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So are the tankies.
In a very real sense, a person who works two minimum wage jobs and spends almost all their income on rent and transport is not free. They are a virtual slave to the wealthy.
Eh, I kinda doubt that, I think it's important to draw a line between a socialist and a tankie. But sure, if you want think that.
A socialist wants to improve the lives of the poor.
A Communist (or “tankie”) wants there to be no more poor.
Eh, they also tend to support using tanks to accomplish that, which creates massive poverty and suffering with a very poor track record of success.
As if Western liberal democracies never use tanks.
Sure. But you can't say you're against poverty and then advocate for things that create poverty, that's a strong sign you're dealing with a propagandist or some sort of twisted-up mentality.
Being a neo-lib leaning capitalist society, (here in the US at least) we're clearly not against poverty, are we? We are not claiming we are trying to solve poverty and then sending tanks that create more poverty. It's consistent and straight-forward.
So, do you own a house?
Are you ever going to be able to own a house?
I do not discuss specific personal details on the internet, just out of general principle.
I thought we were talking about tankies anyway. Do they have a realistic plan for how tanks can address rising housing prices in the US?
Well, if you don’t own a house, you must realize it’s unlikely you’ll ever own a house, and I’m wondering why you’re so keen to defend a system that cares so little about you.
And if you do own a house… well, I guess I can see why you would defend this system. But aren’t you concerned about your kids or grandkids?
I don’t own a house. I’ve been looking, and I don’t think I’ll even be able to own a two-bedroom apartment. I might qualify for a one-bedroom apartment if I act quickly.
My field of work keeps me tied to a fairly expensive city. I was actually hoping to go back to school and maybe change into a better industry. But now I’m worried that if I do that, housing prices will rise again and I won’t even manage to get a one-bedroom.
Why should I care about this system?
Communists want to eliminate rent.
The general principle of Communism is that rent is morally unjust and economically unproductive and unsustainable.
Rent is the primary mechanism by which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and that simply can’t go on forever, unless you want us to return to serfdom one day.
But whenever Communists manage to attain power somewhere in the world, the forces of capitalism, spearheaded by the United States, find some excuse to militarily intervene. (Well, nowadays they have to make excuses. Back during the Vietnam War, they were just honest about the fact that they were bombing a third-world nation to stop the spread of Communism.)
Hence the need for tanks.
I see. So, when people speak about tankies, they're not talking about all people that support communism. If someone wants to peacefully advocate for communist ideas that's one thing, and I have absolutely nothing against that.
Tankies are specifically militaristic communists, usually very fond of Stalin and speaking fondly of the CCP military. It's the tank part, it's how they got the name. That's why I ask if there's any realistic way that tanks can address US housing prices. It's not just to defend themselves either, the USSR did plenty of offensive tank rolling over the years. If the idea is a CCP invasion of the mainland US with said tanks, I do not find that very credible. If it's the US rising up and seizing the means of production, I find that similarly unlikely.
Whether communism is actually viable in the modern world is an entirely separate discussion as well. The US did not bring down every communist regime worldwide. China even instituted some reforms away from it with no US interference, not that long ago.
It would be nice if they did. Because when capitalism collapses here, it won’t be pretty.
You know you could always just emigrate there.
No. There’s no way I would qualify for an immigration visa.
Sorry to hear that. How about Venezuela? I doubt they're quite as stringent.
Venezuela doesn’t currently have diplomatic relations with the USA. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for me to even apply for a visa.
Sure we do. Here's their contact information:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/consularnotification/ConsularNotificationandAccess/VenezuelaBolivarianRepublicof.html
Here's our embassy in Bogota too:
https://ve.usembassy.gov/
Though I'll note it's probably actually not a good idea currently. But could always visit once things calm down a little bit over there.
Firstly, that information is out of date. (And I have a feeling the state department won’t be updating the information anytime soon.) I googled that guy’s name, and he describes himself as the “former” director of consular affairs.
Secondly, that was never a real consulate. You see, after Madeiro shut down Venezuela’s consulates in the US, the US established its own fake consulate for Venuzuela allied with Juan Guaido. That guy must have “worked” for that place. Notice that it doesn’t even have a physical address or phone number.
The fake consulate shut down last year. Even when it was running, it was probably useless for actually getting a visa to enter Venezuela.
Interesting, it seems you are correct. Thanks for taking the time to explain that all, I appreciate it.
I own an apartment. I don't plan to own a house - as I understand it's an american dream, but I neither live in US nor am I US citizen. Expectations are different in other parts of the world.
Also the housing economy is very different here in Poland - its all about mass produced apartments, that cost equivalent of ~200-250k USD for 60m2 in a large city.
Were they built by the Soviets?
These are prices for brand new ones
Soviet era apartments are still in use, we call them 'The Great Plate'. Their pricing is variable