The term Communist state originated in the West during the Cold War. It was coined to describe the form of government adopted by several countries in Eastern Europe and East Asia who followed the political model of the Soviet Union. These countries were ruled by parties which typically used the name "Communist Party of [country]." Since the separation of Party and State became very blurred in those countries, it seemed logical to name them "Communist states," by analogy with the Communist parties that ruled them.
Communists however dispute the validity of the term Communist state. Within Marxist theory, world communism is the final phase of history at which time the state would have withered away[4] and therefore "communist state" is a contradiction in terms under premises of this theory. Current states are either in the capitalist or socialist phase of history - making the term "socialist state" preferable to Communists[citation needed] - and the role of the Communist Party (i.e. the vanguard party) is to pull a nation toward the communist phase of history.
And so, Karajorma, I know more/less what I'm talking about, however you use Western naming, and I use Eastern. Here's something closer to a real communist state in my books than Poland was during the Cold War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_KoreaAnd about what Westerns call socialism... it still has a long way to go to reach what was happening in the Eastern Block, but any step in it's general direction is a bad idea for me, unless it's only to make sure the unemployed won't starve to death, lying sick somewhere on the street. Everyone has the right to live, to visit a doctor, and to have firemen and policemen service him/her, but if you want more, work for it and buy it.
PS As for Obama's tax increase for the rich, what happens when a company owner has to pay higher taxes, but doesn't want to have his standards of living lowered, so he fires a worker to save cash on his salary, and makes the rest work harder a bit to compensate? Call him a selfish pr***, but business is business, not charity.
And so again the poorer people will get f***ed, and the rich may not even feel the difference. What are Obama's ideas to prevent such scenarios?
McCain's idea is to lower corporate tax, which is (at least based on his knowlage, never checked myself) second highest in the world.
Same thing with the idea to tax Big Oil to give Americans cash for gas... what if the oil companies raise the price at the pump to compensate for the bonus 180 bln USD they'd have to pay in taxes? (number based on 180M people in production age in the US x 1000 USD each as Obama tax bonus)
McCain's idea is to have gas tax free during the summer when prices are highest, making prices drop by the 15% or whatever the tax is, and Big Oil won't complain about being a cash resource, so it won't have to increase the $/gal even further.
Also both politicians seem to know that moving to other energy sources and taking measures to lower the consumption of those already used is important, and I agree with that fully.