I take one look at the mess that is America and realise that I'd rather live in the Soviet Union under Stalin

Democracy? My brother in Christ, the money power has brought us here.

Tell me you've never lived under communism without telling me you've never lived under communism

Nobody has ever lived under communism.

ok, if you mean Marx-defined communism as the final state of socialism
tell me you've never lived under Marxism without telling me you've never lived under Marxism

Tell me you don't understand communism without telling me you don't understand communism.

I understand the death count of the Holodomor, of the Great Leap Forward, of the Cambodian genocide, and others.
At least in a republic, the people have a say in the government and can actually do things to improve their own situation.
Under a Marxist state, the people have no say in the government's ideology, and only certain Party members have any say in how the government functions.
Furthermore, under a republic, private enterprise runs the economy, instead of the government which is far more prone to chronic mismanagement and creating giant famines.
I physically find it hard to wrap my head around WHY anyone would willingly live under a Marxist or National Socialist system.
Freedom works. Totalitarianism doesn't.

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
- Benjamin Franklin

>Freedom works. Totalitarianism doesn't.

Government making sure that having basic human amenities and access to healthcare and restricting the public's access to deadly weapons isn't totalitarianism.

True. Lots of European countries do that.
But you were specifically talking about Stalin before, and he was very much totalitarian.

So you agree that sacrificing certain freedoms for safety is reasonable and responsible. Good.

In cases like paying reasonable amounts in taxes so the state can continue to operate, sure. I'm a libertarian, not an ancap.
The extent to which certain freedoms can be sacrificed while remaining reasonable and responsible is the main issue.

>The extent to which certain freedoms can be sacrificed while remaining reasonable and responsible is the main issue.

Not allowing the public to possess assault weapons with the capacity to hold magazines that can carry 30 or more rounds and increasing background checks and a federal registration of weapon ownership is a pretty good start.

I’m sorry, “life under Stalin” is not an available option

I've lived through worse than comrade Stalin, believe me. Living under his reign wasn't any where near as bad as you'd think (unless you knew Stalin personally or he had any involvement with you)

I'll take living in a crumby apartment bloc in some Russian backwater over living in a capitalist dystopia as a homeless, drug addicted vagabond surrounded by the most vain and self centred population the world has ever seen in America. I wouldn't even have access to publicly available healthcare living in the US. I'd rather live in Belarus than L.A.

You lived through worse than Stalin.

So you lived through worse than a scorched-earth World War that claimed the lives of over 8 million Russian soldiers and an untold number of civilians who perished of overwork and starvation in the gulags or were shot in the head and pushed into a ditch over internal power squabbles or over minor disagreements in Communist doctrine or for no reason at all.

Well. I guess I will just have to take your word for it. Congratulations, man. You’re a survivor. 💪💪

Stalin didn't start WW2

He finished it.

*Invasion of eastern Poland go BRRRRR*

Soviet W

Don’t forget that Stalin led the USSR from 1922-1953. Even if you attribute every single WWII death to Hitler (which is dubious, as Soviet methods could be just as brutal), that’s a lot of immoderation to answer for.

But you lived through worse, so who am I to lecture you?

I'm well aware of when Stalin was in power, from his backstabbing his way to the top all the way to him dying on the floor of his dacha in a puddle of his own piss.

He was a paranoid brute but he was a hell of a lot better than the genocidal egomaniac rival in Germany he is responsible for stopping during the war.

He's suffered so much.

When are you self deleting on account of me again?

.MoonMan.

Joined 2022-11-19

What account did I ever delete, like ever?

Oh, which reminds me, you still dare not venture into the Meme of Graves again? So many of those deleted accounts were yours, at least half, if not two thirds. I lost count after awhile...
But it was rather nifty. You'd hop in, and early the next day you hopped out. The site.

Good times.

I'd give it until the end of today and all your comments will be gone. Subject to self-termination, how sad :'(

Cool. But, um, still, what account did I ever delete, like ever still?

I take it you did not venture into the Meme of Graves again.

Did ye, aye.

The Soviets saw Poland as the final defeat of the white armies.

When life in Scrotland is so damp and boring you have nothing better to do than fantasize about living in the USA or USSR yet neither would have you.