That Incredibly Awkward Moment when People Discover that You are Socialist

[HiPointDem]

35. by the "state apparatus". what is the state apparatus of the hutterites? for that matter,

what is the "means of production" of the hutterites?

as i understood, their "means of production" are/were personal handtools & other tools that one might find, say, in a artisanal sawmill.

actually, i understood it, the hutterites stand against states of all kinds.

the "state socialism" which you say can't work has actually 'worked' on a large scale all through history, including in the us. state-run industries in modern times have included:

Electric/gas/water utilities both local and national (e.g. TVA)
Railroads, subways, buses, airlines, highways
Auto industryPpostal services
Banks
Telephone, telegraph, radio, TV
Oil
Ports
Mining (Coal & other minerals)
Suez Canal
Steel & other heavy industries
Pubs and breweries
Shipbuilding
Sugar production

In fact, important industries are regularly nationalized or quasi-nationalized after the capitalists have either looted them or run them into the ground -- thus the nationalization option is a *necessity* under capitalism -- to make it 'work'.

And in the case of some sectors, utilities being one, the evidence is pretty solid that state socialism produces better & more efficient service, more comprehensive service, less corruption & equal innovation.

and as for the soviet union/china, i'm not sure what your definition of 'work' is. any power which manages to feed all its people (as both did after famines early in their history, unprecedented in their respective histories), bring peasant societies into the industrial age, and give the great powers a run for their money for 74 years 'worked' in my book.

Haiti is capitalist. Does it 'work'? Congo is capitalist. Does it 'work'? Most of the world is capitalist, and most of the world's population is poor and insecure. Does capitalism 'work'? And for who?

and ps: the US government currently owns the majority share of GM, so in that sense, the government *is* making your car. And governments *have* made people's cars in capitalist europe, and -- amazing -- those cars worked -- just as well, say, as those government-made rockets that went into space did.