[theyearofglad]

Hi, I'm college student living in the US, and though I'm originally from Poland, I now have US citizenship. I'm excited to vote in the next election; my state's primary has yet to occur. I'm a democratic socialist, technically, but I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for president. Most of my friends are pretty ignorant about politics, but I really like discussing political matters with others, so I'm glad to have found this forum. Hopefully I can actually find other people with similar political views...I live in a red state, and it's kind of disheartening. So, hello!

[Nets]

Welcome.

Clinton all the way though, Obama is a vacuous shell.
**Figured I'd give you a head start on the political debating**.

[theyearofglad]

Clinton all the way though, Obama is a vacuous shell.

Haha, that's not the first time I've heard that. From my point of view, however, that seems to apply more to Clinton than to Obama. Maybe I just hate all other women. [/quote]

[HoniSoit]

Hello and Welcome.

What's your view on libertarian socialism?

[theyearofglad]

I'm actually somewhere between democratic and libertarian socialism, actually...I'm in a bit of a discovery period, and I'm not sure which makes more sense to me, yet. So I'll settle for somewhere in between.

[Nets]

I'm actually somewhere between democratic and libertarian socialism, actually...I'm in a bit of a discovery period, and I'm not sure which makes more sense to me, yet. So I'll settle for somewhere in between.

Join me in my secular, socially conservative, mixed economy/great society, hawk party --- a great place to be.

[theyearofglad]

Haha, no thanks...I'm very socially liberal--that's one thing I'm 100% sure about. Also not into the whole "hawk" thing.

[Nets]

Haha I was just kidding.

At least we probably agree on some economic issues.

[Meistro1]

Welcome.

How well did socialism fair in our home country?

Repent! Abandon your sinful beliefs, and become a libraritarian. Knowledge is power. Books have knowledge. Libraries have books.

[Rancid]

welcome...

remember. . whoever wins the election. .. we all lose

[theyearofglad]

How well did socialism fair in our home country?

Repent! Abandon your sinful beliefs, and become a libraritarian. Knowledge is power. Books have knowledge. Libraries have books.

But Poland was never socialist...it was "Communist," and I put that in quotes because despite the fact that the USSR and all the countries it essentially "ate" after WW2 were actually totalitarian regimes that actually had little to do with the major tenets of pure marxist communism anyway.

I do like the Library...although I didn't think they had their own political party? What, are Librarians striving for world domination now? Well, I guess if anyone's going to take over the world, at least let someone who's well-read do it. Although it'd preferably be me.

[Lensky1917]

Welcome to PoFo. Is there a difference between being a communist and being well-red?

[KurtFF8]

But Poland was never socialist...it was "Communist," and I put that in quotes because despite the fact that the USSR and all the countries it essentially "ate" after WW2 were actually totalitarian regimes that actually had little to do with the major tenets of pure marxist communism anyway.

No, they, like every other nation that had a communist party leading them claimed that they were a socialist nation, not a communist state (as "communist state" is a contradicting term).

Granted there were many thing about the USSR and Central Europe that were quite "un-socialist" by the end of WWII.

[Dr House]

Welcome! I am the pretentious asshole that'll tell you you're wrong.

Cultural liberalism is teh shit, but socialism is problematic, to say the least.

Abandon your socialist ways and breathe the sweet freedom of libertarianism.

[pikachu]

No, they, like every other nation that had a communist party leading them claimed that they were a socialist nation, not a communist state (as "communist state" is a contradicting term).

Both terms applied.
They mostly used the term "socialist state" I think, but I kind of recall the term "communist state" (коммунистическое государство, коммунистическая родина, etc) being used occasionally as well. In either case, whatever they call themselves, it doesn't always matter. For example we don't always refer to Pyong'yang state as Democratic People's Republic of Korea, because it's just not convinient, similarly it is not always convinient to use the term socialist state in application to marxist states, because the term can also be claimed by variety of other countries from Arab socialists and Indonesian socialists to even elected "socialists" in liberal states and national socialist historic states. It is much more convinient to use the term "communist state" to distinguish between them. And no, there is no actual contradiction in terms, just ask Potemkin.

[PredatorOC]

Welcome. May your chains set lightly upon you and may the hand you lick taste sweet.

I'm a democratic socialist, technically, but I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for president.

So does this make you a slaver-socialist or a parasite-socialist? I'm having trouble distinguishing between all these different flavors of socialism.

[Goranhammer]

So you're a socialist, you're voting for Obama, and you go to Purdue. Well, three strikes already.

[Dan]

Hello, and welcome.

I'm a democratic socialist,

That's too bad. Oh well, at least you're not a red or anarchist rabble.

I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for president

Because a government run on hope can't fail.

BTW: What's with resurrecting half the posts in the lobby?

[Noelnada]

Welcome to Pofo, i'm not sure about what democratic socialism means. If that sounds like centre-left, then i'm afraid that it might be a little too much on the right for me.

But i think everything still has to be done whatever our political or ideological orientations are.

[theyearofglad]

i'm not sure about what democratic socialism means. If that sounds like centre-left, then i'm afraid that it might be a little too much on the right for me.

To clarify, I believe in the value of the democratic process as a form of government, but I also believe that many decisions should be made more democratically (i.e. without the possibility of a presidential veto, and without only wealthy people in the senate and house), especially when concerning the economy, in order to better fit the needs of the people. It's slightly further right of standard socialism, I think. I used to be a communist, but in recent years I've become much less convinced of the practicality of communism with respect to human nature. I'm not the biggest fan of capitalism, but I believe there's a happy medium between it and pure Marxism that will better suit how people behave.