Does Communism support free speech?

submitted by LarrySwinger2 from scontent-ams4-1.xx.fbcdn.net

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[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

if a corporation buys off politicians and has the govt's CIA go and do the coup, does that make it a govt coup? Truth is there is no capitalism or socialism just a mix of the two, both get blamed for the world's ills by different people while the rulers laugh.

[–]ctvzbuxr 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

So there are corporations and governments, and sometimes corporation bribe governments. And you think the problem are corporations?
Look, corporations are just people working together. They can't do anything any other person can't do. Governments on the other hand are people with the right to initiate the use of force against others. That is the problem right there. These are people who are given extra rights that other people don't have. If a corporation has rights they shouldn't have, those rights are always granted by the state. The problem is always socialism.

[–]flugegeheimen 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Look, corporations are just people working together. They can't do anything any other person can't do.

They can do a lot the things you can't, it's just governments don't let them. For example in a perfect capitalist world nothing stops a corporation from hiring mercenaries to kick you from your property (ironically by violating your property rights to exist). However in our less perfect world corporations have to bribe CIA to instigate coups rather than hiring mercs directly and you can sue McDonald's for coffee that is too hot.

[–]ctvzbuxr 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

If a corporation were to hire mercenaries to control a piece of land that they don't own, that corporation (if successful) would be the government of that land. I want to prevent that. The way to get rid of government is not to install another government.
What you are essentially saying is that a stateless society would be impossible. I disagree. If people can abolish their current government, they can prevent a new government from forming.
There is plenty of libertarian theory on how a stateless society could work, and how violent takeovers would not only be impractical, but outright impossible. I'm not going to go over all of it here, but in short, a company can only make money in the long run if it fullfills the needs of it's customers. And people in general have a desire to not be aggressed against. In other words, there is much more profit (and thus, economic power) in protecting people from aggression, rather than trying to forcefully rule them.

[–]flugegeheimen 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

If a corporation were to hire mercenaries to control a piece of land that they don't own, that corporation (if successful) would be the government of that land.

Their goal is still making profit, they just made your private property their private property. I don't want to go over libertarianism too, my only issue was with the claim

Capitalism is based on live and let live, meaning that nobody gets hurt by capitalism. The supposed injustices of capitalism are either a result of nature, or a result of government action

It's demonstrably false (unless you redefine capitalism), privately owned profit-based enterprises disregard your rights (including property rights) and will infringe them just as happily as any socialistic state. There is nothing intrinsic in capitalism that makes it "based on live and let live", when corporations can get away with fucking you up they do it, when they can't they can't because of external pressure (government).

[–]ctvzbuxr 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't know how you define capitalism, I define it as a system that upholds property rights and contracts. If someone wants to violate my property rights (which includes my body), he is not a capitalist.