The Philosophy Discussion Forum

[sarcasm alert][sarcasm]Looks like it won't be easy getting out of the war Trump got us into with Iran. Maybe we should just abolish Congress. Who needs the American people's permission to start a war for us all to fight? Presidents should be able to declare a war at any time for any personal reason. Let's make it official.

There. I should be on Donald Trump's good side now. If I rob a bank or something now, will Trump pardon me? This could be my "get rich quick" ticket. I shouldn't want to miss out on it.

[/sarcasm][/sarcasm alert]

Retrogoals

https://img.patriotpost.us/01KY7FRV5K6W ... dpr=2&q=50

Current Goals

The Democrat Party got in bed with the Commies, and the government-educated public welcomes a "big tent."

Communism, which is the aim of both socialism and NY Mayor Mamdani, who might be trolling when he says he wants to seize the means of production but not likely, is incompatible with the founding principles of the US Constitution.

Implication:

Either the Constitution goes, or Communism goes.
The latter used to be illegal in the US.
Now, the current goal of the latter is to make the former, illegal.

A Party by any other name would still smell as stinky.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2026 12:49 pm
[/sarcasm][/sarcasm alert]

Borrring!

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2026 12:49 pm

Effective sarcasm requires a statement of truth, which your premise negates.
You're being sarcastic over falsies.

The correct premise is, it's up to Iran to get out of the war.

The military of Iran, such as it is, obviously now calls the shots. They simply need to stop interrupting shipping through international waters, the interruption being an old trick of the old Barbary Pirate days that Jefferson wanted to send in search of Davy Jones' Locker, to be done with the scoundrels once and for all.

The fear of the US is that the new Axis of Russia, China, and Iran will control the shipping lane, and the oil countries will fall in line to just to keep the flow going, so folks can keep going with the flow.

This is the impetus for building pipelines that will make the crooked strait, and Iran's current geopolitical philosophy, irrelevant.

oops, accidental post

Walker wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2026 2:15 pm Communism, which is the aim of both socialism and NY Mayor Mamdani, who might be trolling when he says he wants to seize the means of production but not likely, is incompatible with the founding principles of the US Constitution.

Either the Constitution goes, or Communism goes.
The latter used to be illegal in the US.

Excuse me sir, what clause in the Constitution do you think excludes Communism thought? Would exclude the CPUSA from a place on the ballot?

Yes indeed we had a time when laws declaring Communism illegal were on the books. The eventually the Court ruled. We also had laws declaring a union an "illegal combination", etc.

For THAT matter, since within the Constitution are clauses specifying how it may be changed, there would be nothing unconstitutional about a party running on a program containing plank contrary to something in the constitution -- as long as clear "by constitutional means" (or even not bothering to specify as long as not specifying ONLY by illegal means) . Do you imagine a party plank "votes for women" constitutionally ILLEGAL in say 1890?

There’s lots of things that The Constitution does not specifically prohibit.
For example, The Constitution does not specifically prohibit open borders.
For example, The Constitution does not specifically prohibit Iran from having nuclear weapons.
The Constitution is not merely a laundry list of prohibitions.

The purpose of the Constitution is to facilitate the Declaration of Independence, not Communism.

The Communist Control Act.
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?pat ... ion=prelim

“The Congress finds and declares that the Communist Party of the United States, although purportedly a political party, is in fact an instrumentality of a conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States.”

18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2385

”Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or …

Commentary:
Communism is incompatible with the US Constitution, as interpreted in light of the Declaration of Independence.

The work around: Change the name, and include the word "democratic" in the name change even though communism by any other name still smells as stinky. Do not use the word communism, because of The Communist Control Act.

(Cynicism alert)

- Mayor Mamdani thinks that seizing the means of production is a good thing.
- Interpretations of what constitutes a “good thing,” is relative, and therefore just floating around in space to be applied to anything by a former DJ entertainer who can't stop smiling, 'especially when outlining punitive taxation.

- The constitution wants good things.
- Constitutionally, the government seizes property, and compensates the private owner, for the public good.
- Therefore, because of its reasons why seizure is a good thing (for the public good), then government can seize anything if it's for the public good according to the government, including seizing the means of production, and compensate a lifetime of building at fair market value … a value determined by government directly or indirectly.

- For an example of government compensation, when persecuting Donald Trump when he was out of office, for purposes of seizure his home of Mara Largo was valued at around $18 million by the government. That’s million, not billion. That would have been his legal compensation … according to the corruptors, and if he wanted to dispute it he would be challenging the unlimited resources of government.

- Because Mayor Mamdani did not say seize the means of distribution …
- … then government run grocery stores with enormous government resources and paying no taxes, a system designed to put private local markets out of business (although not overtly declaring so in a manifesto), is given the seal of constitutional approval … by commies.

Question to AI:
Is Bernie Sanders a communist?

AI answer:
No, Bernie Sanders is not a communist; he identifies* as a democratic socialist. While he has been associated with leftist politics, he has distanced himself from communism and emphasizes progressive policies instead.


Oy.

Commentary:
A majority of Democrat Socialists of America are probably communists, like Bernie Sanders is a communist, voting under the Big Tent of The Democrat Party ... that apparently only "philosophically" excludes conservatives, if answering under oath because after all, it's a free country.

For now, just don't say the word, communist.


*according to news sources, a lot of men identify as women, although the definition is nebulous.

Walker wrote: ↑Sun Jul 26, 2026 9:26 am
For now, just don't say the word, communist.

Socialist and communist are vague terms with fuzzy boundaries. The polemic use of the term is to claim "x is a communist" implies "x is a communist of THAT sort". Up to just very a hundred years ago, you would find socialist and communist used almost interchangeably.

For example, The Catholic Workers (a lay order) are communists of the anarcho-communist sort. Their communities are communes.

Is the Catholic Church for the benefit of the person, or the Church?

The US Constitution was written to activate the principles in the Declaration of Independence for the benefit of the person, not written to activate the principles in the Communist Manifesto for the benefit of the state.

Walker wrote: ↑Sun Jul 26, 2026 4:16 pm Is the Catholic Church for the benefit of the person, or the Church?

The US Constitution was written to activate the principles in the Declaration of Independence for the benefit of the person, not written to activate the principles in the Communist Manifesto for the benefit of the state.

Uh, what does the Communist Manifesto have to do with it? You (like IC) think "communism" originated with Marx? You don't believe there were people arguing for "all things in common" before Marx. And you know little or nothing of The Catholic Workers is you think this organization exists for the benefit of the Church (it's so its members can live according to certain rules of life). It is "social activist" because that's part of their vision how a person should live. I chose that example because I actually got to hear Dorothy Day speaking live, and I knew Catholic Workers "on the street".

It was a DEBATE when the Declaration of Independence was written, should that term be "property" or "pursuit of happiness".

And no, the Constitution was written to replace the Articles of Confederation. That was for the purpose of activating the principles of the Declaration. of Independence. And few clauses in either dealt with individual rights (no bill of attainder?). You are perhaps thinking of the first ten Amendments, part of a deal to get the Constitution adopted << we won't ratify unless you add these ten amendments >>

MikeNovack wrote: ↑Sun Jul 26, 2026 5:23 pm

The cynical theme of the Monty Python song, Every Sperm Is Sacred, is souls to fill the pews and the coffers, to do God’s work. It's truth made cynical, for entertainment.

I’m thinking of gist, in order to KISS, and to generate cogency in for instance, you.

Trump attacking the scientific establishment over climate change:

https://thebulletin.org/2026/07/america ... st-heading

I hope Trump pays for his hubris, depravity, and moral degeneracy. It's heartbreaking to watch my country go down the tubes. I don't understand why anyone would want to destroy their own country, thinking it's going to make it "great".