SavedByGrace1981 Posted February 17, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 104 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 2,923 Content Per Day: 0.61 Reputation: 462 Days Won: 2 Joined: 04/02/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/22/1953 Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Out of the Shadows said: It would be helpful if people would educate themselves on the difference between communism and socialism. Could you suggest an unbiased source to do so? Another way to look at it would be too look at countries who had socialistic governments and contrast them with countries who had communistic governments. So look at countries like Sweden and France (socialistic) and contrast them with countries like the former USSR, China and Cuba. Just from that, here are some differences I see: 1. Socialism allows for some private ownership; communism no private ownership. 2. Socialist allows for free (or at least somewhat free) elections; communist - if there is an election - only one party is on the ballot. 3. Gulags, political prisons, re-education camps seem to be a fixture of communistic regimes. Not so in socialistic countries. 4. Socialism is parliamentary, Communism relies on dictators and strongmen (Castro, Mao, Stalin) I've heard is said that Socialism is simply Communism with a 'smiley face'. Jane Fonda - actress and 60s radical - said this in 1970: "If you understood what Communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that one day we would become Communist." (speaking to students at the University of Michigan in 1970) 5. Governments seem to embrace socialism on a gradual basis (such as ours has done). Communism, on the other hand, usually (but not always) is the result of violent revolution. USSR (1917), China (1949) and Cuba (1959) are examples. The country of Chile in the 70s voted for a Communist government, so I suppose there are exceptions (and some say our CIA intervened there to overturn that election). EDIT: 6. One critical difference I almost forgot: Socialism allows for religion, Communism is officially atheist. The State is god. Blessings, -Ed Edited February 17, 2017 by SavedByGrace1981 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SavedByGrace1981 Posted February 17, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 104 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 2,923 Content Per Day: 0.61 Reputation: 462 Days Won: 2 Joined: 04/02/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/22/1953 Share Posted February 17, 2017 10 hours ago, MorningGlory said: Sanders and Warren are absolutely communists; they just know it's not okay to call themselves that in the U.S. 2 hours ago, Out of the Shadows said: It would be helpful if people would educate themselves on the difference between communism and socialism. Since Sanders has been in Congress, he's been a self-proclaimed 'Socialist' (not democrat). The fact that he ran as a democrat suggests to me there is slight - if any - difference between the two political philosophies. I might add Obama to that list of Sanders and Warren, but then I'd qualify it this way: Comparing a political leader who came to prominence in OUR political system to one who came to prominence in a communistic system may be like comparing apples and oranges. The two political systems are too different. Sanders IS a socialist by his own definition, and I'd definitely put Warren and Obama in the same camp. But to go beyond that and declare them communists, one would have to know their souls - their hearts. While communism may simply be a more extreme form of socialism, there is the atheistic, totalitarian mob rule component of the former. We think of the extreme examples of past communist regimes - the Stalins, Mao's and the Castros. These were truly evil creatures. I'm not quite ready to put our socialists there . . . yet. Blessings, -Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted February 17, 2017 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.69 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just now, SavedByGrace1981 said: Since Sanders has been in Congress, he's been a self-proclaimed 'Socialist' (not democrat). The fact that he ran as a democrat suggests to me there is slight - if any - difference between the two political philosophies. I might add Obama to that list of Sanders and Warren, but then I'd qualify it this way: Comparing a political leader who came to prominence in OUR political system to one who came to prominence in a communistic system may be like comparing apples and oranges. The two political systems are too different. Sanders IS a socialist by his own definition, and I'd definitely put Warren and Obama in the same camp. But to go beyond that and declare them communists, one would have to know their souls - their hearts. While communism may simply be a more extreme form of socialism, there is the atheistic, totalitarian mob rule component of the former. We think of the extreme examples of past communist regimes - the Stalins, Mao's and the Castros. These were truly evil creatures. I'm not quite ready to put our socialists there . . . yet. Blessings, -Ed Sanders running as a Dem was a matter of convenience, not unlike Trump running as a Repub. Our system makes it all but impossible for someone with out an (R) or a (D) by their name on the ballot to ever win an election. And yes, both Obama and Warren are socialist as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SavedByGrace1981 Posted February 17, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 104 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 2,923 Content Per Day: 0.61 Reputation: 462 Days Won: 2 Joined: 04/02/2011 Status: Offline Birthday: 03/22/1953 Share Posted February 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, Out of the Shadows said: Sanders running as a Dem was a matter of convenience, not unlike Trump running as a Repub. Our system makes it all but impossible for someone with out an (R) or a (D) by their name on the ballot to ever win an election. And yes, both Obama and Warren are socialist as well. Good point. But it still shows the direction the D party is going. In the past, there have been C's (conservatives) in Congress. I don't think it would have ever been possible though for one of those to run as a democrat. You and I have previously discussed the two party system and what a roadblock it presents to others. Perhaps Sanders (and Trump) have shown us a way around it. Instead of "if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em" you have "if ya can't beat 'em, infiltrate 'em" Blessings, -Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Ess Posted February 17, 2017 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 7 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 312 Content Per Day: 0.12 Reputation: 140 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/10/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 09/05/1998 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 10 hours ago, Davida said: New York times is lost to the political left unfortunately, they are no longer a reliable News source. Leaning to the left doesn't make a source unreliable. It just means you personally disagree with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Ess Posted February 18, 2017 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 7 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 312 Content Per Day: 0.12 Reputation: 140 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/10/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 09/05/1998 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Just now, Davida said: Their constant untruthful reporting does , in order to promote a one sided political view. If it doesn't promote and fit their leftist political narrative it is nixed. Do you think conservative news sources are also unreliable, since they promote a one sided political view? I think the main concern should be finding a variety of accurate, reputable news sources instead of only getting news from sources of a specific political ideology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Ess Posted February 18, 2017 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 7 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 312 Content Per Day: 0.12 Reputation: 140 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/10/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 09/05/1998 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 1 minute ago, Davida said: Hi again tea test, for the record, I never voted conservative until recently and was totally lib in my views. Like said previously, I vet the news reports I read with multiple varied sources. The conservative sources have not been seen twisting people's words an out right lying about the facts like the left media has. My seeing the lies of the leftist establishment opened my eyes and they lost my support. I valued the truth over idealology. My mistake. What sources have you found to be the most truthful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted February 18, 2017 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.69 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted February 18, 2017 1 minute ago, Davida said: Hi again tea ess, for the record, I never voted conservative until recently and was totally lib in my views. Like said previously, I vet the news reports I read with multiple varied sources. The conservative sources have not been seen twisting people's words an out right lying about the facts like the left media has. My seeing the lies of the leftist establishment opened my eyes and they lost my support. I valued the truth over idealology. Is this story from infowars true and without any twisting? US MILITARY WARNS OF MARTIAL LAW TAKEOVER PLAN I think it is an outright lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted February 18, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 1,022 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 39,193 Content Per Day: 6.11 Reputation: 9,977 Days Won: 78 Joined: 10/01/2006 Status: Offline Share Posted February 18, 2017 12 hours ago, SavedByGrace1981 said: Since Sanders has been in Congress, he's been a self-proclaimed 'Socialist' (not democrat). The fact that he ran as a democrat suggests to me there is slight - if any - difference between the two political philosophies. I might add Obama to that list of Sanders and Warren, but then I'd qualify it this way: Comparing a political leader who came to prominence in OUR political system to one who came to prominence in a communistic system may be like comparing apples and oranges. The two political systems are too different. Sanders IS a socialist by his own definition, and I'd definitely put Warren and Obama in the same camp. But to go beyond that and declare them communists, one would have to know their souls - their hearts. While communism may simply be a more extreme form of socialism, there is the atheistic, totalitarian mob rule component of the former. We think of the extreme examples of past communist regimes - the Stalins, Mao's and the Castros. These were truly evil creatures. I'm not quite ready to put our socialists there . . . yet. Blessings, -Ed I wouldn't call Obama a communist; he is not as far left as Sanders and Warren. But the former POTUS IS a socialist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Gator Posted February 18, 2017 Group: Royal Member * Followers: 8 Topic Count: 91 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 10,596 Content Per Day: 3.69 Reputation: 2,743 Days Won: 25 Joined: 06/16/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted February 18, 2017 3 minutes ago, MorningGlory said: I wouldn't call Obama a communist; he is not as far left as Sanders and Warren. But the former POTUS IS a socialist. All three of them are socialist and not communist. anyone that knows what the two words mean would know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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