Well Bill, this is quite sad. Youre the most consistent socialist debater Ive ever met (web or otherwise). The others have tended to fall down either to straight authoritarian statism, wacky hippy nihilism or just the pointless wealth destroying reformers of capitalism.All the points weve discussed can be referred to on this site, and it has been of great utility (hehe) to discuss them with you in lengthy threads, aswell as a lot of fun.
I think collectivists and individualists are often speaking over eachother across a divide, I also think they tend to view each other as holding a 'whole package' of ideas about what the opposite believes in, which isnt necessarily true. For instance your negative account of what liberty means for an indivualist, and the positive account of what it means in collectivism is like a photo negative of the usual libertarian viewpoint. Coming here has certainly opened me to less black and white visions.
Regardless, any system requires the willing consent of the overwhelming majority (capitalism included) as Ive repeated often in reference to socialism. Thats been my major disagreement. Were I to land upon a planet of socialists as you describe them I would probably be quite pleased. That isnt how I think it would happen in reality though. Far from it. I think the idea becomes a tyrrany - eternal vigilance and all that.
Thankyou for many interesting and often enlightening discussions, I wish you all the best in the future.
Gee
None.
