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Comment by david927 | Hacker News Reader

This is huge: this definitely seems to be the seeds of a real movement and, if so, it would be one of the most important movements of our lifetime.

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Communist countries tried to do this in the 20th century and failed.

Really? You're gonna compare this to those pathetic excuses for communism?

Communist countries dictated by political fiat where labor resources were allocated, what industries would be engaged in, and how the capitalized wealth of the country would be reinvested.

They didn't just go around giving everyone an income that kept them from living in a gutter.

That's a facile and inapt comparison that does not aid this discussion.

I thought communism (theoretically) was more similar to a universal shared maximum income.

Very, very theoretically. Communism definitely had many people much more equal than others. It seems that if you hand over all the power to a glorious central authority they will, you know, use it.

Which ones?

Socialism in Europe manifested itself in the form of huge public sectors, where virtually everybody was guaranteed a job doing something; the complete opposite of this proposal.

Twen cen communists failed by trying to pick winners. It proved impossible for central planners to, for example, determine exactly how many meters of type 2 copper pipe to manufacture. They would end up in absurd traps like not being able to expand copper pipe production because of a shortage of copper wire.

That is nothing like giving people €1000 and letting them decide how much if any copper products to buy.

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