The first communist attempt at Plymouth Colony was about as "pure" as you're going to find. It failed miserably. All the rest have tried to "purify" the country by negating the influence of those who either disagree or who were clearly successful without government assistance. They were either slaughtered or moved to "educational camps"- as practiced in the USSR, China, Cuba, Yugoslavia, North Vietnam, and Cambodia. The current "purist" form of communism is the worker's paradise of North Korea. Notice how all communist countries claim that the fences around them are to keep invaders out? Of course, the barbed wire at the top is slanted in.

The only thing in North Korea worth firing a .22rf short are the printing presses that turn out bogus US $20 bills by the ton. We certainly don't need the nuclear technology; we can make a bigger firecracker. In short, the idea that the communist theory has never been given a "real chance" is as bogus as a North Korean 20.

Decriminalization of drugs is one of the more intelligent things that I'm afraid won't happen. There is too much at stake within the DEA, Homeland Security and the like for those budgets to be cut.

The middle class is not being "crushed" by "evil, greedy corperations." Those companies are in the business to make goods and sell them or provide services. They NEED a strong middle class to sell them to.

For over 35 years I have dealt with companies from tiny to huge, domestic and foreign, nationally and internationally. I have been a representative, a supplier, a customer and a competitor. Except for a few notable paranoid examples such as Andy Groves at Intel and Bill Gates at Microsoft; large companies aren't concerned with small companies. They are either a potential supplier or a potential acquisition. They offer about as much a competitive threat as a mosquito does to a Cape Buffalo. There are a few people who have gotten wealthy through nefarious means - Bernie Madoff comes to mind, several at Goldman Sachs (and hopefully they are going to get a government sponsored vacation) but the vast majority of those who make or have made large sums of money have done it by working harder, smarter and better than others. They have earned it. They didn't take it from the poor. The poor don't have anything to take. THAT'S why they are poor!

In NC it cost $50 to start a company. Other companies don't stand in the way. The greatest restriction on getting ahead is from government regulation and interference. Is some necessary? Sure. But Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy holds fast -In every group there will be two components; a: Those who strive to effect the goals of the group and b: Those who strive to increase the power and authority of the group. The second component will always take over the group. So regulation becomes a goal into itself, not to accomplish the ideal. People come to this country for the opportunity. There is still more opportunity here than any other country on earth. But the larger the government becomes, the more of the available capital and resources it sucks up.

Government produces NOTHING! And confiscating assets will do nothing to improve things. The only problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. THAT is why they put fences around communist countries and why socialist countries have such strong laws about currency export. They don't want the money to escape. Ian may be familiar with the "booming 70's and early 80's" when tax rates were %90 in GB and everything was nationalized. Of course, the only "boom" was the sound the economy made when it crashed into the ground.

The framers of our constitution and government wanted desperately to restrict the size of the national government and did NOT want a standing army. That was the reason for the 2nd Amendment. A militia is not the US Army National Guard. It is comprised of volunteer soldiers who bring their own firearms to respond to the call of a governor and to fight the national government if necessary. It took Woodrow Wilson and both Roosevelts to expand the government and corrupt the commerce clause so that big government could become dominant. (Throw in LBJ and Jimmy Carter and there wasn't a chance. And NOW...) The 16th and 17th Amendments were the among the most devastating acts of legislation inflicted on this country. Communism and socialism worked so well that China couldn't stand all the prosperity and allowed capitalism. (That was sarcasm, in case you missed it.)

The most successful system in the world is a capitalistic republic. Government interference restricts job creation, government policies encourage poverty, increases government dependence while sucking up the capital resources required to create jobs in the first place. If you hate wealthy people, try getting a poor person to give you a job. If the government keeps punishing success with taxation, the successful will leave. Costa Rica, anyone?