• Rusty Shackleford@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Who makes that distinction?

    Anyone versed in basic political theory.

    An ideology and a political organization are obviously different. Just like republicanism and The Republican Party, democracy and The Democratic Party, socialism and The Socialist Party, etc.

    destroying the state

    That’s technically sedition, so, yes, illegal.

    Capitalism

    Nowhere in U.S. jurisprudence is “capitalism” (verbatim) explicitly protected as an economic system. The 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause prevents the state from taking someone’s life, liberty, or property without a proper justification under the laws of the land. The Constitution protects individuals from the government. Freedom to contract is a principle that underpins the basis for a free-market economy.

    After the Great Depression, the Court began to treat the freedom to contract as less than absolute, asserting that such freedom may be limited by the State’s interest to protect its citizens. Capitalism is a right guaranteed by the constitution but limited in scope to protect individuals against the dangers of laissez-faire capitalism.

    class divides

    There are no explicit laws in U.S. jurisprudence (that I know of or have turned up on brief internet searches) that enforce “class divides”.

    money

    Be it resources, precious metals, or legal tender, money is protected by the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

    So we can conclude that the advocacy or practice of communism isn’t itself illegal. Forcing people to practice it or overthrowing the government and dissolving The Bill of Rights in order to force people to practice most certainly is.

    In my opinion, that’s a good thing.

    • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      7 months ago

      Communism isn’t Communalism. Advocating for Communism and attempting to implement Communism at a national level is illegal, as you’ve shown.

      • Rusty Shackleford@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        7 months ago

        Communism isn’t Communalism.

        Yes, that’s true.

        Advocating for Communism

        … is legal, under the 1st Amendment.

        attempting to implement Communism at a national level is illegal

        By force, yes. Theoretically, with a broad enough consensus, it could be voted on and enacted.

        All pedantry aside, it’s important to differentiate between theory and practice or ideology and an organization.

        • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          7 months ago

          I understand, however my non-pedantic point is that the US legal system works against Communism. The US is a firmly anti-Communist project both within and without.

          Attempting to bring about Communism is impossible legally because it cannot be voted in, unless you believe it’s possible to simply ask a billionaire to not be.

          • Rusty Shackleford@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            7 months ago

            it cannot be voted in

            Technically, it can.

            simply ask a billionaire to not be

            One doesn’t have to ask; under the very same Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, the legal argument would be, theoretically, that the vast accumulation of wealth and its legal and political ramifications violates the life, liberty, and property of other citizens.

            The dissolution of the union and the United States government is also possible with the ratification of 2/3 majority of the states.