Anti-Soviet propaganda novels popular at the height of the Cold War probably seem less relevant now given that, you know, we won and they don't exist any more.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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Anti-Soviet propaganda novels popular at the height of the Cold War probably seem less relevant now given that, you know, we won and they don't exist any more.

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They arguably won the long game which was their strategy because now they exist within the USA.

See blue states.

We now have an entire generation receiving their history lessons through BS Internet personalities on X, who profit off of the historically uneducated. They take a 1-4 minute X post from some random person that is inaccurate, but they believe it to be truth.

2004FIGHTINTXAG said:

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We now have an entire generation receiving their history lessons through BS Internet personalities on X, who profit off of the historically uneducated. They take a 1-4 minute X post from some random person that is inaccurate, but they believe it to be truth.

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My IG feed shows that I can get built like Arnold at his peak by doing Tai Chi. I've signed up. Will report back in a couple of weeks when I'm absolutely shredded.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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"And what do we know never work?" they say communism.

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This is the most common argument I hear against communism. That it has never worked.

I hate that argument. Well... not hate, but as a primary argument, I don't like it. Just because something hasn't worked, doesn't mean it can't. Someone can always argue the merits of whether something has worked and can argue about making it work in the future.

Communism is fundamentally immoral. It's a form of slavery. That is my preferred argument.

This generation is so heavily tuned toward the evils of slavery that they should understand that argument.

UntoldSpirit said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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"And what do we know never work?" they say communism.

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This is the most common argument I hear against communism. That it has never worked.

I hate that argument. Well... not hate, but as a primary argument, I don't like it. Just because something hasn't worked, doesn't mean it can't. Someone can always argue the merits of whether something has worked and can argue about making it work in the future.

Communism is fundamentally immoral. It's a form of slavery. That is my preferred argument.

This generation is so heavily tuned toward the evils of slavery that they should understand that argument.

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I disagree with you that it can work. It simply can't until we solve the fundamental rule of Economics.

However, I like your counter argument and that's totally a valid way to approach it and likely a better way that should appeal to hearts and minds better.

YouBet said:

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UntoldSpirit said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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"And what do we know never work?" they say communism.

---

This is the most common argument I hear against communism. That it has never worked.

I hate that argument. Well... not hate, but as a primary argument, I don't like it. Just because something hasn't worked, doesn't mean it can't. Someone can always argue the merits of whether something has worked and can argue about making it work in the future.

Communism is fundamentally immoral. It's a form of slavery. That is my preferred argument.

This generation is so heavily tuned toward the evils of slavery that they should understand that argument.

---

I disagree with you that it can work. It simply can't until we solve the fundamental rule of Economics.

However, I like your counter argument and that's totally a valid way to approach it and likely a better way that should appeal to hearts and minds better.

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I don't think it's an economic argument. It's a human nature argument. The earthbound human cannot function in a way that would allow for utopian communism. Someone will always produce…someone will always take. There are doers and there are lazy sacks of *****

UntoldSpirit said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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"And what do we know never work?" they say communism.

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This is the most common argument I hear against communism. That it has never worked.

I hate that argument. Well... not hate, but as a primary argument, I don't like it. Just because something hasn't worked, doesn't mean it can't. Someone can always argue the merits of whether something has worked and can argue about making it work in the future.

Communism is fundamentally immoral. It's a form of slavery. That is my preferred argument.

This generation is so heavily tuned toward the evils of slavery that they should understand that argument.

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Fair point and we discuss more than that but you get the general idea that my classroom isn't matching what many on here think is going on.

Let's face it, most educators are leftists and they don't want to explain how their ideology has out murdered Nazism and never ever come even sort of close to working. That's why still to this day public school ignores the failure of communism

DrEvazanPhD said:

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YouBet said:

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UntoldSpirit said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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"And what do we know never work?" they say communism.

---

This is the most common argument I hear against communism. That it has never worked.

I hate that argument. Well... not hate, but as a primary argument, I don't like it. Just because something hasn't worked, doesn't mean it can't. Someone can always argue the merits of whether something has worked and can argue about making it work in the future.

Communism is fundamentally immoral. It's a form of slavery. That is my preferred argument.

This generation is so heavily tuned toward the evils of slavery that they should understand that argument.

---

I disagree with you that it can work. It simply can't until we solve the fundamental rule of Economics.

However, I like your counter argument and that's totally a valid way to approach it and likely a better way that should appeal to hearts and minds better.

---

I don't think it's an economic argument. It's a human nature argument. The earthbound human cannot function in a way that would allow for utopian communism. Someone will always produce…someone will always take. There are doers and there are lazy sacks of *****

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I think it's both economic and human nature.

I teach it in my AP Gov classes.

It starts as socialism and ends in government cheese and death.

The end.

They teach it less communly.

BigRobSA said:

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We have people that think Puerto Ricans aren't Americans.

Public school is a disaster and puts out, at best, somewhat-functioning tards.

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bad bunny?

If schools are using The Dewey System which the majority do, they are getting positive communism teaching.

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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I met a young guy today that grew up in the same small town as I did. He's in his 20's and 15 years younger than I am. He flat out told me that he didn't know what communism was. I asked him if they read Animal Farm or 1984, like we did in school, and he said no. He claimed to be a conservative, but it was obvious that he didn't know what that even meant. When I was in school, we were all taught the evils of communism.

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As a father of two, I can say with certainty that they spend much more time discussing how the United States is built on racism and genocide, and how capitalism is a tool for white supremacy.

Communism is now packaged under the brand name "Antifa"

tFast said:

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Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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I met a young guy today that grew up in the same small town as I did. He's in his 20's and 15 years younger than I am. He flat out told me that he didn't know what communism was. I asked him if they read Animal Farm or 1984, like we did in school, and he said no. He claimed to be a conservative, but it was obvious that he didn't know what that even meant. When I was in school, we were all taught the evils of communism.

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As a father of two, I can say with certainty that they spend much more time discussing how the United States is built on racism and genocide, and how capitalism is a tool for white supremacy.

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Please share details.

InfantryAg said:

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BigRobSA said:

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We have people that think Puerto Ricans aren't Americans.

Public school is a disaster and puts out, at best, somewhat-functioning tards.

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bad bunny?

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I heard Trump is trying to deport him.

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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aggiebq03+ said:

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I mean communism only killed somewhere in the range of 20-100 million people in the 20th century. That hardly seems like an important thing to teach kids.

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I told that guy exactly that, and he was blown away. He had no clue. They obviously don't teach history worth a damn in school anymore. The guy was blown away when I told him about WW1, the Russian civil war, the Bolshevicks, Stalin, etc.

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He was probably taught it just like many of us were. I was taught about communism but I don't remember much of it. At that age there were many things that interested me and listening to some old codger drone on about that was not one of them. My best couple of friends were huge dorks and really liked that stuff but I just wanted to memorize enough to pass the exam and then purge it all. My only interests in school were girls and making a grade high enough to not get hassled by my folks.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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aggiebq03+ said:

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I mean communism only killed somewhere in the range of 20-100 million people in the 20th century. That hardly seems like an important thing to teach kids.

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I told that guy exactly that, and he was blown away. He had no clue. They obviously don't teach history worth a damn in school anymore. The guy was blown away when I told him about WW1, the Russian civil war, the Bolshevicks, Stalin, etc.

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He was probably taught it just like many of us were. I was taught about communism but I don't remember much of it. At that age there were many things that interested me and listening to some old codger drone on about that was not one of them. My best couple of friends were huge dorks and really liked that stuff but I just wanted to memorize enough to pass the exam and then purge it all. My only interests in school were girls and making a grade high enough to not get hassled by my folks.

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Growing up in the Cold War 80s we lived it. Berlin Wall fell when I was in high school so the evils of communism were front and center in life, culture, and society back then.

All the more reason it should be taught now, in depth, because these younger generations have grown up in the twilight of globalism with no near peer adversary. To them, communism is a theoretical philosophy that hasn't been tried yet.

Obviously, China is our current near peer adversary, but we are so engrained with China on trade and supply chains that we do not have the clear demarcation we had with the USSR.

Agree here. It is basic human nature to want to
Improve your and your family's lives and communism doesn't account for that unless of course you happen to be one of the commie politicos, however to take it a step further this is precisely why it has never worked and never will at large scale. Maybe it could work on a small scale basis at a community level if there were no outside Forces in play.

Saw a good "quote" here the other day… capitalism is the worst economic system except for all the others. Really liked that one.

tFast said:

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Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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I met a young guy today that grew up in the same small town as I did. He's in his 20's and 15 years younger than I am. He flat out told me that he didn't know what communism was. I asked him if they read Animal Farm or 1984, like we did in school, and he said no. He claimed to be a conservative, but it was obvious that he didn't know what that even meant. When I was in school, we were all taught the evils of communism.

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As a father of two, I can say with certainty that they spend much more time discussing how the United States is built on racism and genocide, and how capitalism is a tool for white supremacy.

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Where do you live? My kids are not in high school, yet, and I want to make sure I don't have to move

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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aggiebq03+ said:

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I mean communism only killed somewhere in the range of 20-100 million people in the 20th century. That hardly seems like an important thing to teach kids.

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I told that guy exactly that, and he was blown away. He had no clue. They obviously don't teach history worth a damn in school anymore. The guy was blown away when I told him about WW1, the Russian civil war, the Bolshevicks, Stalin, etc.

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You don't necessarily need some commie-friendly teacher to teach you about Communism.

Start with Animal Farm. Then read these:

Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenetzyn
The Road to Serfdom by Hayek
Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher

Given how many college-educated posters there are on here that equate higher marginal tax rates to communism, it's clear that society has taken its eye off the ball on things for a long time.

Can you show me where people have said that? I think it's a terrible tax system and everyone should pay the same percentage I have never seen anyone call that communism.



Also nobody should pay 25% income tax rate

Dan Carlin said:

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Given how many college-educated posters there are on here that equate higher marginal tax rates to communism, it's clear that society has taken its eye off the ball on things for a long time.

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Confused by this.

We do know the rich pay most of the taxes in this country.

backintexas2013 said:

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Can you show me where people have said that? I think it's a terrible tax system and everyone should pay the same percentage I have never seen anyone call that communism.

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A flat tax is a simple and noble idea that I think would be fiscally disastrous and drive further wedge between the haves and have-nots. But it's a legitimate idea worth exploring.

But the moment someone points out that the erosion of the American middle class coincided with the massive restructuring of tax laws and other fiscal policies known as "Reaganomics", rightwing keyboard warriors are frothing in a pavlovian response as they shout MARXISM!!

I don't think it's Marxism it's class envy and not the governments job.

Wedge? Maybe libs shouldn't cry about "fair share" which is a complete lie. Obama loved that class warfare.

backintexas2013 said:

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Can you show me where people have said that? I think it's a terrible tax system and everyone should pay the same percentage I have never seen anyone call that communism.



Also nobody should pay 25% income tax rate

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A married couple has to earn over 400k, post-deductions, in taxable income before a dollar of theirs is taxed above 24%. Basically top 1-2% of earners. If you mean an EFFECTIVE tax rate of 25% you're looking at people who earn seven figures, but by that point they're in the category of exploitation of the most creative tax loopholes.

Tldr, cry me a F'in river

Dan Carlin said:

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backintexas2013 said:

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Can you show me where people have said that? I think it's a terrible tax system and everyone should pay the same percentage I have never seen anyone call that communism.



Also nobody should pay 25% income tax rate

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A married couple has to earn over 400k, post-deductions, in taxable income before a dollar of theirs is taxed above 24%. Basically top 1-2% of earners. If you mean an EFFECTIVE tax rate of 25% you're looking at people who earn seven figures, but by that point they're in the category of exploitation of the most creative tax loopholes.

Tldr, cry me a F'in river

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Liberal fiscal idiocy and jealousy, rolled into 1.

The marginal utility of dollar is lower the more you have. $500 car repair bill hits different to low income vs high income. Taxation sucks but necessary so you do it in the least painful way possible for society. Taxing everybody the same amount is cruel.

My dad gave me this when I turned 16:

Dan Carlin said:

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backintexas2013 said:

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Can you show me where people have said that? I think it's a terrible tax system and everyone should pay the same percentage I have never seen anyone call that communism.



Also nobody should pay 25% income tax rate

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A married couple has to earn over 400k, post-deductions, in taxable income before a dollar of theirs is taxed above 24%. Basically top 1-2% of earners. If you mean an EFFECTIVE tax rate of 25% you're looking at people who earn seven figures, but by that point they're in the category of exploitation of the most creative tax loopholes.

Tldr, cry me a F'in river

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I paid 28% last year and was just shy of 7 figures. I have yet to find these tax loopholes you speak of.

And yes progressive taxation it is theft. Especially when basically half of federal taxpayers pay net zero income taxes and are largely the same ones receiving the lion's share of tax expenditures. Forced wealth redistribution. Everyone should pay the same rate.

And because the majority pay none or very little net taxes I have zero recourse at the ballot box. If everyone paid the same rate, I have zero doubt that rate would keep getting voted down into single digits and entitlements cut. The bottom 25% would have to stand on their own two feet or perish.

Dan Scott said:

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The marginal utility of dollar is lower the more you have. $500 car repair bill hits different to low income vs high income. Taxation sucks but necessary so you do it in the least painful way possible for society. Taxing everybody the same amount is cruel.

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That is not the business of the government. Either tax us all the same rate or gut expenditures.

Dan Carlin said:

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backintexas2013 said:

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Can you show me where people have said that? I think it's a terrible tax system and everyone should pay the same percentage I have never seen anyone call that communism.

---

A flat tax is a simple and noble idea that I think would be fiscally disastrous and drive further wedge between the haves and have-nots. But it's a legitimate idea worth exploring.

But the moment someone points out that the erosion of the American middle class coincided with the massive restructuring of tax laws and other fiscal policies known as "Reaganomics", rightwing keyboard warriors are frothing in a pavlovian response as they shout MARXISM!!

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Share of federal income taxes paid has steadily shifted towards the rich since tax law changes in '81 and '86. I don't think we can look at tax bracket changes as the reason for erosion of the middle class since either way you look at it the middle class has lowered their share of federal tax burden over time, or they moved up to the join the rich. I think this latter shift is largely ignored when the issue of income inequality comes up.

We never hear about it. We only hear about the negative shift the other direction.

1980:
- Top 1% paid 20% of taxes
- Top 10% paid 50% of taxes

2024:
- Top 1% paid 40% of taxes
- Top 10% paid 72% of taxes

As you can see, we have fewer and fewer people with skin in the game.