Dan O'Herlihy: harmless old man, or left-wing nut?
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Bob_Schuka — 13 years ago(December 02, 2012 08:53 AM)
Was not 'tirading' against liberalism in general, but communism in particular. I don't recall saying anything about a conspiracy; I just think O'Herlihy was dead wrong. I'm interested to know why/how you disagree.
Additionally:- Who are "you people"?
- What's wrong with being anti-liberal, anyway?
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craigmt1 — 13 years ago(December 07, 2012 01:09 PM)
There's nothing wrong with being anti-liberal. There are plenty of good arguments against liberalism. You, however, made none of them.
By you people I was referring to you and everyone else who is committed to bringing petty partisan ramblings onto IMDB, of which there are many unfortunately. I want to discuss the beep movie, not hear all about how awful Obama is. I don't care, at least not when I'm here. -
Bob_Schuka — 13 years ago(December 16, 2012 10:18 AM)
You are correct; I have made no arguments against liberalism. It doesn't appear that I need to, eitherat least not in this forumas evidenced by your first two sentences.
I also made no reference to Obama, or any other liberals. Lighten up!
However, I find it unfortunate that you label an anti-Communist viewpoint as "partisan"because Communism is detrimental to everybody (except for the elite ruling class), regardless of political affiliation. Communism stifles freedom, individualism, creativity, productivity, spirituality, and other ideals which some people consider quaint and old-fashioned. That is not being partisan; it is simply stating a fact.
Communism has failed, every time it has been triedChina, North Korea, the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Tito's Yugoslavia, North Vietnam, Cuba, and to a limited extent (so far), the US.
Although I appreciate that you want to discuss the beep movie, IMO it is still valid to examine the merits or shortcomings of the special features, in addition to the film itself. I was merely offering an opinion/observation about O'Herlihy's statement, which you are free to either accept, reject, or ignore. -
ContinentalOp — 12 years ago(July 14, 2013 04:58 PM)
''because Communism is detrimental to everybody (except for the elite ruling class)''
Except that is nonsense. Read Marx and you'd see why that is wrong. Marxism is about the overthrow of the ruling aristocratic and bourgeois classes and the formation of a proletarian state and then, eventually, a true communist soceity which would have no real government interference.
''and to a limited extent (so far), the US.''
Communism has not been tried in the USA. Communism is not liberalism.
I'd argue that Communism hasn't really failed in Cuba - which has given its people a great standard of living, education and healthcare - or Vietnam. Communism is, however, hard to implement because the world is mostly still Capitalist and it is hard to change the status quo to begin with. But Communism certainly isn't as ''detrimental to everybody'' in Cuba as when Capitalism ruled there. Likewise, most Communists countries had far higher life expectancies than when they were Capitalist, which blows that out of the water.
Formerly KingAngantyr -
blackjackxxx — 11 years ago(December 28, 2014 07:57 AM)
Very true. In fact, I would posit that we actually ended up winning the Vietnam War by the reasons most wars are fought. Vietnam itself won by diluting the regime down to a Statist Free Market and have achieved a certain degree of freedom. They never really hated the US. Now, China? Yeah, they hate China.
Death notwithstanding, we both won. The political ramifications for the US, on the other hand.well, I'll just leave it at that. We're seeing it today.
Push the button, Max -
robert3750-92-607013 — 11 years ago(October 01, 2014 06:49 PM)
I see that no totalitarian system is bad enough for some not to defend it. Never mind that the likes of Stalin and Hitler murdered millions; they "improved conditions" from the previous regimes. Castro murdered fewer only because he didn't have the means to do so.
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Eric-62-2 — 12 years ago(September 12, 2013 10:32 AM)
That's just O'Herlihy revealing himself to be as much of a moron as Lincoln Steffens was when he said "I have seen the future and it works!" or when Henry Wallace in the 1940s let himself be duped by Stalin's Potemkin Villages showing an image of the USSR that was a lie. O'Herlihy would have been well-advised to spend an evening reading Alexander Solzhinetsyn instead.
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jloper — 12 years ago(November 18, 2013 11:24 AM)
If O'Herlihy was gullible enough and was given the nickel tour by the Soviet tourist agency, I suppose he could have been fooled into thinking the USSR wasn't a hellhole to the majority of its citizens. But by and large, people tend to vote with their feet, and if I'm not mistaken, more people risked their lives to exit East Berlin and enter West Berlin over the Berlin Wall, not vice versa.
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bullpen_1 — 11 years ago(April 29, 2014 09:01 AM)
Old Dan must not have heard of the term "potemkin village".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village
You have my word as an inveterate cheat.
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Butteoid — 11 years ago(August 01, 2014 06:20 PM)
I was born in 1952 and grew up in the era, so here's my take"
There's two types of people in this world: those who can think for themselves and those who can only think what they are told to think.
Today's right-wingers lost their nemesis more than two decades ago with the collapse of the "World-Wide Communist Conspiracy," so the people who direct them (so they can steal money during the diversion) have told them to aim their hate at their fellow Americans.
Were we Americans lied to? Funny how Putin's power base today is the Russian Orthodox Church, when we were told communism had outlawed faith.
Then there's the Chinese, who are clearing our capitalistic clock, stealing Americans' jobs, while we continue to pay Arabs for oil, fight their wars and fund al Qaida in the process, thanks to the GOP.
Pogo was right: We have met the enemy and it is us. -
venusboys3 — 11 years ago(September 13, 2014 02:20 PM)
A lot of the scary nonsense I was told as a kid about the USSR was surely nonsense. I've since met people who lived there in that era. They certainly don't portray it as a paradise they don't wish for a return (though some Russians do) but it sounds more like people here who speak of the depression or the stringent rationing of WWII. Then again, it's not like the people of Russia were dropped into the Soviet era from some fabulous era of plenty for all. There's a reason the revolution happened and succeeded.
Meanwhile some of the events since 9/11 here in the United States people rushing to give up their rights to gain a bit of supposed safety has resulted in an environment that is somewhat starting to resemble some of those old tales of the USSR. -
franzkabuki — 11 years ago(November 10, 2014 08:51 AM)
"A lot of the scary nonsense I was told as a kid about the USSR was surely nonsense".
Care to share in more detail what kind of nonsense we're speaking about here?
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan -
Eric-62-2 — 11 years ago(October 06, 2014 09:24 PM)
Today's right-wingers lost their nemesis more than two decades ago with the collapse of the "World-Wide Communist Conspiracy,"
This is one of the most asinine comments I've ever seen, which reveals an all-too typical indifference of the American Left with its total indifference for Communism as a mass murdering ideology that left a death toll ten times higher than the one that had a swastika for an emblem.