the labor theory of value is bunk

[lauralh]

oh yeah, felonies are always REALLY REALLY BAD CRIMES. wtf.

I got some really cool comments from the communism is stupid thing (and some really asinine ones).

purgatorius:

Marx is one of my favorite fantasy writers.

You should check out "Towards a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing," something amazing he wrote before he invented sharing.

fritz_da_kat:

Communism assumes everybody is a class enemy, until he proves himself a worthy, obedient and brainwashed member of the new order.

It is a common misconception that communism ideas are generally good, but they were badly implemented in the various communist regimes: communism ideas themselves entail murder.

lisa:

i believe all humans have a right to education, food, shelter and a job, some of the premise of communism. a community where all of these are provided *by the community* in my opinion would be a hell of a lot better off than our sad country.

tyrven:

I initially started my business with social democratic ideals. It failed miserably. I am not willing to say this was fully a flaw in the structure as much as a conflict between the structure and American culture. It could be argued, however, that this culture is bread directly out of biological programming and thus human nature not social conditioning. Regardless, I've implemented a free market capitalist approach and it has been incredibly successful, even despite violating my original ideals.

sisyphus:

there is no human nature that cannot be overcome with enough socialization. People mate for life and become celibate monks. When there are plenty of resources, people share. It's scarcity that creates assholes. Why do all these selfish people swap millions of mo3's daily? Because it costs them something. Communism isn't 'contrary to human nature' it's the only hope for improving human nature.

perich
Communism is stupid because removing the price system from the market structure as a means of resource allocation results in an inability to efficiently allocate resources. In other words, in your(*) heady desire to give everyone a "right" to health care, education, shelter, food and a job, you guarantee that almost everyone will have less of all-of-the-above then if you'd let the market do its work.

Communism doesn't work on paper. Communism doesn't work in practice. Communism doesn't work in hypothetical communes filled with immortal robots that are bulletproof with laser eyes. It's just stupid.