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Comment by slowmovintarget | Hacker News Reader

Sharing and taking turns is interpersonal generosity which works very well in the real world. Socialism and collectivism is enforced resource allocation typically requiring authoritarian rule which typically becomes oppressive when manifest in the real world.

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Says you. Some of us believe that sharing and taking turns is a social obligation -- not a generosity -- necessary to living in a functioning society.

Even more of us believe that a small minority should not be allowed to hoard all resources for themselves while others have nothing.

I believe that sharing and taking turns is a social obligation, and why we should teach our children to share and take turns. I believe sharing and taking turns is necessary to a healthy, functioning society. I also believe that a small minority shouldn't hoard resources in general, but especially not when others have nothing.

I don't believe that socialism and collectivism are suitable fixes to poverty or income disparity.

Put another way, I suspect we share values but disagree on policy.

Social obligation enforced by what? The sword?

Cooperation, empathy, and a sense of duty.

A man with a sword extolling the virtues of cooperation, empathy, and duty.

It is hilarious and horrifying that people will read a story about teaching kids the importance of sharing and decry it as a slippery slope towards mass genocide.

Also in-line with comparing mask-mandates to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

Makes me wonder if this kind of hyperbole is just the natural outcome after decades of politics labeling all kinds of situations the "Next Nazi Germany" [0] or "Worse than Hitler" [1], often to justify foreign intervention.

Maybe Godwin's law actually predates the Internet.

[0] https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-33603620080515

[1] https://apnews.com/article/c456d72625fba6c742d17f1699b18a16

The communist regime being mentioned by name in this discussion is Cuba. I'm not aware of any genocides attributed to Cuba, so where do you get this talk of genocide?

Answer: It's your strawman.

> I'm not aware of any genocides attributed to Cuba

Communist regimes are known for the opacity and media suppression. It's not like they'll tell the whole world about it.

And contrary to what is believed, Cuba is not totally sealed off the world and still relies on capitalism to survive (cigar, rum and tourism), which mainly prevented it from going full North-Korea.

https://www.therichest.com/shocking/the-15-worst-atrocities-...

Batista also committed a lot of atrocities from a fairly capitalism-based position in collusion with Cuba’s wealthy landowners. Not that the previous regime excuses the current communist regime, but opacity, media suppression, and human rights violations are of course not exclusive to communism.

Except nobody is wearing Batista shirts.

Where did Cuba come into this thread?

Is the man with a sword a specific person? What are you talking about?

As long as he's protecting me from the other swords, tigers, bears, etc.

It's fascinating how "patriotism" can sum a lot of that up, yet is usually only channeled for antagonistic jingoism against perceived threats from outside.

Agreed. Pride can be healthy when it encourages self-confidence and community, but can quickly become dangerous when it's used to justify supremacy.

They are children. While they are still figuring out what good behavior look like, inevitably some of the behavior that we expect normal adults to exhibit will have to be imposed top-down.

except... it isn't? that's literally not what socialism or collectivism is. socialism is just the idea that "wealth" (or any substitute, like lego) should be owned by the community, and rules that bind that community should be made by a consensus of the members.

It's a fine idea. Too bad it always results in collapse or starvation and then collapse.

oh no we taught the kids to share and now they're starving and the classroom has collapsed

Good thing they weren't teaching the kids to grow food. Watch what happens when the kids have to work to acquire the goodies, instead of it just being handed to them.

This is how that argument usually goes.

"This policy proposal might be helpful. Is it? Let's see: The policy is socialist in nature + socialism killed millions in authoritarian communist regimes = this policy will kill millions. Therefore we must not allow the policy to succeed."

I can't imagine how they ignore the flaws. People do this, without exaggeration, unconditionally for every socialist policy.

Teaching kids a failed philosophy just sets them up for failure as adults. There's an infinite universe of things to teach - why not teach them something useful, something that works?

> Therefore we must not allow the policy to succeed

Oh, but we do allow it to succeed. There are no laws against communes and worker collectives in the US. Any group can form one. And many have - thousands of them.

They all failed on their own.

You and your like-minded colleagues are welcome to give it a try. Nobody is going to try to stop you. You can ask Bernie to supply the funds (he's rich) and be your leader. I only ask that you come back in a year and tell us how it went.

> Oh, but we do allow it to succeed.

You allowed the minimum wage to be increased? You allowed us to require companies to give maternity leave? You allowed us to expand SNAP benefits? If so, it's news to me.

The US allows voluntary communism to do what it likes. You seem to want to do it by force. You can include me out of that.

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