Wryword Wrote:Good points, MoTown, but JBR and Dio will not understand them. They have an iron determination to avoid any experience with human nature as it is, determined to live in the fairy land of what coulda, shoulda been. They are utopians. They truly believe that the only thing wrong about socialism is that it hasn't been tried. They simply will not and cannot accept the fact that human nature is not structured in the way they envision.
I'll get to the above quoted material, but first:
Motown, you usually offer good responses, but I think it is rather dishonest of you to accuse JBR of commiting strawman arguments when you have done the same exact thing. For example:
<<"Zinn looks at this example and thinks...
"Hm, Motown works hard. Taco Bell guy works hard. They both work very hard, so why the income disparity? Capitalism blows."">>
That is not the reasoning Zinn uses to say capitalism blows. His argument is much more detailed, still flawed like almost all inductive arguments, yet much more in-depth than you have represented him here.
Now, on the historian's level, Zinn is a crackpot despite having done some good research from time to time. So don't any of yous think that I am some kind of Zinn loving, flag waving Bolshevik.
Now Wry,
You've again commited the flaw that I have been trying to point out to you for years now.
You don't support what you write with facts, evidence or ideas. You merely make assertions.
Since you didn't get anything out of a previous post I made, I reiterate:
You would not base your legal defense of a client on the fact that you may believe his/her innocence is really, really true. You would not go into a court of law and argue that Client X is not guilty (or guilty if you are a prosecutor) based solely on your beliefs. Or would you?
I don't think you would, or you'd be laughed out of most Mississippi court rooms.
Similarly, if you want to get me to believe Reagan was solely responsible for the downfall of the Soviet Union, or Reagan's policies led to its fall, then you need to offer something into evidence other than conclusions without support, assertions without merit. As a lawyer, even if you are only in research, you should know how to argue.
For the record, I am not a utopian. I firmly know that human nature will impede any sort of utopian society on earth. I furthermore know that the world is a cruel place, and it would be quite irrational for one to believe that a perfect society is possible.
I am, and have not, demonstrated any rhetoric or opinions that could remotely be construed as socialist. The last thing I want is more money deducted from my already weak paychecks.
Now on your above quoted comments, again these are devoid of any support, hence these are merely assertions. You could have saved time typing by simply saying "boo on you, KDI and JBR!"
Until you have made a sound, valid argument either on Reagan and the USSR, or my socialist tendencies, then I must say you are incapable of backing up your beliefs.
:drink:
