Is America heading towards dictatorship?

[The39thStep]

I don't know, but to be honest just ignoring him is probably the best option for them anyway.

Tempting but with the exception of Macron the silence says a lot.

 

[Coffeecup]

Please look up Chile under Pinochet.

A military dictatorship which was a "laboratory" for extreme free market policies. Thatcher was not able to go as far as Pinochet, because, as someone pointed out, you need a dictatorship to impose that kind of market "freedom". You need to be able to kill and torture those who would resist the hardship that such policies inflict.

According to the view of the world promoted by the bourgeoisie, where there is a “free market” there is freedom. Thus is that a million people could be slaughtered as democracy was overthrown in a US-sponsored military coup in Indonesia in the mid-1960s, and that country be classed as part of the “free world”. Guatemala could be part of the “free world” as a series of military regimes committed genocide over a period of thirty-six years.​

Is Dictatorships supported by America real dictatorships?

Take for instance North Korea? Can a free market succeed in NK?

 

[RevolutionSound]

A dictatorship is the opposite to a free market. Dictators invest in foreign markets but their own markets are not free. They can do anything they want in their own country with no regulations which makes it worthless in real terms and only benefits themselves.

Chinese capitalism is doing quite well.

 

[Pickman's model]

If a dictator lays claim to a country and all it’s assets how can a free market succeed in that country?

There are no free markets as there are no command economies. As you learn in gcse economics just after you find out there's no such thing as a free lunch. And even if there were free markets why would that be a good thing?

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

The Free Market is a theoretical fantasy isn't it. Plenty of dictators have managed to get along with capitalist economics though

 

[Pickman's model]

Is Dictatorships supported by America real dictatorships?

Take for instance North Korea? Can a free market succeed in NK?

If you were to peer into the history of the last century you'd see numerous dictatorships supported by the United States. You're ignoring the auld adage that it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than pipe up and prove yourself one.

 

[emanymton]

Is Russia not Capitalist or is it not a dictatorship? What about Saudi Arabia?

 

[Pickman's model]

From myself.

Maybe you should educate yourself instead of dribbling bollocks all over the place

 

[Coffeecup]

There are no free markets as there are no command economies. As you learn in gcse economics just after you find out there's no such thing as a free lunch. And even if there were free markets why would that be a good thing?

You know I like giving opinions and learning from replies. If you don’t stop insulting me i will no longer engage.

 

[Coffeecup]

Maybe you should educate yourself instead of dribbling bollocks all over the place

Right. GOODBYEEE

 

[Pickman's model]

You know I like giving opinions and learning from replies. If you don’t stop insulting me i will no longer engage.

Tell you what, why not add some substance to your opinions so they aren't such arrant nonsense

 

[Pickman's model]

Right. GOODBYEEE

You can chuck me on ignore but that won't make your opinions any more worth posting

 

[Coffeecup]

Chinese capitalism is doing quite well.

Yep, investing in foreign markets.

 

[Coffeecup]

The Free Market is a theoretical fantasy isn't it. Plenty of dictators have managed to get along with capitalist economics though

Yes, anyone can invest in the markets.

 

[RevolutionSound]

Yes, anyone can invest in the markets.

That's not true is it.

 

[Coffeecup]

Thatcher and Reagan deregulated the markets and then we had the financial crisis which brought back regulations. Trump has said he’s going to deregulate.

 

[Coffeecup]

That's not true is it.

No not the poor and those who are not free.

 

[Serge Forward]

If a dictator lays claim to a country and all it’s assets how can a free market succeed in that country?

I think you're confusing dictatorship with totalitarianism. They're not necessarily the same thing, although some dictatorships have been totalitarian. Dictatorships lack democratic participation (although they may include spurious democratic forms and processes). Totalitarian societies make no pretence of democracy. Dictatorships don't necessarily control all aspects of personal, public, social and economic life. Only the totalitarian dictatorships try to do this.

 

[Pickman's model]

I think you're confusing dictatorship with totalitarianism. They're not necessarily the same thing, although some dictatorships have been totalitarian. Dictatorships lack democratic participation (although they may include spurious democratic forms and processes). Totalitarian societies make no pretence of democracy. Dictatorships don't necessarily control all aspects of personal, public, social and economic life. Only the totalitarian dictatorships try to do this.

You'll be here all day correcting their confusion

 

[kebabking]

Tempting but with the exception of Macron the silence says a lot.

The silence is the same silence the rest of use when we see loon raving in the street - there's no point arguing with a lunatic, the loon just gets more excited and becomes even more unhinged.

 

[PTK]

Is Russia not Capitalist or is it not a dictatorship? What about Saudi Arabia?

Russia is not a dictatorship. There are oppostion MPs in the Duma. It is not fully democratic, but that does not mean it is a dictatorship.

 

[Coffeecup]

I think you're confusing dictatorship with totalitarianism. They're not necessarily the same thing, although some dictatorships have been totalitarian. Dictatorships lack democratic participation (although they may include spurious democratic forms and processes). Totalitarian societies make no pretence of democracy. Dictatorships don't necessarily control all aspects of personal, public, social and economic life. Only the totalitarian dictatorships try to do this.

Thanks. I never seen Socialism in Russia or the Soviet Union, only Totalitarianism. Same in NK.

 

[Coffeecup]

You'll be here all day correcting their confusion

I don’t have all day.

 

[The39thStep]

The silence is the same silence the rest of use when we see loon raving in the street - there's no point arguing with a lunatic, the loon just gets more excited and becomes even more unhinged.

This doesn't apparently apply to all loons though does it ?

 

[emanymton]

While we are talking about dictatorship, I note that Musk has come out tr

Russia is not a dictatorship. There are oppostion MPs in the Duma. It is not fully democratic, but that does not mean it is a dictatorship.

I don't think a few token opposition MPs means much. But how we define a dictatorship is a question we can ask. But I think we can all agree that there is no incompatibility between capitalism and dictatorship.

 

[JimW]

This doesn't apparently apply to all loons though does it ?

Just the ones with a big stick.

 

[bcuster]

Has Trump overstepped?

 

[Idris2002]

It's just old school colonialism (as opposed to neo-colonialism). The language used also has echoes of lebensraum.

The last serious political player in the US to propose annexation of Greenland was Pat Buchanan, the paleoonservative Catholic reactionary who cut his teeth working for Nixon. Here's a list of his quotes from the late 90s which all sound very Trumpian:

Pat Buchanan on Defense

"As for Greenland, the last great empty space in the Western Hemisphere, this huge island should remain permanently inside the US defense perimeter, and eventually be formally annexed by the US. Greenland lacks the requisites of nationhood."

That's from 1999. He also appears to think that it would have been better if UK had just left Hitler to it in 1939, which is not exactly 100% proof that he likes to raise his right arm at a 45 degree angle, but which certainly is not a good look.

 

[HeAthen]

If you were to peer into the history of the last century you'd see numerous dictatorships supported by the United States. You're ignoring the auld adage that it's better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than pipe up and prove yourself one.

You seem to be forgetting the adage of "Don't come across as a tit otherwise people will dismiss you as a tit", although I think you're probably too far gone to change now.

 

[Serge Forward]

You'll be here all day correcting their confusion

In the words of Satchmo, "I have all the time in the world..." Fuck! Is that the time?!?!