# Why Is The S Emulating Soviet Communism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616 "2011-07-11T12:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/61 "2011-07-12T06:42:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > From a 2011 article in the NYT: "Furthermore, all sorts of exemptions are written into the law, which means that all sorts of bulbs are getting a free pass and can keep their energy-guzzling ways indefinitely, including “specialty bulbs” like the Edison bulbs favored by Mr. Henault, as well as three-way bulbs, silver-bottomed bulbs, chandelier bulbs, refrigerator bulbs, plant lights and many, many others. " Yeah, but each of those exceptions comes with a new agency, an acronym and 1000’s of lazy left-wing government employees. The PLEASE (Plant Light Efficiency Agency for Socialists’ Enrichment), CBBBB (Chandelier Bulb Betterment Bumbling Bureaucracy), et cetera, et cetera. Din’t you even read the OP? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/62 "2011-07-12T16:07:04Z")
> [@bump](#): > > You just bought crappy toilets. (pun intended). > > Seriously… there’s a Kohler model at Home Depot for like $165 that will flush ANY monstrous dump that I’ve produced in the past year, and more toilet paper than my wife can use at a sitting. > > I think this thing would flush a softball, and it was dirt cheap. do we have the same model? I got a Kohler at Lowes to replace my useless “full 4gal” flush toilet (clogged every time i crapped), its AWESOME tap the flush handle for a half flush for just liquid full flush cycle sounds like a jet engine starting and might suck the hair off your head. I think your right it would flush a softball. hi velocity water flush instead of hi volume water flush, works every time. Lights? if your worried about mercury, I’m slowly replacing the lights in my house with LEDs where and when possible. I don’t know what the pollution profile is for LED and they’re expensive but they are sposed to last 150 thousand hours or something, (don’t have the numbers at hand right now) um gov’ment, necessary evil. of course its gonna be stupid, its composed of people. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/63 "2011-07-12T16:42:10Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Conservatives used to say we’d end up like “Red China”, if we weren’t careful–and now it’s happening. Only now it’s the Tea Party and other laissez-faire capitalists who seem bent on taking us there. Just look at the facts of life and work in mainland China: > > [ul][li]Low wages–check.[/li][li]Ineffectual consumer protections and safeguards–check.[/li][li]Limited to non-existent social entitlements–check.[/li][li]Poor environmental safeguards–check.[/li][/ul] > > Now who, in the American government, seems to be more eager to bring this about here? Heh - I didn’t read closely, and I thought your list was about the US. I was going to add to your list - “People not free to change jobs due to being tied to jobs by extremely expensive healthcare.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/64 "2011-07-12T17:04:51Z")
Not to mention those who are also being chained to their jobs because they can’t make more money elsewhere…or because they don’t want to move…or because they don’t know how to do anything else. People get chained to their jobs for all sorts of reasons. It isn’t the responsibility of government to ensure that people can job-hop at will. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/65 "2011-07-12T18:34:51Z")
If this were the Soviet Union there would only be 40 watt incandescent bulbs. And they wouldn’t fit in the socket. But this wouldn’t matter as there would be a shortage. ---
**Author:** ![Plumbkrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Plumbkrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumbkrazy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/66 "2011-07-12T18:55:15Z")
Clearly, our problem is centralized government and the evil it spawns. In order to shrink the beast and save trillions of tax dollars, I propose we eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and begin dismantling the military down to a bare-bones operation. Oh, you Conservatives don’t like that? Then go \*\*\*\* yourselves, because you don’t have any real conviction unless you’re willing to shut down the Pentagon. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/67 "2011-07-12T18:58:52Z")
> [@bump](#): > > and more toilet paper than my wife can use at a sitting. I saw what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616/68 "2011-07-12T19:17:05Z")
I’ll play along with the OP if it means we can have some show trials for those Trtskyite wreckers at Lehman Brothers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-s-emulating-soviet-communism/588616.md?page=3)