# Kick the Commie! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276 "2011-10-11T09:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/41 "2011-10-12T17:07:18Z")
Was the OP a whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/42 "2011-10-12T17:11:30Z")
> [@Vita\_Beata](#): > > Am enjoying this thread! > > In Soviet Russia, mayonnaise is the first up against the wall. Followed by the Canadians, because they are just a wee bit too yolky for a true Communist’s taste. Waitaminit… I’m Canadian… Umm… Nevermind [/Emily Litella] ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/43 "2011-10-12T17:20:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Hey, how many Maoists does it take to change a light bulb? Bah. The answer is none: the light bulb must contain the seeds of its own revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/44 "2011-10-12T17:26:15Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Not so fast, there, **magellan,** we still got some space on the wall. You eat mayonnaise? No? What’s that on your lapel? I picked the wrong day to wear my mayonnaise lapel pin. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/45 "2011-10-12T23:53:27Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > But mostly it’s the twerps that call me a Leninist just because I believe in a progressive income tax. Fine! You want to call me (or anyone to the Sane side of Ayn Rand) a Commie? I’m a Commie. Your definition, friend. But if that’s sufficient to make me a Commie, than Communism can’t mean I want to abolish all private industry. That’s logic. My father is convinced that I’m a communist because I worry about the plight of the poor and am not a global warming skeptic. So I guess I’m a commie as well. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/46 "2011-11-08T11:36:11Z")
I believe in a progressive income tax, equality for persons of different ethnic backgrounds, the redistribution of wealth, and general egalitarianism. These are in fact communist stances. If holding those positions makes me a communist, then I am a communist. If a communist is someone working for Joe Stalin or Mao Zedong, then I am not a communist. Pick your definition. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/47 "2011-11-08T12:01:21Z")
Oh yeah, there are a lot of total idiots kicking around. You know, the same people who define Obama as a socialist nazi. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/48 "2011-11-08T12:34:43Z")
I was going to accuse you of hyperbole but a google of “obama socialist nazi” turned up nearly 10 mil hits. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/49 "2011-11-09T22:41:40Z")
I thought that in the original context that Communism involved The emergence of a class war that would found a temporary state that owned or controlled both the means and control of the means of capital and production. In theory, at some point, the egalitarian faeries would then at some point dissolve the state. Communism is about centralized, “collective” control and effective ownership of stuff, wealth and production. The basis for this is founded on theories of labor and capital. Whatever your position on Communism, you really need to understand Marxism. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/50 "2011-11-09T23:45:32Z")
I think that’s technically ‘state socialism,’ but again I’m not an expert. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/51 "2011-11-10T00:12:07Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I think that’s technically ‘state socialism,’ but again I’m not an expert. Well, in practice there’s no difference because state socialism requires at least a partial totalitarian state not to fall apart, and Communism requires state socialism because otherwise it’s a hash of nonsense and pie-in-the-sky mysticism. However, noticing that you include “wealth redistribution” on your list, you quite possibly do qualify as a modern Commie. Of course, I think you’re utterly full of it, and note that wealth redistirbution does not have a good track record as a practical matter, either. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/52 "2011-11-10T06:56:47Z")
Oho! How are you defining “redistribution of wealth”? Some kind of radical levelling, some limited confiscation, or just New Deal/Great Society policies? I meant the last, which would be “redistribution of wealth” to a Republican pol, btw. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/53 "2011-11-10T07:12:43Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Well, in practice there’s no difference because state socialism requires at least a partial totalitarian state not to fall apart… Stated without substantiation or a working knowledge of history. Something over 10% of various Western European economies were public enterprise before 1980. Coal, electricity and cars were but 3 examples. [http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/1606.html](http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/1606.html) Modern conservatives often put forth such nonsense to paper over their love of dictatorships in Chile and Spain during the 1970s and their contemporary aversion to the [popular vote](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/restrictions_could_keep_five_million_traditionally_democratic_voters_from_the_polls_in_2012.php) in the US. Just like the old Soviet communists, they are all for elections provided their side is assured of victory. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/54 "2011-11-11T05:04:51Z")
Congratulations for embracing an ideology responsible for the greatest number of deaths in human history. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/55 "2011-11-11T05:39:39Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Congratulations for embracing an ideology responsible for the greatest number of deaths in human history. Yes, because: a) This is clearly directly attributable to the ideology itself b) Stalin and Pol Pot’s ideologies were clearly purely communistic c) Capitalism hasn’t been directly responsible for more :rolleyes: Seriously, even if this statement is true, it’s completely unqualified and unsourced, and it indicates the same kind of failed logic that points people to saying “Atheism is the most deadly religion”. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/56 "2011-11-11T05:44:08Z")
[QUOTE] > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yes, because: > a) This is clearly directly attributable to the ideology itself The ideology as envisioned by Marx and Engels calls for violence against the “bourgeoisie”, seizure (ie stealing) property, and considers the ends justifies the means. > [@](#): > > b) Stalin and Pol Pot’s ideologies were clearly purely communistic Pol Pot was the purest communist, he didn’t retain even the slightest vestiges of capitalism. > [@](#): > > c) Capitalism hasn’t been directly responsible for more > :rolleyes: Because it hasn’t. > [@](#): > > Seriously, even if this statement is true, it’s completely unqualified and unsourced, and it indicates the same kind of failed logic that points people to saying “Atheism is the most deadly religion”. No because atheism is merely a lack of an ideology. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/57 "2011-11-11T07:52:00Z")
Pol Pot, whatever his rhetoric, was a throwback to ancient god-kings, with a dash of child soldiers. When the history of the recent wars in the Congo is written, you may find Pol Pot is downgraded in the rankings of public terrorists. This idea that pure communism _must_ require some sort of abolition of all preceding civilization is a great caricature for anti-Communists & thus for all those who oppose any progress. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/58 "2011-11-11T08:24:06Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > But mostly it’s the twerps that call me a Leninist just because I believe in a progressive income tax. Fine! You want to call me (or anyone to the Sane side of Ayn Rand) a Commie? I’m a Commie. Your definition, friend. But if that’s sufficient to make me a Commie, than Communism can’t mean I want to abolish all private industry. That’s logic. Thanks bud, I am getting ads in French for google chrome, thanks for screwing that up. Declan ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/59 "2011-11-11T21:21:13Z")
Much like the Killing Fields, I think that’s most probably not really my fault. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276/60 "2011-11-11T22:09:05Z")
Kick. Did my part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kick-the-commie/599276.md?page=4)