Are you now or have you ever been a communist?

[BurtWorm]

I was almost a Trotskyist once. I went to a demo with the Young Spartacists against US policy in Nicaragua.

And no, I will not name names.

[Maccagirl]

1. No, Senator, I've never been a member of the Communist Party

But Ann Coulter thinks me be a traitor.

:evilgrin:

[youngred]

2. It might be possible that I lean that way

;-)

[TXlib]

3. I was considered fairly middle-of-the-road in Kansas City

but my coworkers here in Houston (I should add I work on the trading floor of a natural gas company) consider me a rabid communist.

[Laszlo_Hollyfeld]

4. No. But, -

I did look into socialism for a while. Ended up being disappointed in the actual articulation of socialism in some countries. I still think some mix of socialism with capitalism and democracy is probably the way to go.

[BurtWorm]

6. Hey! Welcome to DU!

:toast:

And thanks for your answer. I agree with you.

[Laszlo_Hollyfeld]

9. Thanks for the welcome!

Still finding my way around here. :hi:

[BurtWorm]

10. The Lounge is a nice, peaceful place to hang out.

Unless you get tangled up over an opinion in a music thread.

:hi:

[newyawker99]

28. Hi Laszlo_Hollyfield!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[FauxNewsBlues]

5. No

However, when I was in college, I got amused at the debates between different groups of communists fighting for supremacy. I am a democratic socialist, because it is more realistic.

There are limits on who can have things. Either Mercedes for everybody or for nobody (or for party leaders) is a good example.

You can put all the great art in museums, but if ya don't live in a big city, even that isn't an equal distribution. I love the concept, but it's the details in the end, that create the conflict. You can not make people opt in to communism if they don't want to, except by force, which creates what we have seen in the USSR. It will fail. Democratic safety net, social programs of the west need tweaking, but they are the best realistic hope.

[bahrbearian]

7. Does living on a comune count ???

[BurtWorm]

8. I suppose that's a type of communism.

Were the rules communistic? Did everyone own everything?

[Swede]

11. Nyet

[TrogL]

12. I'm a born again communist

(which has about as much to do with Communism as a "born again" christian has to do with Christianity).

[Flying_Pig]

13. What is it with you tinight, asking everyone if they were a criminal,

or a communist. Are you a "worm" in more way than one??? Why would you ask people to put their shit in the street like that, in a public forum? I think your questions suck, and I am going to keep an eye on you.....

:grr:

[BurtWorm]

15. What is your problem anyway?

:hi:

PS: Incidentally, FP, look at the rules for posting to see who comes closest to violating them, me or you.

I'm not looking to make any enemies. Please accept my apologies if I offended you.

[Capn Sunshine]

14. NO, but I've eaten their food, and used their stuff

Commies have a great network if you're trying to get a protest goin'; especially pre-computer back i the 70's. I've used busses, mailing listes, memeographs, all the old school stuff courtesy of the A C P.

The FEDS acted like it was a crime.

I enever cop to anything that isn't already in my file.

FP believe me, if they want to know about you , they DO. They aren't monitoring DU for criminal behavior.

Burt is just an insurgent agitator.

[Solly Mack]

16. well, there was this cute guy and a feed the hungry rally once

it was the shoes,wasn't it? the shoes gave me away right?

[sasquatch]

17. I once showed my member at a Commmunist Party

Does that count;)

[BurtWorm]

18. That must have been some party!

[kodi]

19. no. but i play one on tv.

.

[Syn_Dem]

20. ....Nah

Social Democrat here :hi:

[no name no slogan]

21. Commie? Never. Anarcho-Syndicalist, HELL YES!!!!

Although I could sometimes sympathize with the commies, I never joined-- all that Leninist claptrap and "vanguard" shit really gave me the chills.

However, the Anarchists were the REAL rabble-rousers! Sure the younger members were usually just in it to break shit, but it was a sure way to make a point and get some press!

Currently, my philosophy is more Democratic Socialist than anything, I guess. However, my economic views tend more towards the Chomsky-esque as far as being mostly anti-big business, WGO, NAFTA, etc.

But I've never been to use labels ;)

[SuffragetteSal]

22. No but does...

believing in my right to 'two husbands' and living in a commune count?

By the way...whose asking? :)

[BurtWorm]

23. I would say that borders on counting.

But if you believed in your right to have every husband in the commune, that would count even more.

:hi:

PS: Who's asking? A near-Trotskyite. Twenty years ago I almost joined the Young Spartacists. I haven't gone David Horowitz, though. I'm not anti-communist. Just curious about the choices people make or almost make.

[Robin Hood]

24. I was born a communist.

And lived the life of a communist until the age of 10. I was born in Bucharest Romania during the iron Curtain days. My mom fell in love and married an american business man that was in town on business. That's how i came to be here.

Since I was so young when i came here and left there. All I can say about my experience is that coming to America I felt very much alone and isolated from the rest of the people around me. Compared to where i came from, America is an emotional wasteland.

Plenty of food on the shelves, but no soul.

[BurtWorm]

25. Very interesting answer.

Thanks for sharing it!

:toast:

Have you been back since 1989?

[Robin Hood]

27. No but,

My mother moved back in 1992. She missed the family. You know, slightly off subject but on this whole Iraq mess. I have felt all along that the people of Iraq, like the people of Romania, needed to take matters into their own hands, and dealt with their dictator personally. I am extremely proud of my people for finally putting Ceaucescu in front of the firing squad, bastard had it coming.

I have been here since the mid seventies, and someday I will go and visit again. I still have treasured memories that I hold dear to my heart, of the safe and secure sense of community that I grew up with for part of my childhood. We didn't have much, but we didn't need much.

[ikojo]

26. My politics are pretty left-wing but I have never been a

MEMBER of the communist party. I think capitalism has gotten out of control and could use some reigning in that's for sure.

[ComerPerro]

29. Are you now or have you ever been a member of Democratic Underground?

HELL YES!

[Jonte_1979]

30. No

But I had a crush on a commie in junior high; does that earn me any commie points?

[sspiderjohn]

31. card carrying -- so is wifey

Realistically, the Communist Manifesto and global revolution are passe concepts. Like our friends the Democratic Socialists, you have to accept that the ideal society is probably at least a century away. If you impose communism on a previously almost feudal economy, as happened in Russia and China, you have a disaster. It has to come through democratic choice and in stages.

The difference I see between us and Democratic Socialists is that they want to stop at DS, we have an ideal further down the road. But right now, we're working for the same things.

Being a Commie isn't easy -- we had to take our son out of the public schools in this rural South area once the word got around. There is a stigma. NEVER use your CPUSA card as a "second ID" when cashing a check.

[Jack Rabbit]

32. Have you no shame, Senator?