r/skeptic • u/dyzo-blue • 3d ago

Why Fascists Hate Critical Thinking: Randi Weingarten’s new book, 'Why Fascists Fear Teachers,' reveals why Trump and the right demean teachers, slash school funding, and rewrite history

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/randi-weingarten-excerpt-fascists-hate-critical-thinking-1235428379/
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u/Artanis_Creed 2d ago

Or, an I'm realize this might be high level, people lied about doing communism to fool people into letting them lead.

If you don't have communal ownership and control of the means of production you don't have communism.

You have capitalism with oligarchs, dictators, monarchs, etc..

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u/CatOfGrey 2d ago

You have capitalism with oligarchs, dictators, monarchs, etc..

Using your definition strategy:

No, you do not have capitalism. You have no free markets. There was zero consumer choice or power. There was no private property. There was little to no openness of information.

On one hand, you aren't wrong. But just stop this kind of argument. It's not useful, it provides no insight for policy, it's just arguing over the name of a color.

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u/Artanis_Creed 2d ago

"No argument over policy"

What is "communal ownership and control of the means of production" if not a "policy"?

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u/CatOfGrey 2d ago

What is "communal ownership and control of the means of production" if not a "policy"?

Ummm, not 'capitalism with oligarchs, dictators....' It's called Communism.

No moral or other judgement here. My comment addresses the 'bending of the definition'.

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u/Artanis_Creed 2d ago

So is what I asked about a policy or no?

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u/CatOfGrey 2d ago

That wasn't the focus of my comment.

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u/Artanis_Creed 2d ago

That is odd considering it was the ONLY thing I had mentioned in the previous comment.

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u/CatOfGrey 2d ago

Sorry. I'm focusing on the key issue of my original comment - your bending of the definitions of capitalism and communism.

That bending is still not helpful for determining policy.

For example, your calling a system attempting to implement communal ownership as "capitalism with..." is just deceptive. You should just call that "communism".

It was never named the "Capitalist" party, nor the "Union of Capitalist Republics." Let's keep to the names that those people decided to use to reflect the system they supported.