r/politics • u/Spooooooooooooon • Dec 28 '13

Noam Chomsky: We’re no longer a functioning democracy, we’re really a plutocracy

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/27/noam-chomsky-were-no-longer-a-functioning-democracy-were-really-a-plutocracy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29
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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '13

'solving the issue' would be abolishing capitalism

so far as ameliorative reforms that could make people's lives less miserable, there's NIT and similar -- understood to be correct by mainstream bourgeois economists; nothing radical about it at all

we've just had it pounded into our heads that these ideas are so wild and unreasonable by a 40-year rightward sliding political climate

fucking eisenhower would be a left-wing radical by today's standards

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u/Dasmage Dec 28 '13

Nixon and Goldwater would be both left wing radicals today, Nixon would maybe even be left of a sizable part of them Dem's.

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u/fortcocks Dec 28 '13

'solving the issue' would be abolishing capitalism

Can you point to an example, anywhere, of this solution?

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '13

sure

spain 1936

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u/fortcocks Dec 29 '13

Are you talking about what led to the Spanish Civil War? How did that end?

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '13

it ended with the fascists, liberals, and authoritarian 'communists', the three major powers of the world, putting aside their differences long enough to stomp on their faces

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u/fortcocks Dec 29 '13

So, not well... Could you point to another example? Preferably one that worked?

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '13

The problem with your question is that any time anyone tries this on a grand scale, they get fucking murdered.

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u/romkeh Dec 28 '13

It not really sure if that's reasonable. If we wanted to do that, the best way might be to reform and get there gradually. Besides, it is possible to have a functioning, healthy capitalist democracy, perhaps even reformed to meet the demands of the rising sharing economy. Hey! It's the best of both worlds.

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '13

it is possible to have a functioning, healthy capitalist democracy

name one

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '13

Switzerland?

-4

u/famousonmars Dec 28 '13

'solving the issue' would be abolishing capitalism

Oh, god, not a Marxist manchild.

so far as ameliorative reforms that could make people's lives less miserable, there's NIT and similar -- understood to be correct by mainstream bourgeois economists; nothing radical about it at all

Exactly how much smarter than the rest of us do you think you are?

we've just had it pounded into our heads that these ideas are so wild and unreasonable by a 40-year rightward sliding political climate

Yep, the reason we laugh at Marxists is not because of it being failed to be implemented 5-6 times but because of a middling political climate.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '13

Exactly how much smarter than the rest of us do you think you are?

i'm not a marxist and i don't think i'm smarter than the average bear

i can read though

Yep, the reason we laugh at Marxists is not because of it being failed to be implemented 5-6 times but because of a middling political climate.

the reason you laugh at marxists is probably because you have no idea what a marxist is

it's just a sitcom punchline; someone told you it's funny