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[Arx]

Winter is traditionally December-April, yeah. Not to say I haven't been strongly considering popping an anxiety pill most of today because I've been thinking about the climate too much and too pessimistically.

[Helgoland]

Oh, and there's butterflies in my garden.

You're Dutch, right?

I'll go buy up some south-facing slopes in Norway. Scandinavian wine is gonna be the next big thing.

[Sergarr]

...It's hard to believe that almost 4 years has passed since I've first heard that theme. It still sounds as ridiculous as ever, in a positive way.

[BlackFlyme]

When the internet connection gets laggy and the online radio I listen to starts playing several songs/ads on top of one another, creating some sort of eldritch noise only enjoyable by Shoggoths.

[martinuzz]

Oh, and there's butterflies in my garden.

You're Dutch, right?

I'll go buy up some south-facing slopes in Norway. Scandinavian wine is gonna be the next big thing.

Dutch indeed. Personally I was thinking of starting up a palm beach resort at Scheveningen soon 

[Morrigi]

I saw someone adamantly insisting that Stalin was a "fascist" and that the USSR was "right-wing" today. Quite possibly one of the most insane things I have ever heard.

[Amperzand]

I do find that kind of thing amusing.

[Sergarr]

USSR
"right-wing"

Did they provide an argument for? I kinda feel like I know what the expect here, but curiosity kills the cat, you know.

[Morrigi]

USSR
"right-wing"

Did they provide an argument for? I kinda feel like I know what the expect here, but curiosity kills the cat, you know.

Not really, just that it was authoritarian so it MUST have been right-wing. Where do people come up with this shit?

[hops]

Fascist is evil.
Stalin is evil.
Therefore Stalin is fascist.

PRAISE AMERICA

[Lord Shonus]

The difference between Stalinism and Fascism is pretty thin, actually. The only real difference is that Stalin claimed to be communist. The EU and other human rights advocates consider them roughly comparable.

Of course, the original statement probably had more to do with "don't like=fascist".

[Sonlirain]

I once said i hate psychologists because they are the scam of the 21'st century (IMO) and got called a stalinist, marxsist, communist, dicksucker and scientologist (I think the last one is most offensive and likely the only one with some actual value because apparently scientologists dislike psychology for some reason as well.)

As far as i'm concerned it does not matter if someone calls you communist or fascist because they are likely too stupid to even know what they are saying.
All that matters is that "Communism" and "Fascism" are generally recognized as "bad things" so they will call you "bad things" if you don't agree with whatever point of view they have.

In general when someone disagrees with you and calls you a communist out of the blue (Even if it's completely not relevant) he's most likely from the US (Because of the rivalry with CCCP and general consensus of "Commies r bad").
If he calls you a nazi/fascist he's most likely European (Because the memories of the german rampage are still well and alive).
If he calls you a fucking blowjob chances are that he's Asian.

[Helgoland]

I saw someone adamantly insisting that Stalin was a "fascist" and that the USSR was "right-wing" today.

At least the first part of that statement can be defended. In Germany at least there was a big debate about 'Linksfaschismus', 'left fascism', when Jürgen Habermas - one of the big contemporary German philosophers - used that term to characterize Benno Ohnesorg's ideology.

[Morrigi]

The difference between Stalinism and Fascism is pretty thin, actually. The only real difference is that Stalin claimed to be communist. The EU and other human rights advocates consider them roughly comparable.

The differences are actually huge, especially in that fascist economic policy has more than a snowball's chance in Hell of actually functioning. Fascists are very pro-corporate and pro-private property, so long as the corporations and property serve the interests of the State and what the State believes to be in the interests of the well-being of their people*. The fascist economic model is founded in state capitalism, which has proven to be very successful in modern China and also Libya, before the war broke everything in the latter. Marxist-Leninist economic policy, on the other hand, is a total fucking basket case that inevitably results in famine when implemented.

In a nutshell, fascism isn't nice but it works, which is the highest praise I will give it. Marxist-Leninism is even less nice and has nothing to show for it other than a death toll that made the Nazis** look tame in comparison***.

*And their people alone, of course.
**National Socialism is related to, but distinct from fascism.
***I'm lumping Maoism in here as well, since it was very similar in theory, practice, and results.

Edit: As for social policy, there are even more differences. Fascism and national socialism lean towards jobs programs, charity****, and family subsidies while Marxist-Leninism supports universal welfare. Both fascism and Marxist-Leninism also have tendencies of suppressing or altering history that disagrees with the line of the ruling party, but I would argue that Marxist-Leninism has a much worse history in that regard, since it seeks to erase the past entirely, while fascism seeks to cherish and appreciate it... so long as it supports the will of the State, of course.

Not all totalitarian regimes are alike.

****That said, National Socialist "charity" drives were effectively mandatory. It was seen as one's civic duty, and you risked being chased and beaten by an angry mob or even "disappeared" if you failed to donate enough food and clothing to the poor. An old pair of boots and a pot of stew a year would not do.

[Neonivek]

One thing I kind of find odd in a lot of modern movies

Is their depiction of Servants as this sort of poor lower class...

Now I know servants come in many shapes and sizes but a true blue Servant (as in one whose title would be Servant)... Actually makes quite a bit of money and I'd place them among lower middle class to affluent middle class (and trust me... you can be a Rich Servant). It is why some of them even have outright academies and agencies for their job.

Not that it is a glamorous job. One of the major reasons they earn so much is because... well... you uproot your life and often sort of forgo the ability to have your own personal space, belongings, or even free time. It is a job that honestly very few people would want to do even for the money... and even if you wanted to it can actually be quite difficult to get into.

Now how they are generally treated is kind of beyond me. I know that a "Butler" is treated differently depending on the culture (In Japan for example a Butler is rewarded on retirement by being invited into the family and moves right into the main house), and it isn't unusual for servants to get stuff in wills. But those are anecdotes and probably don't reflect the reality.

Why do we still get the idea of what a servant is from the medieval times?

---

I am trying to think of the difference between Overboard and School of Rock

On the one hand I love Overboard and on the other I hate School of Rock.

Yet they both involve two people doing an absolutely horrible thing that ends up creating something good...

Which I guess is... Overboard doesn't pretend like our main character is doing anything less then something horrible. Yet School of Rock pretends "ohh you know it is so harmless" and glosses over everything.