To them communism is what capitalism is to us

where do they explicitly teach that communism is bad?

that feels like - real bad.

They didn't do that in your school? I tought that was standard practice.

So how is that different from what, for instance the Mongols or the Romans did?

There is, in fact, a lot stopping people from forming communes all over the place

"Nothing stopping you" except the government. "Which government?" Most of them.

In Caliban and the Witch, Silvia Federici proposes that even before the 1500s as a process of primitive accumulation, proto capitalist used the witch purges in Europe to usher in the family structures required to begin capitalism, killing hundreds of thousands of women in the process.

I was explicitly taught as a child that communism was a self-destructive framework of ideas that threatens our future prosperity. For this reason we won’t be studying the ideology but instead study the harmful effects such as famines.

And that’s as far as I understood it for more than a decade.

Namely, capitalism.

...and if you do, hoooooo boy. I hope you like a coup, because you are going to get a coup.... or sanctions... or a blockade... or all three.

Neither were a threat to the biosphere

What an odd thing to say. Is that the bar you think we need to clear?

I love a good quote with source! Isn’t the actual figure highly disputed?

"Nothing is stopping you" - actually not true, you need government permission and they will just say no.

It was an honest question. I'm looking for a good faith answer. What sets the British empire apart from those that came before or after it?

And don't get too big or the FBI or ATF is on their way

Not too familiar with the roman systems, but here's a relevant text from a wikipedia article on capitalism:

The economic foundations of the feudal agricultural system began to shift substantially in 16th-century England as the manorial system had broken down and land began to become concentrated in the hands of fewer landlords with increasingly large estates. Instead of a serf-based system of labor, workers were increasingly employed as part of a broader and expanding money-based economy. The system put pressure on both landlords and tenants to increase the productivity of agriculture to make profit; the weakened coercive power of the aristocracy to extract peasant surpluses encouraged them to try better methods, and the tenants also had incentive to improve their methods in order to flourish in a competitive labor market. Terms of rent for land were becoming subject to economic market forces rather than to the previous stagnant system of custom and feudal obligation.

we actually had an AFD member as our social studies teacher (AFD is one of the right-leaning parties in germany).

and... yea, he was fin guy. but most importantly: he was open to talking about stuff.

we had some genuine discussions about capitalism and communism and how things could work out. and... surprise surprise, we ended on the exact same values: capitalism is looking really shoddy rn, but if somehow everyone on earth would turn into a nice peep with altruistic values, high amounts of empathy and a drive ti genuinely make the world a better place and make people happy - capitalism may work well.

im very sorry fir saying that. iguess... Germany's social democracy dumbed me down to believing there could be a good world under capitalism - aaaawhoppsie- (sorry)

The CIA would like to know your location

It's especially ironic considering the Dustbowl Years came about due to bad farming practices (thanks to capitalism).

I had an argument with a friend where he was like "capitalism is everywhere because it works!! How can you say communism is good when it doesn't survive but capitalism does!" It's like yeah bombing and invading other countries worked, that doesn't mean that it's a good thing we want to keep happening...

They teach that communism is evil where they should be teaching Soviet Union wasn't communist, they were doing the same thing the US is doing now.

Yeah, it really depends on how you track it. Modern estimations place it from 40-60 thousand official executions. However that does not count lynchings, people who died in prison, or while being questioned or because of their torture afterwards.

there are people around who think Soviet Union still IS communist. (Or at least Russia, but it's all the same!)

Yeah, those are usually the people who never were anywhere near either

to us

To all of us including them.

Right leaning is putting it lightly.

The Nazis were also right leaning.

I don't understand this comment. The Soviet Union was a socialist project that failed to create a stateless classless moneyless society, but did plenty of things to advance the position of workers. What exactly is the US doing now that is similar to the Soviet Union?

Every single attempt at establishing a communist society was fought tooth and nail every step of the way by capitalists. By any means necessary.

Shit, the Mongols did wonders for global CO2 emissions

Wow.

"Nothing" is definitely an interesting way to pronounce "many things"

"But if your 'experiment' works too well..."

Being imperialist

Remember, the capitalists caused famine all over the place too!

Yeah capitalism has many famines of it's own to account for

Is there? There are hundreds of giant worker co ops here in brazil, and I know multiple people who live in amarchist communities in the wooxds. Most of them don't last very long, but they do try, and then stop on theirbown accord.

BTW, a giant worker co op named Aurora was responaible for slave like conditions in one of their many grape farms.

I can only really speak for the US it doesn't seem to go over too well here, and uh, americans making a commune in south america doesn't have a really good track record either lol

Okay but they weren't communist about it, so it doesnt count. Stop whining Ireland.

That's just a shitty thing to say. As if the CIA doesn't do this work, local business owners and sheriffs won't form a militia, or any of dozens of other federal agencies don't put in the work murdering people for trying to share.

'The USSR did nothing wrong so america actually not so bad'

I'm stealing this.

Either you're replying to the wrong comment, or you need to go back and reread the comments you did reply to

Oh yea! Exactly! Thing I should just make that community, because I think that if I keep waiting for the perfect design, and free time, I will just accumulate bans, hatters, and chronic diseases instead.

Yep. Everything is designed to force individualism. You need to buy a house, illegal to live in a tent even if you own land which is comparably cheap.

So I can legally buy an acre of woodland for under £20k, possibly £10k at a push though they usually charge more per area for small patches, depends on location. I could also build several cabins or put up multiple tents, so far all legal.

The moment someone lives there, illegal. The government can now seize the property. They have done so in the past when people have tried.

Worker unions bad, police unions enforcing corporate-aligned government rules good.

uproar from India, Bangladesh, The Congo, Kenya, and about 100 other countries

Yes but they're not white so we don't have to pretend to feel guilty about the atrocities.

This assigns too much legitimacy to the position. The working class are not capitalists because we have no capital with which to commit legal theft through property law or pay thugs to enforce those laws with violence.

The working class under capitalism are beholden to systems they often do not understand, cannot exercise agency within, and are actively stymied from prospering under.

Capitalism dehumanizes even those who support it. Those who support it are conditioned to reflexively demonize alternative systems. To rise above this culturally ingrained propaganda and advocate for alternatives requires seeing capitalism for what it is.

Alternative systems are to them what the bogeyman is to children.

Nothing stopping you. Well, except for the federal government and its military.

Good job, Marc, now you almost get it! You're just a bit confused.