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[monk12]

Hitler failed because he didn't have magma at his disposal

Man, now I want to play a Call of Duty mod where you are a dwarf infiltrating Hitler's Secret Underground Fortress Laboratory in order to foil his plot to build a Magma Cannon to destroy London with. The Zoo and Arena levels alone would be well worth it.

[truckman1]

Hitler failed because he didn't have magma at his disposal

sigging

[rat_pack40]

all dwarves are created equal, some are just more equal than others.

Soooo siggin' that.

[Evil One]

Hmm... Is dwarf fortress communist?

Somehow I can't imagine any dwarf being called Comrade Urist.

[Dr. Melon]

Nah, only to begin with - the same as most settlements, actually. After a good few years, a taxman arrives and the economy starts, and dorfs have to pay for food and bedrooms and clothes and stuff, and start up shops.

[ungulateman]

It's totalitarian with elements of feudalism, as Three Panel Soul puts it:

"So the state distributes all the supplies, sets all the jobs, and controls all the prices."
"Yep."
"Then individuals take supplies for free, and sell them in their shops."
"Yep."
"How do you survive with this insanity?"
"I made a really snazzy leather earring a few years back, so I'm exempt from it all."

[bungler]

What you are battling is the preconceived notion that communists are all evil. It's actually the governments that run the communists countries that are evil, just like the corporate interests that run so-called democratic countries. Yes, dwarfs are communist; they live in a communal society where their hard work individually helps the whole community. Think of hippies living on a commune; they are essentially communist without the totalitarian government exploiting them.

The western governments have a way of demonizing certain entities that they feel stand in their way. For example, the US wanted to get their hands on Middle Eastern oil, therefore they turned their sites on Islam. So they set up a number of fake terrorist attacks and suddenly everyone hates and fears Islam, giving the government carte blanche to do as they please in the middle east. Same thing happens in South America and it happened with communism in the 40s and 50s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mcarthyism

The people of a nation are never to blame for the wrongs that their governments do. Mostly the people have no choice. How many Americans voted to invade Iraq? None, because there was never a democratic vote on it. Same thing is happening now in Afghanistan.

Dwarfs are communal whose only real government is you, the player. Are you a totalitarian? Are you fair to your dwarfs? This game would get pretty complicated if every move you make in game had to be voted on by the whole lot. You would say "Dig here", and they would all gather together to discuss if it was a good idea, who was going to dig and put a price on the work. Then they would dig one square and start all over. The farmers would have to buy seeds from caravans individually, grow and harvest, then sell their yield to cooks. Cooks would also buy fish from the fishermen. Each entity would need to set up booths to sell their raw wares. The richest dwarfs would be the gem cutters or the miners who were able to mine more precious minerals. There would be no more nobles (big loss), but a large body of worthless politicians who got paid a lot to get together 2 or 3 times a year and pretend to get stuff done. I would quit this game if it were "democratic".

[Shrugging Khan]

I'd stage a coup if this game was democratic

Very nice explanation, though, Bungler.

[Ratbert_CP]

... So they set up a number of fake terrorist attacks and suddenly everyone hates and fears Islam, giving the government carte blanche to do as they please in the middle east...

And the thread leaves reality...

[devek]

It is reasonable to say that governments use propaganda to further their interests, it is quite another to be a crackpot conspiracy theorist lol.

On that subject. It isn't just governments who use propaganda, rich and wealthy spread false messages like "just lower our taxes, and you'll be rich like us some day too." Ya right. I think that is the source of the health care = socialism->nazi->kill jews thought pattern, propaganda. People without critical thinking skills buy into it, even though it is against their own self-interest.

[Blackburn]

The western governments have a way of demonizing certain entities that they feel stand in their way. For example, the US wanted to get their hands on Middle Eastern oil, therefore they turned their sites on Islam. So they set up a number of fake terrorist attacks and suddenly everyone hates and fears Islam, giving the government carte blanche to do as they please in the middle east.

And now you've revoked all credibility, you sick man.

[rat_pack40]

I'm just going to posit my 2 cents here, and defend what America started as, not a democracy, like all too many people like to believe, but a constitutional republic.
One of the major differences being, in a democracy, if a majority says that you have to die, you die. In a constitutional republic, everything follows guidelines set out in the constitution that marked the start of the nation.
Which would you rather be a part of?

[Cotes]

I'm just going to posit my 2 cents here, and defend what America started as, not a democracy, like all too many people like to believe, but a constitutional republic.
One of the major differences being, in a democracy, if a majority says that you have to die, you die. In a constitutional republic, everything follows guidelines set out in the constitution that marked the start of the nation.
Which would you rather be a part of?

Well, it's a bit simplistic to say America started it, given that the idea of basic rights in US were inspired by things like the French revolution and Magna Carta.

[TopRamen]

Well, it's a bit simplistic to say America started it, given that the idea of basic rights in US were inspired by things like the French revolution and Magna Carta.

Ummm... the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution

[devek]

Well, the ideas of basic rights existed long before America but the American government is one of the oldest out there. So despite where the ideas come from, it is one of the first governments to actually work. The worst thing to happen to America, ever, was at the hands of religious extremist. Outside of some ridiculous event, it is hard to see western civilization changing.

The only downside is that we have too many rights, some rights don't make sense when it comes to what is best for the country and all who live in it. For example, in China you can't flat out lie about the government or tell people to do things in the name of god lol. I think that is awesome.