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And I think a lot of us would really appreciate foreigners that have never lived in the States to talk about our system like if they know something but most of us respect other peoples right to say what they want. I'm not trying to be abrasive, just pointing out some ironies.
And this is an honest question if you care to answer: what do you think of all the people who have never lived a day in a socialist society that want to make the U.S. socialist? Would you ask them to not speak of what they don't know?
That is why I don't usually post in this thread, though I am watching it with interest... I have only a very limited idea how living in the US is...
And I will closely keep to that policy further on...
That is why I don't usually post in this thread, though I am watching it with interest... I have only a very limited idea how living in the US is...
And I will closely keep to that policy further on...
It's as absolutely ******* fantastic as you could ever imagine.
I lived in West Germany when the wall came down and vividly recall the flood of smoky Trabants full of people and their most valuable possessions through the various border crossings. Czechoslavakia was the first to open the gates. People would drive or walk from the DDR into Czechoslavakia and then cross into West Germany with what they could carry. We had refugee camps in our town and we donated clothes and food to them.
It's amusing that people remember that time with rose colored glasses. People were willing to risk death and imprisonment to flee socialism and seek freedom. People were only desperately rushing in ONE direction, sir. And they feared being sent back.
I have a friend who risked his life to escape Cuban socialism as a teen in the early 1960s after his mother and grandparents were imprisoned and their property seized. His grandfather died in that socialist utopia's finest political prison as he was being re-educated that he owned nothing, not even himself.
Socialism requires strong control over people to function. Some other forms of government are less dictatorial, and some even give deference to personal freedom above centralized control. I prefer freedom.
I would really appreciate if you stop talking about things like Socialism - that you have never experienced and no utter idea what it is like...
I was born and raised in an Socialist country - former GDR (German Democratic Republic or "Eastern Germany") - I know about the huge pile of bad (very bad) things
but also some good things you get in Socialism... Believe me - you ain't got no idea...
Oh and also- what a silly comparison on that silly influencers video - like comparing people choked on apples vs. people shot by automatic rifles... Makes absolutely no sense...
But- on a brighter note... this is me with MiataDad Greg Peters and Stefan Napp on a drive with a socialist built Trabant earlier this year... they really liked it... ;-)
You realize that you just told me to shut up, right? Hmmm.....I bet I know where you learned that trick.
I lived in West Germany when the wall came down and vividly recall the flood of smoky Trabants full of people and their most valuable possessions through the various border crossings. Czechoslavakia was the first to open the gates. People would drive or walk from the DDR into Czechoslavakia and then cross into West Germany with what they could carry. We had refugee camps in our town and we donated clothes and food to them.
It's amusing that people remember that time with rose colored glasses. People were willing to risk death and imprisonment to flee socialism and seek freedom. People were only desperately rushing in ONE direction, sir. And they feared being sent back.
I have a friend who risked his life to escape Cuban socialism as a teen in the early 1960s after his mother and grandparents were imprisoned and their property seized. His grandfather died in that socialist utopia's finest political prison as he was being re-educated that he owned nothing, not even himself.
Socialism requires strong control over people to function. Some other forms of government are less dictatorial, and some even give deference to personal freedom above centralized control. I prefer freedom.
I remember my German friend, Dr. Axel Nemetz, telling me that there were some East German companies that were for sale (after the wall fell) and that one of them took old electronics and extracted the precious metals from them. As he was working for McKinsie & Co. at the time, the partners there were being offered all sorts of multi-million dollar opportunities like this to keep the economy going up there. I also remember my friend Dr. Winfried Kosch tell me about how the people in Wiesbaden area appreciated the U.S. base located near their town , and how when the U.S. decided to consolidate bases and close this one, the deal was transacted for $1. It had tens of millions of dollars worth of infrastructure on it. And last, I remember being a very young kid in Enenbyberg, Sweden, and having a guest stay with us for a while. I found out later that it was a dissident from Hungary that had fled during the "Prague Spring" in Czechoslovakia. He was an artist, and drew portraits of all the kids as a "thank you" for hosting him.
Last edited by cordycord; Aug 12, 2025 at 10:10 PM.
You realize that you just told me to shut up, right? Hmmm.....I bet I know where you learned that trick.
Well there we go - that is why I usually don't post in this thread or Facebook or whatever other social media medium in debates like this.
I think ALL of the commenters to my post didn't get the point I was making - I was in no way hailing Socialism and or Communism...
The regime was terrible and the personal and social life was awfully surveyed and restricted (again - you have no idea how much!)
There was a shortage of almost everything (though we never were hungry, we just didn't get a lot of special fancy food) and
the industry was a dead horse.
No I didn't tell you to shut up - I just made my point, that what you think of and call "Socialism" isn't the faintest image of what Socialism
really was. I haven't seen a raid in any of forum members houses because he called any of the two party politicians a ********, or criticized
a speech of any of them... In the pre-wall Socialism even a little joke with friends could get you in prison for an extended period.
Feel free to say what you think you got to say...
I have learned to keep my mouth shut (as you mentioned) and will do so from this time on in this thread... Live long and prosper...
Well there we go - that is why I usually don't post in this thread or Facebook or whatever other social media medium in debates like this.
I think ALL of the commenters to my post didn't get the point I was making - I was in no way hailing Socialism and or Communism...
The regime was terrible and the personal and social life was awfully surveyed and restricted (again - you have no idea how much!)
There was a shortage of almost everything (though we never were hungry, we just didn't get a lot of special fancy food) and
the industry was a dead horse.
No I didn't tell you to shut up - I just made my point, that what you think of and call "Socialism" isn't the faintest image of what Socialism
really was. I haven't seen a raid in any of forum members houses because he called any of the two party politicians a ********, or criticized
a speech of any of them... In the pre-wall Socialism even a little joke with friends could get you in prison for an extended period.
Feel free to say what you think you got to say...
I have learned to keep my mouth shut (as you mentioned) and will do so from this time on in this thread... Live long and prosper...
You too have misread what some of us have said and the entire point to this thread.
I was born in Cuba and had the fortune to get the hell out of there with my family when I was about to turn 7 years old. No one needs to explain to me what a system under the GUISE of socialism is like. On paper, socialism is this wonderful utopia for the people. In practice, it is usually the front that "for the people" politicians peddle the most and then quickly turn around and make it for the few in power. Also, original socialism is now a tortured term used by both sides to mean whatever they want it to. Kinda like rape.
Now whether you asked Cordy to shut up or cordially asked him not to speak of socialism as he understands it is semantics. He can say what he wants and you have the the right to rebut. Which is my way of telling you that the reason this thread exists is to get conversation going and not to silence anyone. So if you choose not to speak in this thread then you have completely missed the point.
Yep, saw that and decided to keep it for posterity. I believe that they did find that many people on the rolls...remember the 200 year old people with SSN's? Not all of them were receiving monthly funds.
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