A Tribute to abra a collection of her comments

[Eureka]

"I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare and I dare a little more, as I grow older." — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

puzzleme
April 25, 2013, 7:02 am
Sounds about right. As I get older, I am more outspoken, more willing to risk appearing foolish, and much less willing to lie down for anyone who might wish to walk all over me.

elsiegirl
July 3, 2014, 12:46 am
My 22 yr. old daughter is like that now. I can't imagine what will happen when she is older. LOL

dovid1946
March 2, 2015, 2:24 pm
I will be 69 at the end of the month, and frankly I don't give a s... what people think about me anymore. I have no one alive that I need to impress.

mikeoc51
January 29, 2019, 5:46 am
boy we got some wild ones out there

abra
November 18, 2019, 3:40 pm
Not me. I was born without that ''don't give a darn'' gene. Age hasn't cured that.

[LLapp]

Abra's comments in this long thread are just so very abra, and I love the exchange between me and her. I'm keeping in most of the discussion on political theory, because this was how she worked -- she would weave the kindest spirit through the most serious discussions. I'm also proud of how civil the whole conversation is in this thread. I believe abra's spirit still helps to keep us civil.
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"I am greatly pleased with the public, authentic isolation in which we two, you and I, now find ourselves. It is wholly in accord with our attitude and our principles." — Karl Marx

dovid1946
January 8, 2015, 7:04 am
more quotes from Groucho Marx, less from his evil brother, Karl-o

maradnu
February 2, 2015, 6:46 am
Evil? Much of what Marx wrote is an overreaction to the evils of unbridled capitalism in the 19th century.

kb83
September 17, 2015, 4:30 am
This was in a letter to Engels, about maintaining a public distance. In the letter he uses alot of French phrases and inside jokes. Engels was clearly very important to him.

Vienna
January 1, 2016, 12:21 pm
Marx had a beautiful vision and great ideas. His plan would be utopia if it could be implemented. It is just very naive to think a large group of people would all have the same ideas of what is important and be willing to work hard for the common good with no personal motivation. The result is socialism where a small group violently tries to force a nation to do what can only be done voluntarily.

LLapp
May 19, 2016, 11:47 am
Vienna, I agree except for how you describe socialism -- I doubt that's the word you meant.

ruxpin66
August 14, 2016, 3:17 pm
Agree, LLapp. I was completely with Vienna until the socialism part. That's not socialism at all.

debzhaus
August 24, 2016, 1:57 am
Depends what you mean by violently. All laws are enforced by the threat of violence, even if it is just the violence of forced incarceration. A lot less people would pay their taxes if it were voluntary.

darkyr
October 20, 2016, 5:05 am
Public isolation. Alone in a sea of people.

MamaB
October 27, 2016, 8:38 am
I read - alone in a sea of purple. I like that idea.

wigoddess
December 9, 2016, 10:33 pm
I like purple

abra
December 31, 2016, 10:17 am
I like purple too. Not as much as I did as a teenager, but I like the idea of a sea of purple.

abra
February 18, 2017, 1:08 pm
Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff. -- Frank Zappa

marnita
July 16, 2017, 6:36 am
Communism doesn't work for the same reason capitalism doesn't work: people are greedy.

Taxnerd
October 17, 2017, 2:21 pm
I'm with Dovid1946 - More Groucho!

abra
June 11, 2019, 6:33 pm
When the deep purple falls, over sleeping garden walls, and the stars begin to twinkle in the night...

LLapp
June 19, 2019, 4:09 am
Abra, my sister, who is a few years older than I am, lived in a sea of purple during her psychedelic teen years. Purple beaded curtains, purple floppy hat, purple lava lamp, purple fluorescent light for the Day-Glo posters, and especially the wild geometric purple wallpaper. Oh the memories.

abra
November 6, 2019, 1:16 am
Sis???

imsoeasy
May 14, 2020, 12:08 am
Socialism has numerous permutations The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was always called communist. One might argue that the USSR was not communist as theorized by Marx and be right. Same goes for China and Cuba although they call themselves communist. But they are all socialist as are other countries not thought of as communist. The common thread is the social ownership / control of the means of production whether democratically or by a core group. Anyone who says this or that type of socialism is not socialism just means it is not what they think socialism is, or should be. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) was socialist (by 1939 they were in complete control of what could be produced) but other "socialists" are at pains to deny it. I prefer free markets and democratically elected representatives to state control. Those who believe socialism is some magic pill to solve all of the world's problems are either naive or they are selling you a bill of goods that you will find hard to return later.

LLapp
July 8, 2020, 11:07 pm
Abra, did you have all those things too?!

rasbury
August 29, 2020, 11:37 pm
Those who think capitalism is some magic pill to solve all of the world's problems should look at the state of the world.

marnita
November 20, 2020, 1:36 pm
I think what most of would like to see is a hybrid somewhere between socialism and capitalism, more like what they have in the Scandanavian countries.

NoiseLTD
January 18, 2021, 3:41 pm
kb83 Engels was important to him because he supported him financially and translated his gibberish into intelligible prose. Unfortunately.

Wordigo
August 27, 2021, 8:19 pm
Concept confabulation contributes to confusion. Think of capitalism and socialism on one axis, and democracy and tyranny on a perpendicular axis. Socialism + tyranny is communism. In the Scandinavian countries they have socialism + democracy. In America, we have mostly capitalism + democracy. In Syria, they have capitalism + tyranny.

imsoeasy
December 27, 2021, 9:44 am
The Scandinavian countries mostly have capitalism with welfare states, not socialism. Socialism is controlling the means of production and/or distribution. It is not that feel good idea in your head. In my previous comment I talked about free markets which are not the same as capitalism. Capitalism is an outgrowth of free markets. Capitalism tends at times to be anti-free market. All "communist" countries economies are socialist. Marx said socialism is the necessary path to communism. Communism as theorized by Marx exists only when each produces to his/her ability and each receives as to need. When that happens there is a withering away of the state. Sounds like paradise on earth rather than in heaven except without any gods involved. People gotta believe in somethin don't they.

abra
July 28, 2022, 1:35 am
LLapp, mostly, but not the beads.

TimmyTee
October 12, 2022, 10:45 pm
imsoeasy, I like to distinguish between "free enterprise" - the smart person in their garage that comes up with an idea that turns into something wonderful. And capitalism - some one(s) with a pile of money gathers power through regulatory capture, merger & acquisition, rent-seeking and ends up either in a monopoly or one in an oligopoly. Then they crush or take away the ideas of the guy in the garage. There is a place for "socialistic" forms. Natural monopolies - infrastructure stuff like utilities, highways, bridges, ports, airports, public communication systems. Otherwise these turn into capitalistic nightmares.

montyb
March 16, 2023, 11:01 pm
Also I would like to clear up another misconception: the Nazi party was NOT socialist. The term appears in the official party name as a ploy to get the support of the “blue collar” workers. The Nazi party was fascist and that is on the opposite end of the political spectrum from socialism.