this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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Leftism
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I think it's important to note that your neighbors might be the enemy... most people are great, some are not.
There will always be antisocial behavior (the basis for what we call crimes), yes. However, that doesn't mean your neighbor is the enemy because they might be one of the few people that do antisocial things.
I disagree. A person who would intentionally cause me or my family harm despite having their needs met is both my enemy and the enemy of a reasonable society.
I understand where you're coming from. But it seems like you're assuming that anyone capable of causing you or your family harm is a threat. What I'm saying is that no one is a threat until proven otherwise.
You misunderstand the hypothetical. All, or nearly all, people are capable but only a few would. My point is that evil exists and to ignore it is a problem. Several people in this discussion have attempted to say that capitalism is the cause of evil. This is obviously untrue. Capitalism can enable evil, but to claim that a different economic system would eliminate evil is ridiculous.
Capitalism exacerbates many things, including crime, violence, and instability. From a leftist perspective, private property is given rights, which artificially increases the amount of crime statistics. If private property were abolished, the only crimes that would occur are between people. It will still happen. But most crime is committed out of desperation to meet their needs.
Seriously? Do you not have the ability to understand hypotheticals?
I understand what you're saying, and disagree. I didn't say that a neighbor can't do antisocial behavior. I'm saying that you should trust your neighbors until they give you a reason not to, because your neighbors are not your enemy.
Are you saying that an antisocial neighbor wouldn't be the enemy?
No.
Oh, well then. I think that's a problem.
What? If a neighbor has antisocial behavior towards you, they are an enemy. But that does not make your other neighbors enemies by default.
Jesus... finally.
A neighbor can be an enemy. Not all of your neighbors are enemies.
So you're telling me that all of this discussion has been a series of misunderstandings? Lmao
I never misunderstood my position. I don't know how else to convey the idea that some neighbors might be enemies.... yes obviously most are fine. We should give everyone the benefit of the doubt... but the economic system doesn't fix the truly demented.
This is due to artificial scarcity. The world is abundant in resources. In an equitable society, people may steal, but when everyone has their needs met, anything else is extra, and surprisingly many may be happy with “enough” or “enough plus a little with storable necessities belonging to everyone.”
This is simply incorrect on so many levels. There are people who will simply not abide by the social structures you are talking about. You are assuming an idolized group of people where there is no evil. Evil doesn't magically disappear without capitalism...
That’s a very disingenuous assertion. I quantified my statement, you are the one assigning absolutes, and unfortunately, absolutes are idolized and probably not realistic any exact sense. Variables exist but not equally, everywhere, always (unless we’re talking about carefully controlled labs, and human error and unforeseen events still happen that may not be immediately apparent.
Wtf seriously?
No I wasted my time to come up with a simple way to describe complex nuances and typed it up on my device for lulz. :-|
My position is that evil exists and that using socialism or communism doesn't fix that... and you say I am being unreasonable. How do we continue the discussion from this point? I'm not even defending capitalism. The implied argument you are making is that capitalism causes evil. I don't agree with that. I don't dispute that capitalism enables evil people to prosper and I think unregulated capitalism encourages evil behavior.
No I didn’t. You’re inserting words in my mouth again; Capitalism certainly exponentially increases the potential for “evil”, aka desperation. I think you’re being intentionally disingenuous so I’m done.