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Today I learned there are two places called Washington in USA, which explains why everyone talked about it being in the east coast and yet I was sure Washington was near Alaska.
Saturday, 05-Sep-15 00:28:47 UTC from web-
@nerthos that's why the state should be renamed Cascadia already
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@rarity I like Pineland more
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@nerthos Yeah! The state and the District! z
Which, sadly, DC is considered "Juvenile" ANd, anytime they try to do anything for themselves, like institute a needle exchange program, CONGRESSMEN insert a clause into it which allows guns to be sold freely and such FrankerZ. Forcing them to repeal the very law they wanted because they have no power to amend an amended law. -
@metaltao Well, it's logical that a federal district would only have half-independence.
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@nerthos Yeah, but, the problem, there is no need for that any more. Because, it has 658,893 People. Which, is bigger than most states. And, every time people consider to give it state hood... It is condemned and then, they are insulted. Congressman call the people of DC Children who can't decide for themselves. The freaking PANDAS in there have more power and say in congress than any resident of Washington DC.
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@nerthos Sorry for being aggressive mate.
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@metaltao The issue with autonomous cities is that while they have huge populations, they don't actually have the land or infrastructure to be truly autonomous. They depend on other territories for things like food. It's the same with the capital over here. While they both have huge populations and enormous wealth, they don't have enough territory to support their own populations without the outside.
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@nerthos They are the 13th biggest when it comes to Gross National Product. They are incredibly supportive, and, most of us over here, buy our food from the MidWest and tropical nations outside of the US anyways. They can buy the food they need and have plans for a proper food stamp program as well as other things I need to catch up on. (Or, that might be Utah... Utah is strangely one of the nicer places in the US.) It's surprising.
And, we have a state that is about the same size. RhodeIsland. -
@metaltao I personally consider that a place that can't survive a blockade should not have autonomy.
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@nerthos Blockade from who?
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@nerthos ALL of the US can be brought to it's knees, the Oil Embargo nearly Ruined us.
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@metaltao Irrelevant.
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@nerthos True. I don't know why I asked, it was hypothetical.
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@nerthos sooo... VIVA CUBA
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@rarity Well, Cuba did manage to survive with minimal trade for decades, so tha's worthy of praise.
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@nerthos Hell yeah it is. And, you know what is amazing/ The US is no longer Blocking trade with them :D
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@nerthos Cuba is the best example of Communism in action imo. 99% literacy, 100% housing, virtual elimination of hunger and poverty, and they just this year eradicated mother-to-child HIV transmission.
MetalTao likes this. -
@rarity kiwiing Hell....
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@rarity It's like the Communist version of Utah. But. I don;t know.
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@metaltao except with like 100% less Mormons, thank god
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MetalTao likes this.
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@rarity OOOHHHHHHH Snap.
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@rarity And the best thing, everyone drives classical cars.
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@rarity Cuba has a bureaucratic state apparatus and has been subject to isolation for decades. It never was communist in spite of the gains made in literacy, healthcare, etc. over there.
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@m14brony well, yeah, it's technically still socialist but it's hard to reach full stateless communism in the modern age. They'd be eaten alive by the US in a second
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@rarity It's actually under a milder form of Stalinism in the final analysis. It doesn't have workers' democracy, productive forces more advanced than those of the most advanced capitalist countries, or other characteristics of socialism. And if Stalinism isn't overthrown in a political revolution by socialists, it inevitably ends in capitalist restoration (we can see that Cuba is headed down that path).
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@m14brony Well, I don't think Cuba is headed towards any violent revolution anytime soon.
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@m14brony you do understand Marx's concept of the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat", yes? Because that's how I see Cuba now. It's just a stepping stone, although I will agree I don't see it advancing as long as the Castros continue to be in power.
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@rarity of course the DotP isn't perfect and Cuba is stagnant, but they have done good things, and I still think it's the most successful implementation of Marx's ideas so far. the USSR was successful, but it had BIG problems. And China and Vietnam only saw improvements once they shifted to state capitalism
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@rarity Marx's concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat is that of a democratic workers' state suppressing the bourgeoisie, not a totalitarian bureaucratic state apparatus hovering over a nationalized economy and denying workers any real participation in politics (as is the case with Cuba).
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@m14brony Maybe you're right. I'm not all that knowledgeable. I'm pretty sure the DotP also includes a short term (this is where Cuba fails) actual dictatorship to guide the people to Communism. I blame the US for holding Cuba back, though. it's hard to advance when you're cut off from trade from not only your nearest neighbor, but also the biggest economy in the world.
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@rarity Admittedly, I am glad that you brought up the subject, as I need to brush up on my studies (two years of 14-16 hour days between college and work did wonders to make me "rusty"). :)
The isolation of Cuba definitely had its effect, and it played no small role in its orientation toward the USSR (the isolation of the revolution in backward Russia also played a key role in the degeneration of the USSR from its early proletarian democracy into the infamous Stalinist regime; Marx long ago noted that all of the "old crap" would inevitably return in such situations). -
@m14brony If only we could get zombie-Che to do the whole thing over again in Puerto Rico
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