If you aren't willing to be flexible and concede the obvious points of the other side you come across looking like a stubborn moron, which is what happens in virtually every thread you argue in.
First, if a point really is obvious, I can concede it without a problem. I haven't done that here because there haven't been many obvious points to concede. There's been a lot of people stating their opinion and questioning the validity of the opposite opinion, but no obvious points have really been made anywhere.
Second, I'll be the first to tell you I'm a bit stubborn, because I've done the research and that makes it difficult for someone to present me with something new to consider.
Your incredibly poor grasp of the reality of human nature is laughable. This, of course, explains why you think socialism works. You seem blissfully unaware that political and economic systems that take advantage of human selfishness are inevitably going to be more successful than systems that attempt to take advantage of the better parts of human nature.
I grasp human nature incredibly well. I understand that most people make terrible human beings by their very nature.
Socialism does work when put within the proper construct, and it can do so by taking advantage of the very human selfishness you think makes it fail. If you set the system up with the proper incentives, checks and balances, etc., it can work far better than modern American capitalism to say the least.
All you really want to do is beat everyone over the head with your belief system, and frankly, none of us are ever going to agree with you.
I'm going to state my beliefs, yes. I'm not beating anyone over the head with anything. Frankly, I don't care if you ever agree with me. I'm never going to agree with some of the ideas presented here either.
Thus, nobody can ever have a productive or truly meaningful discussion with you, since you won't meet on common ground.
I don't have to "meet on common ground" to have a discussion. I can hold my views, you can hold yours, and we can discuss their various merits peacefully if both sides choose to do so. I've been nothing but peaceful in this discussion, but cannot say the same thing for some others.
You try to make yourself out as an intellectual, but realistically you're being just as belligerent and bullheaded as he is, you just use more words.\
I don't try to make myself out as anything. If you think I'm coming across as attempting to sound intellectual, the most probable explanation for that is because I AM an intellectual. I'm sure my saying that will be interpreted as arrogance of some sort, so I'll head that off by saying my intention is simply to offer the simplest explanation for your thinking I'm trying to make myself out as an intellectual.
As I said before, I'm the first to tell you I'm stubborn when it comes to my personal beliefs, so to tell me that isn't news to me.
In summary, get over yourself. You're not as superior as you secretly think you are. I know you're going to tell me you don't think that, but everybody here knows that's bullshit.
I've never said anything that would indicate I think I'm superior to anyone. Not a single thing.
Either you've misinterpreted some of the things I've said, or you are making wild assumptions and jumping to incorrect conclusions. The former can be fixed if you tell me what I've said that makes you think what you state here, so I can explain it to you and clear it up. The latter can be fixed by making sure you're not inadvertently adding information to what someone actually says by making your own assumptions.