[ErnBatavia]

What’s the course?

[atomicweeder]

He might be pretending to want you to see both sides.

No one argues that once upon a time, Communism may have appeared as an attractive alternative to rampant free markets.

But it was tried in Russia, China, Eastern Europe, Cuba, Africa, Vietnam, etc, etc. And it DOES NOT WORK. The latest unfortunates to learn that are the Venezuelan people.

As Churchill said:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

[Nachum]

Colonial oppression?

Does white Russia count? When the Russian Communists annexed the north of Poland and locked out Jews from all the trades effectively making them starve to death would that count? Many of my family escaped from a large community there called Lomza. Those that stayed, died.

[Piranha]

What’s the school?

[Scutter]

Communism is responsible for the death of more people than any other ideology. For example:

• 65 million in the People's Republic of China
• 20 million in the Soviet Union
• 2 million in Cambodia
• 2 million in North Korea
• 1.7 million in Africa
• 1.5 million in Afghanistan
• 1 million in the Communist states of Eastern Europe
• 1 million in Vietnam
• 150,000 in Latin America
• 10,000 deaths "resulting from actions of the international communist movement and communist parties not in power."

Source: "Little Black Book of Communism"

That said, play his little game for 2 more weeks. You won't achieve anything by doing otherwise, other than to give him a chance to screw over a conservative. Just play the game and consul yourself with the knowledge that you haven't been brainwashed by this idiot.

[therut]

Ask him if he realizes that the America of today was a colony that fought off the chains of oppression with a Revolution. We were a colonized people who fought and did not turn to Communism.

[scoobysnak71]

I would say that IN THEORY, Communism would be the pure Utopian government, similar in form to what is described in the Star Trek series and movies. Everybody equal, everybody works for their own and the worlds betterment. No war, strife, no problem. A perfect fantasy. But, in reality, it is and always will be a fantasy. Because of human nature and the inherent emotions that go along with it, such as greed, it never has and will never be achieved. Greed, sometimes a bad stressor, is most often the driving force behind one bettering himself. “I want XXX, therefore, I must work harder to achieve XXX” Make everyone equal, give them egual pay/benifits, then there would be no driving force to better ones self. The grand experiment has been tried many times in the past and failed each time. Just ask your professor this. How many Doctors do you know, who preform their job for humanity, would do so if they were only paid 50K a year (all expenses paid, of course)?

[dila813]

“Class, can you, as a historian, have empathy for those countries that toiled under colonial oppression?” Yes, when this was true. I can only think of one country that did this “Japan”.

“Moreover, can you see why some of the people of these captive countries may have embraced communist ideology?” Most of these countries have adopted democracy, and the countries that are communist are quasi Capitalist Communist states.

If he is trying to say the Spanish, well that is a rewrite of history. Most of the people in Spanish were already under a totalitarian government where they were hunted down and sacrificed if they were members of the right tribe. There was a lot of death when the Spanish came, but there was a lot of death before. Most Spanish believe that God Sent the Spanish to bring the good news to their land and save them.

It is only recent left wing presidents that don’t remember the horrors to try to whip up nationalist fevers.

Here, Quote me “Professor, haven’t you heard that Communism has Failed as an Experiment of Society? Human Nature is to become unproductive under these systems till the point of failure.”

Or try this one “Professor, you shouldn’t believe everything “Che” writes.”

[Jeff Head]

Ask him for specific examples of "American" colonialism and imperialism since the etsablishment of the states of the union across the breadth of this continent.

Let him know that since the establishment of the United States across the width of the continent, for all the wars we have won, against all odds, that we have returned those lands to the former enemy populations and helped them build back and establish freedom in their lands where there was no freedom before.

Can he really call that colonialism or imperialism? As if though helping people find freedom after brutal totalitarianism is somehow establishing a colony? A colony of what? Freedom? Propserity?

Will he argue that the Germans, the Japanese, the South Koreans, the Iraqis, etc. were actually better off under their former regimes? If he does, then you can mark him either as an enemy to freedom, or a hopeless ideologue, ignorant to the benefits of his own freedom.

WHY AMERICA HAS PROPOSERED AND IS FREE

[spookie]

It seems the professor mixed our republician form of government into the rest. Remember colonialism is why we rebelled against England and established our Republic. We were the first to ensure the voice of the people is heard. The people controll the house via their representative and the government can not sign on to treaties unless 3/4th of the senate approve.
There is no comparison between our republic and communism simply because we can throw the bastards out every two years.

[PzLdr]

Ask him about Communist rule in Ukraine, when Stalin banned the Ukrainian language, literature and culture from being taught or practiced [along with the Ukrainian diet], while exploiting the wheat crop, the Donbass and their other resources for the Soviet Union [which MILITAARILY occupied Ukraine], about Soviet policy in Outer Mongolia, denying the mention of Chinnghis Quan, and any study of Mongol history, and about the attempts to culturally annihilate the Volga Germans, Krim Tartars, Kalmucks, and various other ethnic minorities, while exploiting their slave labor in the Gulag [Soviet Russia was a largely slave driven economy]..

Or you might ask him about Tibet. You know. That place where the Chinese militarily occupied it,colonize it, deny the locals their desired choice as spiritual leader, all based on the premise that Tibet is part of China because it was once part of the Ming Empire.

[stylin19a]

You mean not like the non-captive, colonialism/imperialism of:
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Transcaucasus
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Belarus
Moldova
Ukraine
Poland
Czechoslovakia
East Germany...AD NAUSEUM..

and not like the slave labor and the almost 2 millions deaths of the GULAGs

not like the constant purges and deportations.

not like the estimated 3-10 million murdered under stalin

YEP...COMMUNISM...WAY BETTER !

[scoobysnak71]

One other thing you can bring up to your professor is the fact that communism was actually the principle government of the Americas before settlement by the Europeans. When looked at closely, the Native American had a small efficient form of government when everybody worked for the betterment of the community and in return, everybody enjoyed the same benefits as everyone else.

A fine, and self sustaining way of life except for one minor detail. Their entire civilization had stagnated for AT LEAST 30,000 years. For the most part, none had developed a written language (if anything some were using pictographs). Still living in the stone-age, few had developed agriculture and none had come even close to domesticating animals other than dogs.

This is a perfect example of what happens when you remove the desire to be “better” than your neighbor. Communism kills the will and drive to succeed.

[plangent]

Turnabout is fair play.

Ask him to Identify this philosophy and who said it:

"Poverty is not socialism. To be rich is glorious."

Chinese Communism under Deng Xiao Peng

[Larry Lucido]

Class, can you, as a historian, have empathy for those countries that toiled under colonial oppression? Moreover, can you see why some of the people of these captive countries may have embraced communist ideology?

Dear Professor,

Yes, perhaps I can have "emphathy," in the same way that I can have "empathy" for those Germans who adopted National Socialism after living under the oppressive terms of armistice agreement. I don't excuse their stupidity and horrifically bad judgment, but I can "empathize."

[RowdyFFC]

He’s being a good democrap and pushing how great commienism is.

If this is a History class, then what needs to be taught are historical FACTS! Not what anybody presupposes is or was going on.

If this is a sociology class trying to get you to (free think) look at both sides of an issue to study how societies have affected history...it doesn’t hurt to listen, but again, look at the FACTS! Look at what REALLY happened first...then form your own opinion...you don’t have to follow or swallow anybody elses OPINION.

Here’s a ‘for instance...

‘Native American’ (Indians) = good
US Americans = bad

First of all there are no ‘native’ Americans, we are all immigrants from Europe/Eurasia...some got here before, some got here later. There were no homo sapiens on the North American Continent before Eurasians crossed the frozen Bering Strait...they are not ‘native’ to this continent. And they never ‘owned’ it. They just squatted here.

Next, the ‘native’ Americans were the last of the hunter-gatherers, or stone age peoples. Stone age peoples have been conquered for centuries all over the planet since homo sapiens became ‘farmers’ and stopped migrating with the seasons for food. At that time political entities came into being, populations started growing, and expansion became necessary. And the great hunter-gatherers were conquered by the ‘civilized’ from that time forward (the Huns, the Ottomen, the Romans, the Socialists, the Nazis, European colonials, et al.

So according to this ‘theory’ of ‘native’ Americans = good, US Americans = bad, it is total BS! Homo sapiens have therefore been bad, period! It even says so in the ‘Good Book’ that is being banned because some folks don’t like facts!

This is just the opinion of a wise Welshtino sociology teacher from Texas. :)

[DocRock]

"Class, can you, as a historian, have empathy for those countries that toiled under colonial oppression? Moreover, can you see why some of the people of these captive countries may have embraced communist ideology?"

If I were responding, it would be something like this.

Unfortunately, much of history has been re-written as "faction". The truth of history is still available if sought out and it clearly exposes the brutal starvation and death of a pure communist system. One has to look no further than our own Pilgrims which came to America to spread the Gospel, not flee religious persecution as erroneously reported. (See the opening statement of the Mayflower Compact.) Under the instruction of William Bradford, the Pilgrims set up the purest of communist systems. All food grown was collected in the "Common Store House" and was divided to the Pilgrims according to their need. Half starved to death the first winter as there was no incentive to grow food under this pure communism. However, Bradford saw the folly of this communal food growing and let the Pilgrims keep the food that they themselves grew the next season. The following harvest was bountiful under the individualist system where one could enjoy the fruits of his labor... literally. So, even though the history book authors pushing communism are systematically writing new stories to pass off as truth, this "faction" does not change the facts. The purest example of communism versus individualism is our own Pilgrims.

Colonialism is a different matter and individualism triumphed over the oppression of Britain during our Revolution. So when given the choices of colonialism versus communism, our instructors, teachers and professors should point out the obvious correct choice and form of government... individualism/capitalism which results in a prosperous, free society.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Your professor is wrong. Colonialism is not limited to on political or economic system vs another. Russian & Chinese “colonialism” has been rampant - 90 years or so for the Soviets, and still continuing under the Putin “non-Soviet” system. Chinese “colonialism” has been rampant for 60 years or so and is not slowing down.

“Communism” is an economic order that might be good or bad on a limited community scale, and has been successful in a few instances. The early New Testiment church operated on a share with one, share with all basis. We could perhaps define this as “pure communism” - something that does not and cannot exist in a free society at the “State” level.

Even as an economic system, the Soviets and the Chinese operate in a non-Communist way. There is huge individual wealth among the “chosen” few in both societies.

Again, your professor is wrong. If he likes it so much he should go live as one of the masses in one of these countries that he finds so appealing.

[GeronL]

I am sure that eastern Europeans appreciated the non-colonial nature of the Soviet Union. //sarcasm

[Starboard]

First, colonialism is not necessarily the same thing as imperialism. He only talks about the former. Second, a historian should be objective rather than empathetic. Third, his selective use of emotional words (e.g., brutal, oppression, captive) telegraphs his views. He is looking for ratification, not critical thinking or thought provoking ideas.

That said, while its understandable that people would feel “disenfranchised” under a colonialist system, a “native” system would not necessarily treat people better nor would it ensure an equal share of the country’s resources or guarantee a political voice. Native rule is not always benevolent. In fact, outside rule could actually have been beneficial in some respects by introducing modern technologies, communications, medicine, etc.

Notwithstanding these points, given your current situation you may just want to avoid rocking the boat and simnply feed him some empathetic BS. He’s going to get a jolt when he sees his president’s utopian visions crushed under the weight of reality.