Re: [Nolug] Distro suggestions

On Thu, 2003-11-06 at 15:40, Mark A. Hershberger wrote:
> Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net> writes:
>
> > Well, if you're not a drone, "socialist" has a pretty specific
> > meaning (try 'dict socialist'). Same with "free enterprise".
>
> $ dict socialist
> [...]
> One who advocates or practices the doctrines of socialism.
> [...]
>
> # That didn't help much.
> $ dict socialism
> [...]
> a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
> [...]
>
> Your original statement was:
>
> > Or, are you a socialist (it's a free country*, after all), and
> > dislike free enterprise?
>
> Then, if I were a socialist, wouldn't I dislike Debian since it wasn't
> owned by the state (and, in fact, it's social compact seems to bar

But Debian isn't a company, so how can the State own it? And
it's international. Hey, maybe the UN wants to run it!!!!

> state ownership)? Debian is a product of free enterprise, after all.
>
> $ dict 'free enterprise'
>
> n : an economy that relies chiefly on market forces to allocate
> goods and resources and to determine prices [syn: {market
> economy}, {laissez-faire economy}] [ant: {non-market
> economy}]
>
> Debian fits the bill since work for its development (a finite
> resource) is allocated by market forces.
>
> Back to this last email:
>
> > You are absolutely right when you say that "extreme liberal" is has
> > a loaded context (which is why I didn't use it).
>
> Yes, you did. I didn't quote it in my response. Here is the full quote:

Sorry if I implied that you are an extreme liberal. My point
was to emphasize that in this country you don't have to follow
the Republican Party line to get such clearance.

> > Or, are you a socialist (it's a free country*, after all), and
> > dislike free enterprise?
> >
> > You've installed vrms, right?
> >
> > * I've worked with 2 extreme liberals who had Top Secret clearance
> > during the Reagan/Bush1 years, working in the DoD.
>
> Check out the Socialism FAQ
> (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dmcm/Articles/FAQ.htm). Are they a bunch
> of drones? Who knows?
>
> As for myself, I'm neither a socialist nor do I "dislike" free
> enterprise.
>
> I believe in the equal distribution of goods (which puts me close to
> socialism) but don't believe in using the coercive force of government
> to accomplish that goal.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that, in practical terms, that's
a contradiction. Since people tend not to voluntarily give up
large portions of their income and wealth to those who don't work,
the only way to ensure equal distribution of goods is to forcibly
take it from those who have, to give a fraction of it to those who
don't.

> Also, I own and am currently solely supported by my own business as a
> consultant (so I have some appreciate for free enterprise), but I'm
> pretty far from being a conservative advocate of capitalism.
>
> Finally, I'm not an idealist, so feel free to use Debian (or not) for
> your own reasons. I happen to have an appreciation for the freedoms
> that the GPL is meant to guarantee. Most people don't, though, so
> I'm not surprised that they use other OSes like MS Windows,
>
> And, no, I don't have vrms installed, but I may install it as a
> curiosity.
>
> Confused yet? ;-)

No, actually. I totally understand.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr. ron.l.johnson@cox.net
Jefferson, LA USA
296,443 sq mi (767,787 sq km) are needed for 6 billion people to
live at the same population density as Manhattan, New York.
That is ~ Arizona or Nevada.
Alternatively, that ~ double the size of Japan or Zimbabwe
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