Hey you - intro

[JK]

Hey, People im new to the whole Che thing and i know ill sound stupid and ignorant but at least im willing to learn, im in the middle of reading El Socialismo Y El Hombre En Cuba and its ideas are really in depth and i would like to know more. Ill thank all of you for ur co.operation thanx, Later JKat

[libereco]

well so far you don't sound too stupid or ignorant to me ;)

Anyway we'll see. Welcome to the message boards.

[JK]

yeah i guess, i have a question if socialism is when the person is voted into power and communism is when someone takes power by force why would anyone wants to be in a communist country? This was something commented by my History teacher, but it kinda makes sense why would anyone want to be governed by a person who just happened to be strong enough to take over. Well i hope this made sense

Later, J.K

[I Will Deny You]

Everyone has their own ideas about what the difference between socialism and communism is, and there are a lot of people (myself included) who don't think there was a truly communist country that ever existed.

You'll have to ask each person what there views on this are, but here's what I think:
A socialist country has a government and a leader (who may or may not have been voted into power). A communist country has no government, and it's just a given that everyone works as hard as they can, and they do so for the benefit of the country. Everything is equally distributed by the distributor and there are no "powers that be."

I'm sure that two people at most would agree with me on that, but the difference between socialism and communism is not the difference between democracy and dictatorship.

[JK]

True

[CommieBastard]

What you've described there sounds to me like anarcho-communism.

anyway, the point being that when a revolution is used to forcibly put communism into practice, it isnt about some guy getting in just cos he was strong, because the point of communism is that you fight your way into power in order to pass that power to all of the people.
i.e. you're not fighting for your own power or benefit, but for that of the people.

Socialists pretty much follow the line of ghandi 'you must become the change you want to see in the world', and therefore think that using violent means is a taint to the cause, and they could probably be said to be right if you look at the countries which have so far claimed to be communist who got in via revolutionary means.
now, socialists see gradual change via means of the current 'democratic' system as being the way to go, but as i and many others would point out, the current system is not democratic, and to effect change in such an atmosphere of greed in current world politics is like trying to punch your way through 100 feet of solid concrete.

[I Will Deny You]

Quote: from CommieBastard on 4:10 pm on Jan. 20, 2002
but as i and many others would point out, the current system is not democratic, and to effect change in such an atmosphere of greed in current world politics is like trying to punch your way through 100 feet of solid concrete.Call me a socialist, but I disagree.

If the old people can do it, we can too.

[Incognito]

Well I don't know what I would call myself, socialist or communist, but I think that socialism or communism can be attained peacefully in todays world, but it will take some time.

As for socialism and communism themselves. I have always thought that in a socialist country there is a president, a prime minister, or whatever, elected by the people, and the government controls healthcare, education, and all big business, but there is still an opportunity for a small private company that works for the people. And in a communist country the government is the people, there is no leader to make decisions, just the vote of the people, and the people own everything and work together for their common goals. So socialism is a kind of stepping stone between capitalism and communism. But this is just my oppinion.

[JK]

theres never anything set in stone

[El Brujo]

Incognito, what you described as communism is actually more towards the line of anarchism (no centralized government, 100% democracy, the people work for their own benefit, etc.) but your absolutely correct about socialism. Sweden, for example, is a socialist country and most of the businesses are controlled by the government except a few, such as car manufacturing which are private.

[booga]

well im glad to read no one has mention the word "politician" (ewww :)

my percpective is this:
freedom=power to change what we know must change
bondage=know what needs to be changed yet no power to do so
uphold the law + establish justice=power to the people
=REVOLUTION :)

welcome to the bb :)

[Hayduke]

welcome to the board...a circle of respect

[Michael De Panama]

I just refer to myself as a "Marxist".

[TheDerminator]

Just refer to myself as a socialist. Think everything else reflects some form of dogma.

May the Force be with U!

Free the Spirit!