Reply #120: "Real communism"

[divinecommands]

"Real communism has never even been tried, so that's not a logical conclusion."
Depends on what you mean by "real communism." If you mean "communism that has a happy outcome I like," then no, communism has never been tried. But that would be a rather self-serving definition, wouldn't it?

If it's true that real communism has never been tried, that might be because as soon as any state takes a few steps toward communism, it descends into a totalitarian nightmare. One might almost think that was the fault of communist doctrines themselves... nah, couldn't be. Abolishing private property could NEVER have negative consequences. It's inconceivable!

"The problem is that when you let people make all the money they can make, they tend to start bribing legislators to let them screw more people so they can make even more. Randian philosophy is as bankrupt as trickle-down theroy."

It's true: people are always trying to bribe politicians. But this isn't much of a problem for a Randian/more libertarian philosophy that drastically limits the power of government. Surely you can see that the more stuff government can do (such as confiscating private property) the more vested interests can and will use that power for their own gain.

Can't you?