Right. Since I was encouraged by Grutch & Gankom's posts I decided to put this in here.
here are the posts:
Change isn't impossible, but it needs to take into account important facts about the culture. Gun rights are a HUGE part of America, for left and right wing people. Its not something that will ever happen quickly, and would require one heck of a compromise just to get started.
I'm not a huge fan of getting into gun talks on the internet. It gets ugly to quickly. Still, the discussion is interesting to see. I'm up in Canada and I've always been of a survivalist bend primarily because I've always lived in real rural area. I've gone to gun clubs for a long time, and most of them have had just as many left wingers as right. You meet people who are firmly Green, NDP, Liberal or conservative. So any kind of gun debate has to consider the fact that it really straddles political lines. The real loud mouths might traditionally fall on the right, but the people themselves are all over.
I'm a bit of an libertarian communist
What the fucking fuck?
Please explain this.
HAHHA!! I wasn't going to say it but that's what I thought
I was totally expecting that!
Ok, despite what many Marxists, Leninists & Stalinists (and yes there are differences between all three) would have you believe, communisim is not a united ideology. There are many branches and off shoots that are totally diffrent from eachother in some ways but sharing in some others.
For example, did you know that the USA has it's own branch of communism? It is called De Leonism, after its creator, Daniel De Leon, a Dutch immigrant to the USA from the Dutch controlled island of Curaçao, off the coast od South America.
Here is a basic synopsis from wiki
De Leonism, occasionally known as Marxism–De Leonism, is a form of syndicalist Marxism developed by the American activist Daniel De Leon. De Leon was an early leader of the first United States socialist political party, the Socialist Labor Party of America. De Leon combined the rising theories of syndicalism in his time with orthodox Marxism. According to De Leonist theory, militant industrial unions are the vehicle of class struggle. Industrial Unions serving the interests of the proletariat (working class) will bring about the change needed to establish a socialist system. While sharing some characteristics of anarcho-syndicalism (the management of workplaces through unions), and with the SLP being a member of the predominantly anarcho-syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), De Leonism actually differs from it in that he and the modern SLP still believe in the necessity of a central government to coordinate production, as well as in the use of a revolutionary political party in addition to union action to achieve its goals
You can read the full artical here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Leonism
Now I am not a De Leonist. I said I was a (sort of) Libertarian Communist so what dose that mean? Well Wikipedia put Libertarian Socialism this way...
Libertarian socialism (or socialist libertarianism) is a group of anti-authoritarian political philosophies inside the socialist movement that rejects socialism as centralized state ownership and control of the economy.
Libertarian socialism also rejects the state itself, is close to and overlaps with left-libertarianism and criticizes wage labour relationships within the workplace, instead emphasizing workers' self-management of the workplace and decentralized structures of political organization. It asserts that a society based on freedom and justice can be achieved through abolishing authoritarian institutions that control certain means of production and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economic elite. Libertarian socialists advocate for decentralized structures based on direct democracy and federal or confederal associations such as libertarian municipalism, citizens' assemblies, trade unions and workers' councils.
All of this is generally done within a general call for libertarian and voluntary human relationships through the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life. As such libertarian socialism, within the larger socialist movement, seeks to distinguish itself both from Leninism/Bolshevism and from social democracy.
Past and present political philosophies and movements commonly described as libertarian socialist include anarchism, as well as autonomism, communalism, participism, guild socialism, revolutionary syndicalism and libertarian Marxist philosophies such as council communism and Luxemburgism, as well as some versions of "utopian socialism" and individualist anarchism.
The full article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_socialism
Be warned, you will be jumping down the rabbit hole if you click that link!
Now I don't agree with all of those authors and theorists on absolutely everything. Who could? However I do agree alot with those authors and theorists. For instance, I agree with Bakunin that workers still need to be paid, but I dissaree with his rampant Anti-Semitism.
What dose that mean for guns? Simple, I agree with George Orwell, who also faught on the communist side during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
"That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see it stays there"
So as far as I am concerned, the working class (ie. the proletariat) sould have som means to defend themselves from exploitation and croprate goons should it come right down to it. Olny in self defense of course.
So in other words, I am the Koch Brothers worst nightmare!
Captain Dob, we should break this conversation out of the Vegas Thread and continue this elsewhere. I actually really love these conversations but few play along.
Gun Bans and Leftism go hand in hand right? Not necessarily. Lets take a look at which ideologies allow for gun ownership that we know of for sure. Now granted, the laws in these countries are most likely to follow international standards. IE very restrictive.
Castroism: Let's start with one of the most prolific. Cuba dose have very strict gun control but owning a gun is possible. Matter of fact Cuba dose have a right to bare arms. Though this is only in the event of war or some other emergency. The very nature of Castroism is dependent of it's followers being able to obtain arms
before revolution happens. In Castroism the method in which to bring about revolution is called Focoism. A vanguard style theory that advocates for small paramilitary groups that, through heroic acts, inspire general rebellion. With this in mind it would be rather hypocritical for a revolutionary government to start taking them away.
The number of licensed gun owners in Cuba is reported to be 54,158, out of a total population of 11,239,224.
Sandinism: In many regards it is similar to Castroism. Focusing on the rural peoples in an effort to educate and inspire revolution. In Nicaragua firearms are most certainly a thing. Now like most countries it can me a pain in the arse to get them but they are there.
As of 2011 the number of registered guns in Nicaragua is reported to be 142,260
Here is a Link to Sandinism:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista_ideologyHoxhaism: Though The People's Socialist Republic of Albania and its creator, the paranoid Enver Hoxha are long gone, I felt it was worth mentioning. Hoxha encouraged gun rights on a mass scale and it still shows. In Albania, the number of households containing one or more guns is reported to be 85,628 as of 2012 with a total gun death rate higher that America's.
Now as mentioned in the quotes above I am on the Libertarian Left IE; Libertarian Socialism/Communism/Marxism, Anarcho-Communism, Anarcho-Collectivism, Anarco-Syndicalism Communalism/Libertarian Municipalism etc. So I am not big on super insane weapons laws like say in the UK. I think something is required but banning stuff I find silly.
What do you guys think, where do you stand the within (or outside of) the weapons community?