Quote:
Originally Posted by Aramike
Not to defend Skybird here, Mookie, but the American dream has been shared by many an immigrant well before they'd ever set foot on our shores. "Shining city on a hill" and all that jazz that I happen to whole-heartedly believe in. I guess I'm just asking you to rebuttal the argument and not the person, because I believe that who we are as a nation stands for far more people than those who merely reside within our borders.
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You are indeed correct and I humbly stand corrected. I blame the wine!
To rebut the argument - that is absolutely not communism. It's patriotism. It's a nation coming together and people pursuing their goals and the whole nation becoming ever stronger for it - becoming more than a sum of the parts. It's about everyone getting a fair shake. It's about the rising tide lifting all boats. It's about recognizing the need for both capital AND labor and recognizing the symbiotic relationship between them, and realizing one would not exist without the other and to that end ensuring that the system doesn't unjustly favor one at the expense of the other. Wealth comes with privilege, and that privilege can be used to exploit those without wealth. Necessary structure is required to ensure that the system continues to benefit everyone equally.
I suppose someone that came from a part of the world where communism was a very real fact of everyday life not so long ago might be inclined to see it as communism, but there's a distinct difference in TR's words that may be too subtle to grasp for someone looking from the outside in.