Reply #70: You act like

[Debs]

Communism and democracy are mutually exclusive, Democracy is a form of government and Communism is a form of economy. The Sandanistas were democratically elected Communists. If you are going to blame Communism for Stalin I guess you have to blame Capitalism for Hitler, Suharto, Rios Montt and Idi Amin. I see the communism/capitalism debate like argueing whether to take a Ford or a Chevy to the top of a hill (the top of the hill in this analogy being a just society) either can take you there and the point is to keep your eye on the top of the hill and not get bogged down on the argument about which vehicle is better. As long as the focus is kept where it belongs the vehicle is of secondary importance. For decades the communists and capitalists have used this diversion from the focus to pretend that only they were providing freedom. Communists pretended that only economic rights exist not political rights and Capitalists pretend only political rights exist and not economic rights. A just society demand both. There can be no serious arguement that the Sandanistas did not raise the standard of living for the vast majority of Nicaraguans nor that they were not freer politically than under the Butcher Somoza. Now that bar was pretty low. Again the focus needs to be on the goal not the vehicle. We dont want communism fine then lets provide the economic security that communism would if it were here with some adjustments to the economic Darwinism that we are currently living under. Whatever the means we must always keep that just society as our goal