Comments on: Is the United States Turning towards Communism?

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:45:53 +0000

I have to agree with a lot of what you said…I don’t think I was disagreeing with the premise that we are moving closer to Marx’s vision

By: Frankie

Frankie — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 18:27:51 +0000

I would have to disagree with many of you about how far away we are from communism. We are alot closer to it than you think. Look at all the local and federal laws being put into effect or trying to be put into effect by our government. More and more are taking away our rights. I already know what you are going to say….”Vote out who you don’t want and vote in who you do.” Easier said than done. Even with a large group of people who believe the way you or I do. There are very few uncorrupted politicians in the U.S. today. The few who arn’t very rarely get voted in. Unknowns never get voted in. Its all about name and money. As far as the land deal. Well, around here landowners and home owners get screwed out of their land by the courts and gov. all the time. If Walmart wants it, they get it. If a hospital wants it they get it. Of course they offer the owner some money for it at first, but if the owner doesn’t take the money, the courts give it to the company. The owner still gets money but quite a bit less than what was offered when the owner refused. This isn’t communism? Even though the owner got money, they didnt want to sell. BS in my book. If they state or government wants land they take it. Of course they give the owner some money to make themselves look good, even though the owner didn’t want to sell. Its all crazy. If you have money and a name you get what you want. Why? well think about it, if the person has money and a name then the government is going to get more money out of them. You cant do anything anywhere without breaking a law. One day I won’t even be able to smoke in my own house, if the government doesn’t take it first. I There are way to many things to list that show we are very close to communism. People just need to open their eyes.

By: Roger, the Amateur Financier

Roger, the Amateur Financier — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:15:44 +0000

Here’s where you and I differ, Jay: I think that the best group to have in charge of education is the government (ideally local governments, although state or even the federal government could still work). Why, you ask? Simple: We, the People, are in (indirect) control of any government run schools, and can, via our votes, determine what is taught in them.

Think there isn’t enough being taught about alternatives to Darwinian evolution? Vote in school board members who support a creationist view. Too much mention of God in the classroom? Add some atheists to the state Senate. Want the opportunity to opt out of parts of the educational process you don’t approve of? Put political pressure on the superintendent of the school system, and watch it get fixed. Any other problems with the curriculum? Write, call, or otherwise let your legislator(s) know, and if you can gather a large enough group of others who agree with you, before you know it, there will be changes afoot.

Now, do I believe that the current near-monopoly that most government schools have on children’s education is a good thing? No, I think there should be more options for schooling, ranging from home schooling to privately run schools, and that parents should be able to have more control over what and how their children learn, and where said students go to learn it. (I’ve proposed as much on my own blog*, and I still think that opening up more options to parents and students is in our country’s best interest.) That said, there’s a big difference between ‘expand the choice beyond government run schools so students can go to the school that works best for them’ and ‘no government involvement in school, at all.’

*http://www.theamateurfinancier.com/blog/improving-our-schools-funding/

By: tom briggs

tom briggs — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:03:07 +0000

yes. Social marxism in the form
of equalizing result, far from the original goal oforiginal civil rights goal of equalizing opportunity. ‘Racist’ is the new
Salem witch hunt charge. Part of Marxist plan that no one talks about is the ‘browning of America’. Do you really think this is a coincidence?
It’s all by design. Social Marxism
and monopoly capitalism in an ever-tightening stranglehold on ‘free’ USA.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:39:33 +0000

I doubt we will ever fully adopt communism. However, there are benefits to communism as there are a capitalist society. I see no problem in adopting the good things from all sorts of societies to make a comfortable place to live.

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:19:25 +0000

The fact that the government has deemed it legal to take land from one private individual and give it to another means that we have lost ownership in principle. The government, when it wants, will take it. We’re not there yet, but we will be.

Re: free education.
I think free education is a great thing…. as long as the government is not involved. If the government pays for it, it is a government school. That school will teach what is in the government’s best interest which is not freedom or personal property rights etc.

It has become plain to see that the schools will teach what the government wants them to teach regardless of the parents’ wishes. They won’t even let the parents opt their children out material they find objectionable.

The government believes it owns our kids. The parents are just legal caretakers.

We’re not there yet, but there are enough laws on the books that no one can live without breaking a law. When you do something the government does not like, they will find the laws you have broken and take you out of circulation.

By: Roger, the Amateur Financier

Roger, the Amateur Financier — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:42:45 +0000

You’re quite welcome; I like to have philosophical conversations of this sort, although too often (particularly online) they devolve into people screaming pointless jargon at each other. As I said on my blog, though, I think if we are getting closer to government and corporations combining into one all controlling entity (which I think is possible, perhaps even likely), it’s more likely that it will be a corporate controlled government, rather than a government controlled economy. How different each would be in practice, I can’t say for certain. (One reason for bringing up the distinction with regards to eminent domain is because I do think they are at least a little different; although, it could just be a matter of which group of all controlling oligarchs is in power.)

By: Evan

Evan — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:37:53 +0000

Thanks for putting your view on each one. I don’t think we are there yet, but I hope you can at least see that we are moving closer and closer to it. I should specify I am not for free college education, just HS.

I also don’t think it matters who the gov’t gives the property to, the fact that they TOOK IT, and reallocated it IS SCARY!

By: Roger, the Amateur Financier

Roger, the Amateur Financier — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:03:17 +0000

Hunh, interesting list. I actually read the Communist Manifesto (intellectual curiousity, not a sudden desire to revive the Soviet Union) a long time ago, but I don’t recall these ten conditions. Here’s my (admittedly belated) take on them all:

1. While that case (and more than a few uses of eminent domain that I’ve heard about) seem to show how the government can abuse its power to decide cases about the use of private property, I’m not sure it’s an example of impending communism. In that case, property was transferred from one private owner to another; hardly the abolition of private property we’d see with a communist society.

2. Not sure 35% at the highest margin is that horrible (especially given the number of credits and other work-arounds that are available), but I do agree that things are only likely to get worse. It’s higher taxes, much reduced government spending, extraordinary inflation or some combination of the three if we hope to cut down the deficit.

3. I’ll be honest, I have a hard time being too concerned about an estate tax that has a $3.5 million exemption. Again, a long way from ‘no more inheritance, period’.

4. Again, eminent domain raises my hackles, but it’s a long way from confiscating all the property of those who oppose the state. When some Tea Party activist homes get seized for ‘the greater good’ (or the same happens to liberals under a conservative regime), that would be the time to worry in my book.

5. We’re still a long way from only getting loans via the government; most of the troubled banks have paid back their loans, and it’s back to fully private ownership. Maybe next crisis we won’t be so lucky, but for now, I think we’re good.

6. The day that GM (whether government owned or not) is the only source of transportation is the day we’re in serious trouble, regardless of whether the Communists are in charge or not.

7. Less flippantly, the government is hardly in control of all means of production; there’s still plenty of privately owned companies, a fact that’s unlikely to change any time soon. (Although, that part about wastelands could be Superfund sites in disguise)

8. I’m not 100% on what ‘equal liability of labor’ means, so I’ll take your word that union ownership of GM fits the bill. I’ve yet to see an ‘industrial army’ though.

9. I’m not sure what the relative size of the federal government compared to state and local governments has to do with an abolition of the difference between town and country. I’d say that suburban sprawl meets the definition, though.

10. I’m glad that you, me, and the Communists can all agree on this one; free education seems like a strong requirement for an educated society.

By: Evan

Evan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:40:48 +0000

Wow, that is a huge step from where I was going. But we did have internment camps during WWII