Welcome back to "Doggerel," where I ramble on about words and phrases that are misused, abused, or just plain meaningless.A lot of fundies out there like to pretend that we're all Communists because Communist leaders made a big deal about being atheists. Compare: A lot of white supremacists make a big deal about being Christian. Does that mean that all Christians are white supremacists or vice-versa? Of course not. There's nothing specifying that Christians must be white supremacists. There's nothing specifying that atheists must be Communists. Atheism's been around much longer than Communism, for one thing.
The quick and dirty of Communism is this: The state owns everything and distributes it according to need. Everyone has a constitutional guarantee for a job and a home. Some people might find that attractive on paper, but corruption and abuse inevitably sets in when an unchecked authoritarian leader is involved. The spectacular example of that is the villain known as Joseph Stalin, who ran kangaroo courts, supported Lysenko's woo, and would probably have sent me and every one of my friends and family to the gulags for believing in heredity and doubly so for evolution.
Worse is that somehow fundies believe that any nasty thing Communism did against religion must be true for all atheists, even if they make a very big deal about universal freedom of speech. I think it's largely a case of cherry-picking and projection, after all, the fundies who complain about this are often quite willing to do exactly the same unethical actions when it's convenient for their side. So far, I have yet to meet any atheists who seriously endorse religious discrimination. I think it's always unethical.
As for my personal opinions on economics, I don't think Communism has a real chance of ever working. I've likened Intelligent Design to it on more than one occasion, while comparing evolution to Capitalism: Communism requires a state be intelligent and compassionate enough to design a massive economy that benefits everyone. I don't have a lot of faith in the possibility of either in a government. Capitalism, like evolution, will result in some suboptimal systems, but at least it will tend to make adaptations as conditions change. It still needs a lot of oversight, but I think it's a far better system than Communism.
14 comments:
Not to mention that most communist states weren't really atheistic at all - they were definitely theocracies, where the Party assumed the role of Church, leaders were preserved and worshipped (look at embalmed Lenin, giant pictures of Lenin, quoted Lenin in everything ever written), and in N. Korea actually turned into living gods.
That ain't atheism - it's just a different religion.
I agree with everything that has been said.
Reductio ad Stalinerum
Plus that, for example, many of the new European 'new right' movements, or at least their Blood & Honour, etc. related footclans, emphasise their own entertainment-inspired pre-Christian religiosity. Just relating to white supremacy, which has nowadays often been conveyed through a rhetoric of 'multiculturalism' / cultural essentialism.
This is also the reason why labels such as 'communism' or 'far right' are problematic ideal types of political theory. In reality people grasp and transmit the concepts only partially. For the extreme right this might be a mixture of heavy rock, vague image of 'Third Reich' mysticism, romantic 'cultures' represented by national epics and cultural essentialism. Much in the same way - and this, for myself, feels like a healthy irony - goth girls are increasingly accommodating elements of Manga and Anime in their subcultural imagery. This would have been considered ridiculous only a couple of decades ago. Heh.
You are all communist. Face it! You can't wish history away.
And you can't wish away the fact that you haven't a goddamn clue what you're talking about. Go ahead: define Communism, Yamil.
Let me get this straight: I bashed Communism quite thoroughly to the point of comparing it people like Cocksnack, therefore I am one?
You must think that word games are very fun.
So anyway, define Communism as you use it, or are you once again too much of a coward?
Oh, wait, I forgot one little detail: There was a theocratic version of Communism endorsed by the Bible under threat of death. Starts at Acts 4:32.
Yamil?
You guys are more nuts than what I thought.
Communism is you and PZ Myers kissing a monkey's ass and insisting that everyone else are too stupid to realize the intellignece in such a freakshow.
Word Games?
Who's the one speaking of "words and phrases that are misused..."
You should write your own dictionary buddy. I think only then you will be satisfied.
Sounds to me someone needs to take their last line of advice and apply it to themselves, though I think in this case, the resulting 'dictionary' would be quite terrifying.
Perhaps more of a sordid fanfic than anything.
Well, then, by Cocksnack's own definition, I'm not a Communist.
So, there's no definition of Communist I qualify for, even the zany one that has nothing to do with nationalizing all means of production.
Admit it, Cocksnack, you just change the definitions for every slur you can think of for your personal convenience.
I merely point out how people like you lie and distort the meaning of words for your own evil ends.
Get off it, we all know you're Cocksnack/Yamil (and congratulations by the way, your actual name has become an insult around here). Your multi-posting and random reference to PZed just confirms it.
Can't you even come up with anything moderately intelligent? All you're giving us is vitriol, and there's just no fun in rebutting it.
I wouldn't say there's no fun in rebutting it.
I did enjoy laughing at his American Idol brand of epistemology for a bit.
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