I've never read anything quite like this article.  I'd love to here some other opinions on it.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44210

Another broadside against other political systems.
Believe me, as long as you kept your mouth shut, communism and all of its forms weren't that bad.

In human terms WWII wasn't worth it, no war ever is. However in terms of technical advances and beatiful planes...

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This is precisely the problem with non-democratic forms of leadership (communism, dictatorship, et al). 

You shouldn't HAVE to keep your mouth shut.  The foundation of democracy is that you're born with certain rights that can't be taken away by anyone.  Those include the right to speak your mind.

Anyone who honestly believes that silencing the masses is better than letting them speak (and live) freely has never experienced all that freedom has to offer.

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Sometimes it's wises to keep your mouth shut even if you do have freedom of speech. Even in a democracy you're still bound by certain standards that mean you cannot say or do entirely as you please.

And for the upside of Communism, everyone had a job, everyone had an education and everyone had healthcare. And if I can get that simply for not making a nusiance of myself, then it sounds a pretty good deal.


Now that article is not asking whether World War II was worth it. It's an outright attack on Stalin, the USSR and Communism.

Of course Russia took lands that wern't theirs after WWII, but you've got to remember that most of it was part of Russia in the preceeding centuries before the Revolution and also you cannot tell a country that has lost nearly 40 million people to help you win a war that their help was appreciated but they can go home now.

Mr Buchanen should go and read some history books before writing things like that.

Some might say communist regimes have more regulations.

As for moral restrictions, they're MORAL restrictions.  If you're incapable of complying with THOSE, you're going to have a REALLY hard time complying with any society.

It's not the moral rules themselves that I have problems with. It's the point "democracy = freedom" that bugs me, since this is hence not 100% true.
Or as my ethics teacher says: "Democracy is the least bad form of government."
No reason to make it the ultimate, perfect form of government 'though.

No form of government will ever be perfect, because it will be under human control.  We're not programmed for perfection.

But to me, that's not reason enough to say that an oppressive form of government is better than one in which the people have their freedoms.

Sure, people had jobs under communist rule.  But how happy were they?  They weren't allowed to speak their mind about the government.  They weren't allowed to stand up and say "Ya know what?  This sucks." 

Is a democracy 100% free?  No.  But it's a lot better than 100% oppression.

Ah, but if communism is what the people really want, if that's what makes them so happy, why in the world aren't we seeing people stand up in droves saying "Give me what Cuba's got!"

Last month Castro doubled the minimum wage in Cuba.  It's now in the neighborhood of four dollars....PER MONTH.

Yep, they've got it made.

With the death of Castro, Cuba's future will be black....very black.

Whichever form of government you have it's open to abuse. I always liked this quotation. "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." In Hitler & Stalin we're simply discussing the worst form of dictatorships at opposite ends of the political divide.

Democracy is fine in theory, as are other forms of government, but in all cases it's spoiled by human failings. Power can & often does corrupt which is why I question the motives of all politicians, whichever side of the fence they're on. Even in the free country I grew up in there's very little I can do about anything I disagree with - & plenty of things have happened in my country over the last few years that I & many others passionately disagree with.

Scott you're really towing the "US Cold War propoganda" line there chap, visit a former Communist country sometime, you'll find that things are in many ways worse now than they were in the Communist era...

Mark

Oh I'm no doubt bringing a very American perspective to the table.  All I really have to go on is what I was taught in school (which is admittedly very slanted) and hearing stories of Nazi Germany from my family's stories.   I'm not so stubborn as to say that I know first hand what the opinion of the people in those countries is, I wouldn't be so arrogant.

National Socialism or Nazism was violently anti-Communist.

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I agree with this statement.  Communism is probably the most perfect system that has ever been developed...in theory.  The problem is the theory isn't applicable because there is always someone who takes advantage of it.  If everyone wanted to work towards the better good for all, it would work fine-but the human population as a whole is greedy and they seek power.  As a result, the system doesn't work.

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Give me money for a plane ticket.

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Girls! You forgot the girls! *waves arms in air*

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Ah, the good old United States of Paranoia.

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I didn't see anyone suggesting that. The problem with all security measures is that they seem to affect innocent visitors more than the people wishing you harm. I found it unpleasant enough going through US immigration before 9/11 so goodness knows what it's like now.

You're not alone in that. We suffer from much the same here so it can't be such a bad place to live can it? I really don't see what the US problem with Mexican immigrants coming over a land border has to do with this thread.

I think the European attitude is different as most countries here have been fighting terrorism in one form or another since the end of WWII and doubly so since the 60's. I think a lot of Europeans forget America is playing catch-up in a big way and trying to do everything at once, and as anyone who has done an all-night cramming session for an exam will tell you "That don't work". Europeans have consideraly more experience fighting terrorism than most other parts of the world...

Thats a disadvantage everyones got. The problem is what ever you try to impose is far too strict and ultimately far too useless. What you have to realise is that a determined terrorist will find a way in however tough the restrictions are. And only a very stupid terrorist these days would A: take thier weapons and explosives on the plane with them while sneaking into the country and B: try to hijack an aircraft post 9/11.

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Actually, most immigrants come to the west looking for work. You don't spend your life savings getting smuggled into a country so you can just sit on your arse and twiddle your thumbs. The problem is a lot of them can't find work and that is why they get a bad rep. Finally, if the government gets its way and sends over 50% of students through university, then someones going to have to do the unskilled labour and it's asylum seekers that are going fill that void.

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....that advice should be tatooed to their foreheads! 
The article does reek of the man's  political agenda or party based trash talk. He is however accurate in my opinion in many respects. I think the title is what creates an immediate bias before the reader even begins the article. It should be titled "did everyone adequately clean up their mess at the end of WWII?" 
The tragedy that the US allowed  in Indochina is "prime example No.1", under Mark's credo.
Someone help me out here.....which former ally was it that was butchering young Americans 20 years later in the same jungles?
.....and whatever happened to those Mujahadeen guys that we supplied all of those weapons to? Quote:
...oops, nevermind, that's where they went....

Was there another solution to what would become the Soviet Union? I think it was a matter of being the path of least resistance. The eastern bloc countries were simply the spoils of war and no one wanted to argue with the Russians.

I agree with some of the others. NO government is perfect but if communism is so wonderful, how do you explain the fate of the former Soviet Union? And I have been to Cuba and it's very beautiful but  any recent prosperity is due to a thriving tourist industry(that's right....Capitalism). I would argue this point further but can simply put it to bed by saying that "you don't see people fleeing the United States via inner tube."

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The Soviet Unions fate is explainable because what existed there was not pure communism. Real communism has no class system, no leaders, everyone is equal and everyone does their bit for the commune. So people with skills don't do their job for money the do it for everyone else because others will be doing the same with their skills.

And the only reason Cuba needs to turn to tourism to thrive is because the US boycotts everything else it tries to do and because Russia can no longer buy all it's sugar.

But without a leader, how is anything going to survive?

Even the smallest snake has a head.

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They survive because everyone looks out for each other.

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And where is Cuba in relation to the US and the rest of the world? And money made in the exportation of goods to the rest of the world would probably be cancelled out in the cost of exporting it in the first place. You try telling some american companies that they cannot sell their goods in America and see how long they last.

There's a common misconception that Cuba equals illegal.

Might I remind you that only the American dollar is prohibited in Cuba.

Americans travel there all the time.  Just not on flights originating from American soil.

Americans spend money there every day.  Just not with their native currency.

Cuba is what it is because they are what they are.  Not the Cuban people, but the government.  Cuba is in the fiscal crisis they're in because they're a communist regime.

Human nature is not to "look out for each other".  Human nature is to protect yourself and protect your family.

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Okay, NOW I get it. What you're saying is "this perfectly self-contained Communist utopia can't exist without it's Captilalistic "Big Brother" life-line?"  
I thought they all supported each other. Why do they even need to worry about the state of their economy?

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Cuba isn't a perfectly self-contained Communist utopia. It's a dictatorship with communist ideals. No where is there a perfect communist country because true communism can only exist in theory due to human nature.

And because it's not truely communist to the fullest extent of the world it needs money and if they can't sell anything then they can't make money and so their economy suffers and, if the USA gets what it wants people will rebel and Cuba will become a democracy. Sadly, while Castro lives that will not happen.


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When that ONE country just happens to be the biggest economy in the world then it makes quite a difference. And you say it OBVIOUSLY isn't working, well, Cuba has gone half a century with the USA blocking it's every move and it's still there. It's not obviously not working at all. All the US is doing is making things as difficult as it possibly can.


Edited to accomodate Hype's last post.

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Well, Castro's still there. Isn't he.

Hey I've got a totally brilliant new theory!
Capitalism is basically geography Everyone is interested in the movement of little bits of green paper from someones bank account into their pocket
Dictatorships are basically geography! The movement of little green bits of paper from peoples pockets into the Presidents bank account.
So the only thing we can do without interference under any system and without paying taxes is to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide and to procreate!
I'm off for some heavy breathing

No Scott, please re-read my new theory carefully, its all to do with the geography of reprocessed trees

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As i've said many times this evening, true communism doesn't require help from any capitalist economy because true communism doesn't need an economy or money of any sort. But true communism can only exist in theory and so nothing is quite that simple.

Sorry, didn't realize you guys were going to quote it...so I was editing it to make it a little less confusing.  (It was far too wordy.  lol)

What do I get three of?

I'm not saying one is better than the other. No form of society is perfect. If you forget this obsession with labels they're all pretty much alike. The main difference is between democracy & dictatorships & there's corrupt examples of both. It doesn't make a great deal of difference whatever they might like to call themselves

Yes, WWII was worth it, the reason we are ,in the main, free is because of the sacrifice made by soldiers in WWII.

The likes of the Nazi's must never rise again, alas, we learn so little from our past..... 

As for the article, written by an idiot.