Communism.. I'm down ..maybe.. but first

originally posted by: AaarghZombies
a reply to: Teikiatsu

No, it's the low cost of living and low gas prices. I had a three bedroom apartment for less than you'd pay to share a dorm room with no bathroom in the US.

In the currency of the day I made about 500 a month in China, and lived a middle class lifestyle with a city center apartment 10 minutes from the train station, and that was a looong time ago, things are much better now.

Tell that to the uyghurs

Your being lied to by the media.

Media lies about a lot of stuff. How is Tiananmen Square these days?

There is rural poverty, but American gas that too. But with more meth addicts

And less slave labor.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: LastFirst

Look up how well the plebs living in Communist countries have lived compared to the ruling classes then ask yourself if the freedom of choice you experience now is worth exchanging for that.

Communism does not equal Utopia , at least not to the majority.

Neither does Capitalism.

Capitalism doesn't promise utopia. It offers opportunity if you are willing to take the risk.

San Fransisco alone has more homeless than the Entire of the UK,

That's not capitalism. That's failed government... ironically trying to emulate socialism/communism.

and rural poverty in the US is so bad that some areas have lower standards of living than you could expect 100 years ago. Other than electricity they're quality of life is worse than their grandparents.

How many rural places in the US have you been to, or are you depending on the lying media to tell you how things are? I drive through rural portions of the US regularly and while it's not hyper-metropolitan (thank God) it's not the wild west either.

I will never be 'down' with communism, why would anyone in their right mind be okay with being suppressed and controlled by government to the point that you can't do anything to improve your life situation.

We'd all be equally poor and miserable , except for the 'elites' in control they'd be very happy as they'd be in total control and rich .
While we will 'own nothing and be happy' yeah right !

There would be no point in becoming a doctor as you'd make about the same as someone who picks up garbage, oh but you wouldn't get to choose and pick what you'd like to do with your life. No the government chooses. In China if parents are doctors their kids can't become doctors as well they will have to pick something else (just as an example).
So could also be forced to become a doctors (years of study ) for maybe a bit more than someone who works retail or something .

a reply to: ancientlight

A big difference, in communist countries they “love” their government. They are told to “love” their government and they’ll constantly tell you that they do.

If someone in a free country told me that I wouldn’t know if I should laugh or barf.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say “jaknow, I really love our government” in the west.

first tme i flew into hong kong was just after the handover. maybe 99 and in the airport there were armed soiders with automatics all around.

i was like wtf?

i had a great time tho, smoking was no problem anywhere. beer was sold everywhere too. lol.

a few yrs later i went to guangzhou, a friend wanted me to join him in a business. it was very chines area. triads and crappy infrastructure. i didn't like it. so declined.

2 yrs after that, another offer in shanghai.

my backer who owned 6 big corps. gave me carte blanche on renovating and building me a house.

the area was unreal. multi mil estates, gated and they wanted me.

anyway, the bund was very cool.

another nice time. but declined again. i kind of regret it now.

i'm sure backer had some serious party contacts. i coulda gone places, bin some body made some real ching.

i went home. really didn't trust the political system for the long-term.

unless one has big bucks, i don't suggest living in mainland china. hinan island seems more mello and affordable.

i know a few people that opened bizzes in viet nam and they have no prob with it. i toured da nang. tourist friendly.

i think most places have incorporated capitalism into their ideology, there are a few hold outs.tho. but you can still go and spend the bucks.

but anyplace is fine if you are backed by a big corp.

try just showing up on your own.



i never lived under communism.

Communism during the Cold War wasn't as monolithic as was thought in the West.

Practices varied to some extent by country, and by which period of time one considers.

In former Warsaw Pact countries, older generations have a form of nostalgia for those days because overall not much was expected in the way of performance at work. Smile when the party slogans were spoken, don't make trouble, don't have to work hard, collect a meager paycheck, and wait in the lines at the shops to get whatever might be available that day.

Authorities left people alone so long as they weren't criminals and didn't express political opinions at odds with that of the state. There was as well a lack of social mobility, other than for those who worked for the Party. One simply accepted the situation, for the alternative was to protest and be imprisoned, among other punishments for what the regime deemed 'anti-social behavior'.

Some ownership of private property was allowed, but tax structures were devised to make such ownership a financially punishing experience. Private property owners were also expected to house renters sent by the authorities with practically no recourse for owners when damage occurred. That experience lessened after enough of the apartment block complexes were constructed after the Second World War, and more housing became available.

Despite communism's claims, there was a class structure. People outside the party were the lowest class, and privileges improved as one moved up the ranks of the party. Contacts with party members were important because those people could pull strings to get things like passports and permission to travel abroad.

Two damaging practices became common--

1) Taking short cuts because standard practices were considered impractical; and,

2) Corruption thrived as a result of normal items and services often not being available. Those who had, sold on the black market. Those who had power, granted favors based on what they got in return vice simply performing their duties to the public.

The short-cutting mentality was one factor behind the damage done to the environment by organizations and individuals alike. People found solutions without regard to long term consequences.

Cheers

a reply to: LastFirst

I'll actually try to answer your question.

If you want to determine what people need to keep physically alive ask a doctor

If you want to know what people would want - look to people who have plenty of money left over to invest and see what they spend their money on for daily needs. I think there was a study showing that after 80k per year having more money doesn't make someone happier. So look to see what 80k will buy (it's probably closer to 100 or 150 now).

Everyone is different and some of the wants are just based on the emotional need to have what others don't but it should get you close at what would support a society's material needs.

originally posted by: IAMALLYETALLIAM
a reply to: LastFirst

It’s kind of cute that you think people would eat steak under communism.

Not just under communism, but under the Green New Deal aka UN Agenda 21 Climate Change abolition of meat eating aka Marxism
So that’s how that works...
I guess some people have selective hearing 😏

a reply to: ancientlight

I will never be 'down' with communism, why would anyone in their right mind be okay with being suppressed and controlled by government to the point that you can't do anything to improve your life situation.

Younger people have been sold a bill of goods by their Marxist college professors and think it’s going to be great and free stuff and all that. Alexsander Solzhenitsyn should be required reading in every school.

a reply to: Teikiatsu

That's not capitalism. That's failed government... ironically trying to emulate socialism/communism

Not to mention it happens to be the district of a very wealthy limousine commie

originally posted by: tamusan
a reply to: LastFirst

I'll be eating grass fed beef in a different country while those stuck in a communist United States are eating soylent green at best. 

Like I said before ... it’s not just communism it’s the Green New Deal/Agenda 21, and have you any idea how many countries are committed to that? I think you don’t realize the scope of it. When I visited Tunisia, one hotel would not allow you to bring plastic water birthed into the hotel with you. That’s the scope of the environmental Green Mask in some countries.

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Communism during the Cold War wasn't as monolithic as was thought in the West.

I’m sure it wasn’t so fun in those bread lines. Just wait till we get that in the food shortages to come in the next few months. That’s probably the next step in implementation plans here. They’ve already done lock downs. Did you know that the Soviet people had money but the supply chain/distribution/ control of business was centrally planned ... its a simple fact that when you have a centrally planned economy the distribution just goes whack...
So it will be interesting to see if you think it’s more or less “monolithic” than the lockdowns and toilet paper shortages during the Covid “plannedemic”.