Competence is not getting an agreement to a six month delay in the Iranian nuclear program with no guarrentees that they will do anything while giving up sanctions against them. This agreement is as incompetent as the one Obama did several years ago with Russia to pull a ballistic missile shield out of Poland getting nothing in return but a promise from Russia (which Putin ignored) to negotiate on some “stuff” later on.
We (Carter) was also responsible for the Ayatollahs and they are far worse than the Shah was. It also seems that Progressives haven’t learned anything from that experiance. Obama let Egypt likewise collapse into a civil war and military dictatorship that may still result in a repressive theocracy yet.It is better to deal with the dictator you know than have one show up that you don’t know about because the new dictator is usually much worse than the current one.
Well, martens, I don’t think my psychological knowledge is really much help here, but agreeing on the historical definitions might.Fascism is usually defined in terms of having an individual with absolute power in charge, with all individual activity subordinated to the needs of the state, which in turn is embodied in the leader (the Leadership Principle or “Führerprinzip” in Nazi formulation). Mussolini, who invented fascism as such, specified it to be in opposition to Communism and Socialism, as did Hitler. So people who think that Nazis are “socialist” because of the name of the party haven’t learned enough about the history. Hitler took over an existing party and restructured it without changing the names. He arrested and killed Communists and socialists without distinction. He was the absolute dictator, and made all decisions.Socialism, by contrast, has the state controlling the means of production on behalf of the people, but with a goal towards promoting equality of all people. Fascism has no interest in equality. Scandinavian countries represent the nearest to a Socialist state, where the government acts to ensure the best behavior of business to protect the people (e.g., Statoil is the cleanest oil company on Earth, partially owned by the government).Communism is fictional; Marx’s idea was that socialism would be a step towards true Communism where all is shared by all and the state no longer needs to exist. So-called Communist states are not in any way Marxist; they are totalitarian and nearer to fascist than anything else.Conventionally, socialism is leftist and fascism is rightist, but there are mixes.There is no pure form of Socialism, Communism, or even Capitalism extant in any nation today. There might be some fascists about.
As a village tribal elder in Viet Nam told one of our officers, who told him we were there to “save them from Communism”, the old man pointed out that his little agrarian village, with its neighbors, had been “communist” (small “c”) for over 3,000 years! “Share and share alike” works well in small, agrarian communities around the world, and has for a long time, on large industrial scales, it DOES break down. (Can anyone say, personal greed?)
Enoki over 10 years ago
Historic? More like a new footnote to history…
Enoki over 10 years ago
Competence is not getting an agreement to a six month delay in the Iranian nuclear program with no guarrentees that they will do anything while giving up sanctions against them. This agreement is as incompetent as the one Obama did several years ago with Russia to pull a ballistic missile shield out of Poland getting nothing in return but a promise from Russia (which Putin ignored) to negotiate on some “stuff” later on.
woodwork over 10 years ago
Y’know, I seem to remember Obama said he would pushnegotiatation rather than beligerance when he was runningfor his first term.
Enoki over 10 years ago
We (Carter) was also responsible for the Ayatollahs and they are far worse than the Shah was. It also seems that Progressives haven’t learned anything from that experiance. Obama let Egypt likewise collapse into a civil war and military dictatorship that may still result in a repressive theocracy yet.It is better to deal with the dictator you know than have one show up that you don’t know about because the new dictator is usually much worse than the current one.
Dtroutma over 10 years ago
Just a footnote: George W Bush campaigned promising to be the “Peace President”, that promise went well.
Dtroutma over 10 years ago
^Actually, Marx is Marxism, not actual “communism’” (small “c”) Stalin was neither, actually.
Motivemagus over 10 years ago
Well, martens, I don’t think my psychological knowledge is really much help here, but agreeing on the historical definitions might.Fascism is usually defined in terms of having an individual with absolute power in charge, with all individual activity subordinated to the needs of the state, which in turn is embodied in the leader (the Leadership Principle or “Führerprinzip” in Nazi formulation). Mussolini, who invented fascism as such, specified it to be in opposition to Communism and Socialism, as did Hitler. So people who think that Nazis are “socialist” because of the name of the party haven’t learned enough about the history. Hitler took over an existing party and restructured it without changing the names. He arrested and killed Communists and socialists without distinction. He was the absolute dictator, and made all decisions.Socialism, by contrast, has the state controlling the means of production on behalf of the people, but with a goal towards promoting equality of all people. Fascism has no interest in equality. Scandinavian countries represent the nearest to a Socialist state, where the government acts to ensure the best behavior of business to protect the people (e.g., Statoil is the cleanest oil company on Earth, partially owned by the government).Communism is fictional; Marx’s idea was that socialism would be a step towards true Communism where all is shared by all and the state no longer needs to exist. So-called Communist states are not in any way Marxist; they are totalitarian and nearer to fascist than anything else.Conventionally, socialism is leftist and fascism is rightist, but there are mixes.There is no pure form of Socialism, Communism, or even Capitalism extant in any nation today. There might be some fascists about.
Dtroutma over 10 years ago
As a village tribal elder in Viet Nam told one of our officers, who told him we were there to “save them from Communism”, the old man pointed out that his little agrarian village, with its neighbors, had been “communist” (small “c”) for over 3,000 years! “Share and share alike” works well in small, agrarian communities around the world, and has for a long time, on large industrial scales, it DOES break down. (Can anyone say, personal greed?)