Any economic system is based on the concept of «ownership» … possession of, and control over resources.
Any system of government must define what ownership or authority means for purposes of its governance (laws) and must also engage in law enforcement.
Force (up to and including the actual, not merely metaphoric, barrel of a gun) is at the literal root of the concept of law enforcement.
ANY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IS ULTIMATELY MAINTAINED BY FORCE.
Thus, it is disingenuous to argue that this characteristic somehow makes any attempt at socialism inherently any less just than any other.
It is also the case that every significant political movement in modern history which has claimed to be "socialist" has either been a pretext by authoritarians (fascists, demagogues, tyrants) or been co-opted by such factions.
So we must take any claims of socialist revolution with all due skepticism.
Meanwhile it's equally true that every effort towards democratic and legitimately populist reform has been decried as a headlong leap down the icy slopes of "socialism" or "communism" (usually promulgated by people who are ignorant of any nuances in their terminology — often willfully so).
Posts such as the one to which I'm responding here generally do far more to forestall any social, economic, and political progress than benefit they claim to be striving towards.
The "taxation is theft" mantra exclusively serves the status quo — especially plutocrats and oligarchs.
Answer Guy / JimD
npub1tr…pe2z6
2023-08-16 23:03:57
in reply to nevent1q…km7m
Author Public Key
npub1trhp4evegd6sgavspfytt2d6j20s0duxqpxvpkrs8lje67tfdrqs8pe2z6Published at
2023-08-16 23:03:57Event JSON
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"content": "Any economic system is based on the concept of «ownership» … possession of, and control over resources.\n\nAny system of government must define what ownership or authority means for purposes of its governance (laws) and must also engage in law enforcement.\n\nForce (up to and including the actual, not merely metaphoric, barrel of a gun) is at the literal root of the concept of law enforcement.\n\nANY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IS ULTIMATELY MAINTAINED BY FORCE.\n\nThus, it is disingenuous to argue that this characteristic somehow makes any attempt at socialism inherently any less just than any other.\n\nIt is also the case that every significant political movement in modern history which has claimed to be \"socialist\" has either been a pretext by authoritarians (fascists, demagogues, tyrants) or been co-opted by such factions.\n\nSo we must take any claims of socialist revolution with all due skepticism.\n\nMeanwhile it's equally true that every effort towards democratic and legitimately populist reform has been decried as a headlong leap down the icy slopes of \"socialism\" or \"communism\" (usually promulgated by people who are ignorant of any nuances in their terminology — often willfully so).\n\nPosts such as the one to which I'm responding here generally do far more to forestall any social, economic, and political progress than benefit they claim to be striving towards.\n\nThe \"taxation is theft\" mantra exclusively serves the status quo — especially plutocrats and oligarchs.",
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