better off than most people in the world but compared to the real bourgeoise I am but a humble peasant.Yeah, i was wondering if you would mention that lol. Btw what do you think of communism? Are you the sort that thinks it good in theory but not in practice? or the don't-even-say-that-word-near-me sort?
Let the record state, I am being asked for an honest opinion. I'll be gentle.
There are two intrinsically different brands of communist (talking about people). There is the 'Old Country' Communist, the one who's lived under Broseph Stalin and still thinks 'hey, we had a pretty good idea going here.' Then there's your google-scholar communist, whose experience with communism -- while dutifully researched -- is nevertheless academic. This what the book says -- THAT country is doing it wrong, they're not communists, WHY are there no more communists like me? These are my two fundamental Commy groups -- the people who read about it and the people who lived it. As our dubious fortunes would have it, you CAN get real communist experience right here in the US of A (trust me, I'm in the VA healthcare system).
So, those being your 'two types,' here's my responses. To the "I've lived it," sort, I like to calmly sit down and ask them questions. If this communist wants debate, I'll usually oblige out of a mutual respect type thing, but neither of us are getting far by arguing -- he's not convincing me nor I him, so for the most part we just have pleasant exchanges and talk about football.
To the bookish type, these are the folks I want to debate with (civilly, of course), because they are getting it out of a book. Which, there's nothing inherently wrong with that, shit, I'm Christian, I get a lot of really important foundations from a pretty old book. What matters is the practical application, which is something the booky folks generally aren't well-schooled on. How could they be? They're fresh out of college, if they're lucky, probably not even that. They've had no chance to go get into the real world and see real programs, and the real life cycles of nationalizations and all that good ol' Ayn Rand bureaubullshit. I want to insert myself into this process, if possible, and offer a perspective that maybe they're not predisposed to seeing. When they leave me they're still commies, but they're commies with a seed planted in the back of their mind, which should grow as they see the world, and ultimately the become proto-communist mutants, with leaf powers and they can fly or something.
What am I even talking about.
Okay.
Commies and me, we have some pretty fundamental disagreements, and politically speaking, I guess we're not going to be best friends. That's cool. Politics is *remarkably pointless* anyway. I have one roommate at present who forwards all of ""those"" chain-emails about Obama. You know exactly the kind I'm talking about. My **other** roommate only drinks cruelty-free coffee, wears a green bandanna (for the earth, I shit you not, it's 'for the earth.'), and then you've got me, resident crippled know-it-all asshole anarcho-capitalist bible thumper. We hang out all the time and have fun. This stuff does ***NOOOOOOT***** have to be treated like it's a big deal. It's totally not a big deal.
