Comments on: What’s so bad about being a Pinko?

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 06:39:13 +0000

I agree with Aaron. Fundamentalist religions and totalitarian political philosophies have in common a belief that human behavior can be perfected by understanding and applying certain immutable laws, as revealed by some holy figure and interpreted by an infallible elite. Once you’ve convinced yourself that perfection is possible, any atrocity is justifiable. Just think of the neverending utopia we’re getting in return for these dead bodies. Of course, history and human nature can’t really be reduced to a formula, a philosophy or a set of rules. We can’t be perfected, and history doesn’t have an endpoint, at least not one that we can foresee. Small-d democrats understand this, so they view themselves and their beliefs with skepticism, and impose limits on their own behavior.

By: Not Me

Not Me — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:51:32 +0000

Pinko

By: Tracey

Tracey — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:53:45 +0000

I realized after I posted that I simply repeated you. Apologies. I tend to be a skim reader, often to my detriment.

Interestingly, tho, one of the most surreal moments in my Swedish civics class, which is popuated mostly by 17 to 20 year-old “drop outs” (so not the brightest of the bunch…I go to an alternative high school/adult continuing learning center), was when we were discussing different forms of government, benefits and problems associated with each…

And this fairly simple girl in the back of the room, when specifically called upon while we were talking about Democracies said “yes…but isn’t the greatest threat to a democracy that the people vote themselves into a dictatorship?”

Trippy.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:35:15 +0000

But that’s what I said. The idea that wealth should be equally distributed of wealth, that no one should go without, isn’t so bad. But its imposition requires so much centralization of power that Stalinesque corruption is inevitable. I’m also making a big distinction between Communism and Swedish-style democratic socialism. If the people vote for a tax system designed to redistribute wealth, fine. But Marx was no democrat, and no one voted Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Tito, Ceucescu (sp?) into power. They took it by force, without any popular mandate, and imposed an economic system that, by design, concentrated huge amounts of unaccountable power in their hands. The results of this were predictable.

Point taken on the “democracy bombing people” line. My only counterpoint would be to argue that, when the US actually was still a democracy (ie, requiring a declaration of war by Congress before any shooting could begin) we bombed a hell of a lot less people. The US is no longer a democracy.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:15:25 +0000

But “Communism” didn’t kill people…Stalin’s (et al) corrupt use of it did. It’s just as easy to say that Democracy is killing people today…right now.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 21:02:37 +0000

I don’t think there’s anything terribly wrong with Communist ideology per se, it’s the practical application of that ideology. They did kill roughly 100 million people in the 20th century, after all.

That said, my own politics are quite left-of-center, and I find all witchhunts (McCarthyite or other) vile.