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Comment by brudgers | Hacker News Reader

>"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"

Has it's origins in the Christian Bible - Acts 4:34-35.

In this context it is worth noting the history of socialism among the Mormons based on that scripture. These days it's hard to find a group as opposed to what we consider socialism now but that wasn't always the case. Starting in the 1830s (well before Marx became influential) the Mormons began various socialist operations among its members. There are notable differences to modern socialism that I don't have time to get into here but the similarities are striking. For more detail you can look up information on the "United Order" and "Law of Consecration" in relation to Mormons. Quick summary: Very hard to implement.

I think that there are still a lot of "socialist" (for the greater good payed for by tax/tithe) programs within the LDS church; it's the US Federal government into what they consider their own sort of promised land they don't like.

Like most successful industrial countries, they have a strong government that works closely with private industry and "the people", as opposed to the naive laissez faire beloved by neoliberals. Think Japan/ Germany -- STILL the industrial leaders of the world.

A friend of mine also said the LDS shifted to republicanism in the seventies because of sexual politics, not economic policy. The genius of Reagan and friends was to use conflicts inspired by seismic cultural shifts of the seventies to push through economic policies that benefit a fairly small minority of the US.

laissez faire beloved by neoliberals

I thought it was the (American) neoconservatives who love laissez-faire? Or at least claim to.

This highlights one of the two major problems I have with religion: altruism. (The other thing I don't accept is faith as a valid method of obtaining knowledge.)

In Atlas Shrugged, John Galt says, "I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

Edit: Why the downvotes? The parent post quoted the Bible, so why is it invalid for me to quote the second most popular book next to it?

Is Atlas Shrugged the second most popular book next to the bible? A cite would be cool. Also, nobody likes people like John Galt or those who try to follow him; some of us think that there is as much blind faith to strictly follow economists silly models as it does to follow any other religion.

I believe that claim is a reference to a 1991 survey conducted by the Library of Congress of 2,000 Book Of The Month readers, so take that as you will. Atlas Shrugged has sold around 7 million copies since it was published, which puts it at around half as many copies as The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

7 million copies sold puts Atlas Shrugged 33 million copies behind Jonathan Livingston Seagull etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

John Galt is a fictional character in Atlas Shrugged.

Rand's philosophy is not about economics - it's a complete system, with distinct metaphysical, epistemological and moral positions, all of which give rise to applications in politics, art, science and other fields of human endeavor. (Not unlike Aristotle.)

Here's the citation for Atlas Shrugged being only 2nd to the Bible in popularity: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:U54zOrN...

It isn't fair to critique a philosopher (or anybody) without reading them, but ... I just can't take Ayn Rand seriously. Like, at all. And to compare her to Aristotle seems laughable.

So you haven't read her, and you admit that you're acting unfairly?

How do you know that comparing her to Aristotle is laughable if you don't actually know what she said?

I recommend "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology" if you'd like to compare her epistemology with Aristotle's.

Edit: again, why the downvote? Yes, I know some people don't like Ayn Rand (and others adore her). But there's nothing in this message that warrants a downvote.

I thing Pilgrim's Progress is number 2 in the States. At least I think that's still true.

> Has it's origins in the Christian Bible - Acts 4:34-35.

If you're suggesting that we should accept something because it is in the Christian Bible, you're suggesting that we should accept anything in said bible. (Why? Because your argument for that thing applies to everything in said bible.) Moreover, surely you accept everything in said bible.

Your assumptions are silly. I simply pointed out the literary origin of what was offered as a definition of socialism.

But it is somewhat amusing to me that some of the people who argue rabidly against socialism are proud of the fact that they do accept everything in the Bible.

Since the Bible doesn't say that govt should do those things ....

FWIW, religious folk do give more to charities than non-religious folk.

One difference is that the sharing is opt-in. You don't have to give up all your stuff, just to be "in". When it's part of a government, it's not optional.

Some would argue that when it's your God, it's also not opt-in. Not disagreeing with you, just pointing this out.

No really, I mean that there was never a rule (by God or the local church) that this sharing was mandatory. The members of the church did this spontaneously. See https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Ananias_and_S...

OK- thanks for the clarification.

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