I like the jaunty angle and tasteful lack of cropping on the viewfinder pic, really gives an authentic “good enough” vibe. /lh

The pic itself is really cool tho! :3

ω̈

If you can’t tell the difference between calling a command economy communist (when that’s what it was historically referred to as both by allies and enemies) and calling a dictatorship a democracy, I can’t help you.

Oh, you’re just being intentionally dense, ok. “Communist era Hungary” is a perfectly valid way to describe the period of time in which the government of Hungary professed itself to be communist, whether or not it’s “real” communism by anyone’s definition. Also, if you want to be pedantic, they were never directly part of the USSR, at most being a puppet government propped up by the Soviets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_People's_Republic

We have such radically different conceptions of the world that I don’t think continuing this discussion will get us anywhere. You have an interesting perspective tho, and I hope you have a lovely day :)

No. Money can be demonstrated to exist in a capitalist society. Elohim cannot be demonstrated to exist, period. That’s what makes it not real. Thus, the only people who believe gods exist are religious people, whereas even communists believe money exists as a real social construct. That is all.

Again, not a valid example. Palestinians do not practice or believe in Judaism, even if they are forced to live with the actions of some of its adherents. The religion is real to them, not the god.

Because I am forced to operate within capitalism. I work to earn money, and I exchange it for goods and services daily. I don’t like capitalism, to be clear, but that doesn’t mean I don’t live in it.

Now you’re the one not being consistent, what do you mean by “believing in it without believing it’s real”?

That is not a valid counterexample. I repeat, no one here is arguing that religions or political philosophies aren’t real or that they don’t have tangible effects. The fact that the religion exists does not make the fictional characters in it real to those outside the religion.

Ok, I kinda see where you’re coming from. However, I think there’s still a difference. The system is what gives “legitimacy” (for lack of a better word) to a social construct. So a god is not real to people without the religion, just as money as a concept wouldn’t be real to people living outside of capitalism. The problem for this analogy is that outside of a few uncontacted tribes, capitalism is inescapable for virtually everyone on earth. Even “communist” countries rely on the global capitalist market to some extent at this point in history. So money is more real to more people if that makes sense.

The Pope ordered the crusades, not a deity. In the same way, organized religions are social constructs, not the characters they’re based on. I don’t think anyone would argue that religions aren’t real, it’s just that the claims they make are untrue.

That’s not the gotcha you think it is. Spiritual woo and real-life social constructs are two totally different things.

Money is a social construct, but it has real measurable effects. You can physically go into a real-life shop and exchange it for tangible goods. Others can believe what they want, but I agree with the above commenter that the real is all there is.

“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”

- Frank Wilhoit