Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Fascism

2007-06-16T19:01:22Z

Fg: adding section

'''Fascism''' is an [[totalitarian]] political ideology that arose in early twentieth-century Europe and came to dominate the political systems of a number of European and other nations. The last European fascist regime, that of [[Francisco Franco]] in Spain, came to an end in 1975.

Characteristics of fascism include a belief that the state is more important than the individual; a leaning towards authoritarian government; an emphasis on [[nationalism]] and national traditions; militarism; information control and censorship; and a rejection both of free enterprise and [[Social democracy]] in favor of [[corporatism|corporatist]] economic policies.

The prototypical fascist regime was that of [[Benito Mussolini]], who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943. Other regimes which included fascist elements are those of [[Francisco Franco]] in Spain (1936-1975) and [[Antonio Salazar]] in Portugal (1932-1968). German [[Nazism]] adds to fascism an obsession with [[race]]. Austrian economist [[Friedrich Hayek]] observed in the final stages of [[World War II]], "the rise of fascism and [[Marxism]] was not a reaction against the socialist trends of the preceding period but a necessary outcome of those tendencies. Yet it is significant that many of the leaders of these movements, from Mussolini down (and including [[Laval]] and [[Quisling]]) began as socialists and ended as fascists or Nazis. <ref>Friedrich A. Hayek, [http://www.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication43pdf?.pdf ''Road to Serfdom'',] Reader's Digest Condensed Version, April 1945, pg. 31 - 32.</ref>

Fascism was comprehensively discredited in the eyes of most Westerners because of the defeat of the [[Axis]] powers in [[World War II]], and "fascist" is today frequently used as a term of abuse both on the left and on the right against one's political opponents. While few people are willing to describe themselves as fascists or endorse the fascist regimes of the past, fascist parties and parties descended from fascist parties (such as the [[Alleanza Nazionale]] in [[Italy]]) continue to be a minor force in European politics. Fascism seems not to flourish in countries with an Anglo-centric heritage: America, Australia and Canada have never had significant fascist movements, and the [[British Union of Fascists]] was never an important force in UK politics.

The name "fascism" derives from an ancient Roman symbol, the ''[[fasces]],'' a group of birch rods bundled together with an axe. It symbolizes strength in unity; the rods are weak by themselves but strong when bundled together.

Of the Fascist movement, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. wrote:
{{Cquote|The Fascists, for example, were not [[conservative]] in any very meaningful sense. They did not wish to preserve the existing order, or even to turn back the clock to some more stable century. They purposefully planned to transform the existing order into a new and all-absorbing authoritarianism, based upon the energies and frustrations of modern industrialism. The Fascists, in a meaningful sense, were revolutionaries. Yet their totalitarian ideal hardly fitted into the pattern of the Left, which had been the traditional home of greater freedoms and more generous aspirations. So, after boggling and uncertainty, they were assigned positions on the far Right. <ref>Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., ''New York Times Magazine'', April 4, 1948. [http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/schlesinger-notrightleft.html Not Right, Not Left, But a Vital Center]</ref>}}

==Fascism and conservatism==

One of the many controversies regarding the nature of fascism is its relationship to traditional authority and [[conservatism|conservative]] ideology. Fascists often claimed to defend the social order, traditional values, national culture and civilization itself, against the forces of [[modernity]] (particularly liberalism and socialism). At the same time, fascists claimed to offer a radically new approach to politics, and a new form of government that could reshape society.Thus, fascism attempted to be both conservative and radical. Benito Mussolini embraced this apparent contradiction, saying ''"I am a [[reactionary]] and a [[revolutionary]]."''

[[World War I]] produced a great deal of social change in Europe and led to the dissolution of most traditional monarchies, including the [[German Empire]], [[Austria-Hungary]] and [[Tsarist Russia]]. Conservatism, which drew its strongest supporters from the political, economic and intellectual elites in pre-war Europe, found itself in crisis. The established elites in Central and Eastern Europe were weakened or rendered powerless by the introduction of [[universal suffrage]], the collapse of traditional social hierarchies and the creation of nation-states in place of the old multinational empires. At the same time, many segments of the population - particularly the rural peasantry and the skilled professionals - felt threatened by the prospect of [[industrialization]], increased [[social mobility]] or the creation of a [[welfare state]]. Following the [[Bolshevik Revolution]], many also felt there was a real possibility that the [[working class]] might rise up in a [[communism|communist]] insurrection. Normally, those segments of the population would have rallied behind traditional conservatism, but with traditional conservative parties severely weakened in the aftermath of the war, there was a political vacuum on the right.

This political vacuum was filled by the rising fascist movements. They gained power and support from older conservative classes, and in some cases received direct approval from the traditional conservative parties.<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 2</ref> The conservative British newspaper ''[[The Daily Mail]]'' published a lead article in 1934 under the title ''"The [[British Union of Fascists|Blackshirts]] have what the Conservatives need"''.<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 1</ref> The rise to power of the Italian Fascists and German Nazis was largely funded and supported by aristocratic landlords, wealthy industrialists, army officers, and other groups with strong conservative leanings. The fascists gathered this support by successfully presenting themselves as the last line of defense against [[liberal democracy]], land reform, demilitarization and the socialization of the means of production. <ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 4</ref> Thus, many traditional conservatives were persuaded that fascism was the only realistic alternative to liberalism and socialism. A French businessman remarked in 1935, ''"better Hitler than [[Léon Blum]]"''. <ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 5</ref>

Fascism did not rely solely on the support of traditional conservative elites. It was also a mass movement, drawing its rank-and-file members from the general population, particularly the lower middle class, skilled professionals, and the peasantry. Many of these people did not come from conservative backgrounds; some of them had been strongly influenced by [[classical liberalism]].<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 5</ref> To its voters, fascism presented itself as a form of ''new'' and even ''revolutionary'' conservatism that could reconcile the interests of the elite with those of the common man. Fascist ideology emphasized the concept of [[class collaboration]], which held that social inequality and hierarchy could be beneficial to rich and poor alike. The fascist model of the [[corporatism|corporate state]] was decidedly different from traditional monarchy, yet claimed to be based on the same fundamental principles.

Adolf Hitler expressed the Nazi view of politics, in 1937, as follows:
{{cquote|The main plank in our program is to abolish the liberal concept of the individual and the [[Marxism|Marxist]] concept of humanity, and to substitute for them the ''[[Volk]]'' community, rooted in the soil and united by the bond of its common blood.<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 9</ref>}}

==References==
<references/>

[[category:types of government]]

Agnosticism

2007-05-29T22:21:36Z

Fg:

'''Agnosticism''' is the belief that [[God]]'s existence or non existence is unknowable. However, when speaking informally many people use ''agnostic'' simply to mean "undecided" about God's existence, without implying anything about our ability to know for sure.

The word "agnostic" was coined by [[T. H. Huxley]]<ref>T. H. Huxley was also an early and influential supporter of Darwinism.</ref> from the Greek roots ''a-'' not, and ''-gnostic,'' knowing; the philosopher [[Herbert Spencer]] was influential in spreading its use. One nineteenth-century saw held that "There is no god but the Unknowable, and Herbert Spencer is his prophet."<ref>London, Jack (1913), ''Martin Eden,'' [http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/MartinEden/chapter13.html Chapter 13]</ref>

Agnosticism has become a fairly common belief system in Western culture with 14% of people in the United States, 32% of people in France and 35% of people in Great Britain self-identifying as agnostics.<ref>http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131</ref>

==Atheism and agnosticism==

Some agnostics bristle at the term ''atheist''. They say they aren't atheists, because they don't "believe that God does not exist" but rather "neither believe nor disbelieve".

Agnostics differ from regular [[Atheism|atheists]] in that they do not deny God's existence.

Many religious believers make no distinction among non-believers. If you're not sure that God exists, they combine the unsure and "surely not" into one lump. For these believers, an "atheist" is anyone who doesn't believe in God.

Among those who have not decided whether to believe in God, or to disbelieve in Him, there are two main groups:
#Those who simply haven't made a decision
#Those who declare no rational decision is possible, on the grounds that the existence of God is not knowable.

[[Bertrand Russell]] once wrote that, in describing his beliefs,
:I never know whether I should say 'Agnostic' or whether I should say 'Atheist'.... As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one [can] prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods.<ref>Russell, Bertrand (1947) [http://www.luminary.us/russell/atheist_agnostic.html Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?] Most online sources say "by which one prove," probably a mistake.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/reason/agnosticism/agnostic.html Origin of the word 'agnostic']

[[category:religion]]
[[category:philosophy]]

Atheism

2007-05-29T22:20:44Z

Fg: /* Atheist Population */

'''Atheism''', as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' and the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', is the denial of the existence of any [[God]]. <ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/</ref> <ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1998</ref> The term "atheism" also includes uncertainty about whether God exists or not, that is, people who never believe in God or actively deny His existence (see also [[agnosticism]]). There are two kinds of atheism, strong atheism, or someone who believes strongly that there is not God, and weak atheism, or someone who believes that there probably is not a God.

== Origins ==

Atheism has probably been around almost as long as theism. In recorded history it has been a minority view, although there have been pockets of atheistic thought such as amongst the literati in pre-modern China who followed Confucian teachings.

Well-known atheists include [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Ayn Rand]], [[Richard Dawkins]] ,[[Douglas Adams]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], and [[David Hume]].

== Atheist morality ==

Although it is difficult to generalize about atheism because it has no creed in a way that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam do, atheists typically hold that no religious text can be the only source of morality; they do not look for their morality in revelation, but rather in reason or some other internal force. However, many atheists believe that religious texts contain useful ideas and principles, such as the [[Golden Rule]]. Such people would, however, assert that useful principles entered religion because they are useful, and not the other way around. As atheists do not believe in any form of deity, books purported to be based upon the revealed words of such deities are not considered to have any more inherent moral authority than books written by people, as they consider them to be one and the same.

== Atheist Population ==

It is difficult to accurately determine the proportion of the population that is atheist because survey definitions, and even real life definitions, are often unclear. Some people are unsure of the existence of God, but they are sometimes counted as atheists. People who think that the existance of god cannot be proven or disproven are called agnostics (see [[Agnosticism]]). Furthermore, surveys containing an option for "no religion" are not necessarily identifying atheists. Individuals may believe in some form of god but not subscribe to any particular religion.

Specific research on atheists conducted in 2006 [http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131 suggests] that the true proportion of atheists is 4% in the United States, 17% in Great Britain and 32% in France.

== Concern about Atheists in America ==

A recent [http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=26611&pg=1 Gallup] poll indicates that most Americans would be more willing to vote for a homosexual or Muslim presidential candidate than an atheist. [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asoca/asr/2006/00000071/00000002/art00003 Research] in the American Sociological Review finds that atheists are the group that Americans least relate to for shared vision or want to have marry into their family.
<ref>Edgell, Gerteis & Hartmann 2006</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! This Group Does Not At All Agree with My Vision of American Society:
! I Would Disapprove if My Child Wanted to Marry a Member of This Group:
|-
| Atheist
| 39.6%
| 47.6%
|-
| Muslim
| 26.3%
| 33.5%
|-
| Homosexual
| 22.6%
| NA
|-
|Conservative Christian
| 13.5%
| 6.9%
|-
| Recent Immigrant
| 12.5%
| Not Asked
|-
| Hispanic
| 7.6%
| 18.5%
|-
| Jew
| 7.4%
| 11.8%
|-
| Asian American
| 7.0%
| 18.5%
|-
|African American
| 4.6%
| 27.2%
|-
| White American
| 2.2%
| 2.3%
|}

==External Links==

*[http://creationwiki.org/Decline_of_atheism Decline of Atheism -CreationWiki]
*[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf European Commission report on Social values, Science and Technology, includes info on Religious beliefs]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Ecology

2007-05-15T00:36:29Z

Fg: rvt ice wedge vandal.

The study of relationships among [[organism|organisms]] in [[ecosystem|ecosystems]].<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Biology''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref> The term comes from the German "oekologie."

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Ecology]]

Compact Clause

2007-05-15T00:34:16Z

Fg: vandal proof

The Compact Clause in the U.S. Constitution requires approval by Congress of any agreement among states to increase their power at the expense of federal power. A comparable prohibition had been in the Articles of Confederation, but the Framers chose even stronger language for the U.S. Constitution:

"No State shall, without the Consent of Congress ... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such iminent Danger as will not admit of delay." (Article I, Section 10, Clause 3)

The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this clause narrowly by allowing state compacts as long as they do not "encroach on the supremacy of the United States," which is protected anyway by the [[Supremacy Clause]]. ''United States Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission'' (1978).

Proton

2007-05-15T00:33:24Z

Fg: vandal

An [[atom]] is made of three particles, protons, [[neutron|neutrons]], and [[electron|electrons]]. Protons and [[neutron|neutrons]] make up the nucleus of the atom.<ref>Serway, Beichner: ''Physics for Scientists and Engineers'', 5th edition</ref>

A proton is made up of two up [[quark|quarks]] and one down [[quark]]. According to the [[Standard Model]] of particle physics, quarks are [[fundamental particles]], meaning that they cannot be split into smaller particles.<ref>Krane: ''Modern Physics'', 2nd edition</ref>

==Properties==
*mass: 1.6726231e-27 kg
*charge: 1.60218925e-19 C

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

Talk:Starlight problem

2007-05-15T00:30:33Z

Fg: /* My applogies, but thats funny */

Removed "facts" which were not facts. I will not hesitate to block offenders of the conservapedia commandments. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 20:24, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

He means it! I got blocked for a week for saying light from the Andromeda Galaxy had been traveling for three million years. [[User:Czolgolz|Czolgolz]] 20:25, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

I'd still like to know how he's going to debunk the parallax measurement technique, which is just highschool geometry, the only variable is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is pretty well known, we've even sent space probes to the Sun...
[[User:MiddleMan|MiddleMan]]

== My applogies, but thats funny ==

The Earth is only 4.6 billion years old, but the rest of the universe is billions of years old because of time dilation. Wouldn't it just be easier to make the Earth a few billion years old too, without invoking divine intervention? --[[User:Mtur|Mtur]] 20:30, 14 May 2007 (EDT)

Anarchism

2007-05-15T00:25:12Z

Fg:

'''Anarchism''' is a political philosophy advocating the removal of the State and the establishment of a society without government. The term is of [[Greek]] origin, meaning "without rulers".

Old anarchist thought is similar to traditional [[Communist]] thought (though not practice) in that it rejects all authority. However, [[Individualist]] anarchists and [[Anarcho-Capitalists]] are ideologically closer to [[Libertarianism]] than Communism, however most anarchists of the communist type reject these as anarchists, as they consider them to be capitalists, and not anarchists. Some anarchists have been known to employ violent means in their endeavors, though manyanarchists are non-violent. some anarchist groups have been labeled by the U.S. government as [[terrorism|terrorist]] organizations.
[[category:politics]]

Pat Robertson

2007-05-13T00:38:57Z

Fg: /* Quotes on feminism */

'''Pat Robertson''' is a conservative American evangelist, spiritual leader and political leader, also owner and presenter of the TV show ''The 700 Club''. Robertson sought the 1988 Presidential nomination and even managed to carry [[Washington]] State in the primary caucuses by mobilizing his supporters.

Robertson graduated from Washington and Lee university in 1950, served in the Marines during the Korean War, then earned a law degree from Yale (1955) and a masters degree from the New York Theological Seminary (1959). [http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/patrobertson.html]

==Quotes on [[feminism]] and womens rights==

"God's pattern is for men to be the leaders, both in the church and in the family... Women should listen and learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them."<ref>Pat Robertson, reciting a passage from I Timothy in his book, Bring It On.</ref>

"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 8, 1992</ref>

"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."<ref>Pat Robertson, fund-raising letter, 1992</ref>

==Quotes on [[homosexuality]]==

"Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals -- the two things seem to go together."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 21, 1993</ref>

==Quotes on government==

"I am bound by the laws of the United States and all 50 states...I am not bound by any case or any court to which I myself am not a party...I don't think the Congress of the United States is subservient to the courts...They can ignore a Supreme Court ruling if they so choose."<ref>Pat Robertson, Washington Post, June 27,1986</ref>

"I think 'one man, one vote,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights."
<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, March 18, 1992</ref>

==Other quotes==

"You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 14, 1991</ref>

"I think we ought to close Halloween down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice... [Your children] are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don't even realize it."<ref>Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, October 29, 1982</ref>

"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."<ref>Pat Robertson, interview with Molly Ivins, 1993.</ref>

"How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, communists, atheists, New Age worshipers of Satan, secular humanists, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, adulterers, and homosexuals are on top?"<ref>Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p.227</ref>

In late 2006, Robertson claimed to be able to leg press over 2000 lbs as a result of his taking a herbal supplement. He subsequently threatened a promoter of this same supplement with a 'beating' as a result of a disagreement. It should be noted that Robertson never actually carried out this threat nor publicly demonstrated his unusual strength. {{fact}}

Robertson has a habit of making predictions for the new year on his television show. For 2007, Robertson has predicted a "mass killing" at the end of the year. "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear. The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." <ref>[http://www.patrobertson.com/pressreleases/2007Comments_PatRobertson.asp Transcript of Pat Robertson's Comments on the Year Ahead taken from the January 2nd 2007 broadcast of The 700 Club. Official Website of Pat Robertson, retrieved 8 April 2007.</ref>

==References==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Pat}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[category:christianity]]

Fascism

2007-04-28T23:21:05Z

Fg:

'''Fascism''' is a political system that believes that the nation is more important then any individual. A dictator rules the nation and imposes economic and social regimentation. It is often an autocratic system that has a militarized government backed up by popular militias. Special salutes to the dictator are also common. Equally common in Fascist societies is strict information control, such as the "people's radio" in Nazi Germany which delivered only one channel of propaganda, 24/7. Allowing only information which supports the state is a common means of fascist control.

The prototypical fascist regime was that of [[Benito Mussolini]], who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943. Other regimes which included fascist elements are those of [[Francisco Franco]] in Spain (1936-1975), [[Antonio Salazar]] in Portugal (1932-1968) and [[Augusto Pinochet]] in Chile (1973-1990). German [[Nazism]] has many similarities to fascism, though the extent to which it can be assimilated to fascism continues to be a matter of debate.

Though fascism is generally considered to be an ideology of the extreme right, it has important differences from conventional [[conservatism]]: for example, fascists reject free-market capitalism in favor of state-sponsored corporatism. While fascists and conservatives have co-operated in some countries, conservatives have clamped down on fascist movements in others (witness the fate of the Iron Guard in Romania, and Salazar's opposition to the National Syndicalists in Portugal).

Fascism was comprehensively discredited in the eyes of most Westerners by the defeat of the [[Axis]] powers in [[World War II]], and "fascist" is today frequently used as a term of abuse against one's political opponents. While few people are willing to describe themselves as fascists or endorse the fascist regimes of the past, fascism continues to be a minor but significant force in European politics.

The name "fascism" derives from an ancient Roman symbol, the ''[[fasces]],'' a group of birch rods bundled together with an axe. It symbolizes strength in unity; the rods are weak by themselves but strong when bundled together.

==Fascism and conservatism==

One of the many controversies regarding the nature of fascism is its relationship to traditional authority and [[conservatism|conservative]] ideology. Fascists often claimed to defend the social order, traditional values, national culture and civilization itself, against the forces of [[modernity]] (particularly liberalism and socialism). At the same time, fascists claimed to offer a radically new approach to politics, and a new form of government that could reshape society.Thus, fascism attempted to be both conservative and radical. Benito Mussolini embraced this apparent contradiction, saying ''"I am a [[reactionary]] and a [[revolutionary]]."''

[[World War I]] produced a great deal of social change in Europe and led to the dissolution of most traditional monarchies, including the [[German Empire]], [[Austria-Hungary]] and [[Tsarist Russia]]. Conservatism, which drew its strongest supporters from the political, economic and intellectual elites in pre-war Europe, found itself in crisis. The established elites in Central and Eastern Europe were weakened or rendered powerless by the introduction of [[universal suffrage]], the collapse of traditional social hierarchies and the creation of nation-states in place of the old multinational empires. At the same time, many segments of the population - particularly the rural peasantry and the skilled professionals - felt threatened by the prospect of [[industrialization]], increased [[social mobility]] or the creation of a [[welfare state]]. Following the [[Bolshevik Revolution]], many also felt there was a real possibility that the [[working class]] might rise up in a [[communism|communist]] insurrection. Normally, those segments of the population would have rallied behind traditional conservatism, but with traditional conservative parties severely weakened in the aftermath of the war, there was a political vacuum on the right.

This political vacuum was filled by the rising fascist movements. They gained power and support from older conservative classes, and in some cases received direct approval from the traditional conservative parties.<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 2</ref> The conservative British newspaper ''[[The Daily Mail]]'' published a lead article in 1934 under the title ''"The [[British Union of Fascists|Blackshirts]] have what the Conservatives need"''.<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 1</ref> The rise to power of the Italian Fascists and German Nazis was largely funded and supported by aristocratic landlords, wealthy industrialists, army officers, and other groups with strong conservative leanings. The fascists gathered this support by successfully presenting themselves as the last line of defense against [[liberal democracy]], land reform, demilitarization and the socialization of the means of production. <ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 4</ref> Thus, many traditional conservatives were persuaded that fascism was the only realistic alternative to liberalism and socialism. A French businessman remarked in 1935, ''"better Hitler than [[Léon Blum]]"''. <ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 5</ref>

Fascism did not rely solely on the support of traditional conservative elites. It was also a mass movement, drawing its rank-and-file members from the general population, particularly the lower middle class, skilled professionals, and the peasantry. Many of these people did not come from conservative backgrounds; some of them had been strongly influenced by [[classical liberalism]].<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 5</ref> To its voters, fascism presented itself as a form of ''new'' and even ''revolutionary'' conservatism that could reconcile the interests of the elite with those of the common man. Fascist ideology emphasized the concept of [[class collaboration]], which held that social inequality and hierarchy could be beneficial to rich and poor alike. The fascist model of the [[corporatism|corporate state]] was decidedly different from traditional monarchy, yet claimed to be based on the same fundamental principles.

Adolf Hitler expressed the Nazi view of politics, in 1937, as follows:
{{cquote|The main plank in our program is to abolish the liberal concept of the individual and the [[Marxism|Marxist]] concept of humanity, and to substitute for them the ''[[Volk]]'' community, rooted in the soil and united by the bond of its common blood.<ref>John Weiss, ''"The Fascist Tradition"'', Harper & Row, 1967. pg 9</ref>}}

==References==
<references/>

[[category:politics]]

Solid

2007-04-25T02:09:52Z

Fg: vandal

'''Solid''' is the [[state of matter]], followed by [[gas]] and [[liquid]] in order of increasing [[elasticity]], in which the overall [[kinetic energy]] of the consituent [[atom|atoms]] is such that a certain degree of elasticity is present.

Debate:Should the United States have entered World War II?

2007-04-19T16:57:18Z

Fg: /* Yes */

{{debate}}

=='''Post Your Thoughts'''==

As Japan attacked the United States and Germany declared war on the United tates, the question is a non-question. Perhaps the question that should have been asked is: Should the United States have aided both China and Britain before war was declared on it. I suggest that in both instances the United States was looking after its long term interests.

The United States was attacked by Japanese forces and the Axis powers threatened to take over Europe. America would be greatly harmed if the axis had taken over Europe because the resources and allies that we had there would no longer exist. If the US didn't want to attack Japan they would look weak to the rest of the world and would risk being attacked again, by the Japanese or another hostile force. So, only looking at the good for America directly it is obvious that war was necessary. The crimes against humanity that the Nazis committed are atrocious but, as we can see from current examples, such as Darfur, it is not enough to get America into battle.
--[[User:Flax+|Flax+]] 20:08, 17 March 2007 (EDT)

== no ==
The British and French were no better than the Nazis. Their imperialism was what drove Germany to such desperate measures. Also, if left alone, Germany would have destroyed the Soviet Union, which would have halted the spread of Communism and the polarization of the Third World during the Cold War. It was basically the other European powers that were adding fuel to Hitler's fire. If Germany defeated them, the German people would seek a more moderate leader. If FDR hadn't interfered with Japanese expansion in the Pacific, America could have avoided war completely. The Japanese never thought for a moment that they could defeat America. They hoped that after winning a few battles, America would be willing to compromise.
[[User:neocorporatist|neocorporatist]]

==Yes==

As a European I'm glad they did, otherwise I'd probably live under Nazi rule now, that is if none of my ancestors had been disposed of by the party.

So I'm glad the Americans joined in, even though I know their reasons for doing so weren't noble: the Holocaust didn't start until after the Americans got involved and the segregation of Jews in Germany was no different from the segregation of blacks in the US.
[[User:Middle Man|Middle Man]]

::most europeans still hate jews.[[User:Jaques|Jaques]] 12:38, 19 April 2007 (EDT)

:::Oh, do we? What a claim... [[User:Timppeli|Timppeli]] 12:54, 19 April 2007 (EDT)

::::Yes because without American intervention the Nazis would be ruling over large portions of the world now.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 12:57, 19 April 2007 (EDT)

Sweden

2007-04-19T16:43:12Z

Fg: /* Christianity in Sweden */

'''Sweden''' is a country in [[Scandinavia]]. The capital city is [[Stockholm]], which is also the largest city. Sweden has approximately 9 million inhabitants. With an area of 173,750 square miles (450,000 square kilometers), Sweden is a big country in [[Western Europe]].

Sweden is a constitutional [[monarchy]] and a parliamentary [[democracy]]. The prime minister of Sweden is 41 year old Fredrik Reinfeldt, leader of the Moderates. The Swedish parliament has 349 seats. [[Carl XVI]] is the current king.

== Swedish Viking History ==

In Sweden the [[Viking]] Age was getting under way by the 9th century, and vast repositories of Roman, Byzantine and Arab coins attest to the wealth and power Swedish Vikings accumulated over the next century. Vikings traveled mostly to the east, making their mark in Russia, as well as trading with (and pillaging) Byzantine territories. They also traveled west and there is considerable evidence of artifacts (such as coins) on the North American continent. Vikings pillaged villages all over Ireland, and are the antecedents of many living Irish men and women, such as the former Taoiseach of Ireland, Charles Haughey and his cousin Sile de Valera, pop stars Bob Geldof and Phil Lynott, and artist Charlie Whisker. Remnants of a small settlement (called Ektorp) exist on Newfoundland which include the remains of small dwellings, deteriorated furniture and cooking utensils.

Christianity only took root in the 11th century.

== Christianity in Sweden ==

80% of the inhabitants belong to the Evangelical [[Lutheran Church]] of Sweden named The Swedish Church (Svenska kyrkan in Swedish). This church is very different to other churches because it has decided to marry [[homosexuality|homosexuals]]. This Church is considered a [[liberal]] Church and does not protest against abortions, divorce, and other conservative issues. About 5% of the Swedish population belong to "conservative" Christian churches. Many Swedes are [[atheists]].

Sweden has 18 weeks of free [[abortion]] and 4 weeks during which women need to get special permission to be allowed an abortion. Swedish politicians are currently discussing whether foreign women should be allowed to have an late term abortion in Sweden, and much suggests that the parliament will vote in favor of that proposition. In the 1960's the government decided to reduce in school education about [[Christianity]]. In 2000, the Evangelical [[Lutheran Church]] and the government were separated. Before that, all children were born members of the church, except those whose parents took an active decision against it and both left the church. Even if a child were not christened, he or she became a member for life, having to pay a small tax to the church.

In 2005 a Swedish Baptist priest, [[Ake Green|Åke Green]], was charged with, and found guilty of hate speech, when preaching Biblical teachings regarding homosexuality. He was imprisoned for one month and then acquitted.

== Politics ==

Sweden has high taxes and strong trade unions. Sweden has now got a new government instead of the old one, socialistic one, it's still a country where socialism is strong. Fredrik Reinfeldt says that he is not going to destroy the Swedish model - in fact he says he likes that model - he only wants make some small changes. Although one of the parties in the government alliance is named "The Christian Democrats", no decisions have been made to make Christianity stronger in Sweden.

Swedes are paying about 30% in taxes and additional 20-25% if ones salary exceeds 300 000 swedish kronar a year. The jobless rate is, according to the new government, 17%. The new government are counting everyone that is out of job (except of they who are over 65 years old, under 18 years old, handicapped or ill), the former government lost the election because of many reasons, but the strongest one was that they had cheated with the jobless rate and maked it look lower than it actually was.
A lot of the money that comes from taxes goes to the unemployed. Everyone in Sweden got right to have a home, food, water and clothes. Even if the reason is good (to save people from a life on the streets), this costs a lot of money.

== Economy ==

Major economic sectors include the iron and steel industry, shipbuilding, motor manufacturing (notably the Saab and Volvo corporations), and 'forest industries' (timber, woodpulp, paper and packaging). The Swedish company IKEA has achieved worldwide reach (and inspired imitators) with its inexpensive 'Scandinavian style' furniture and housewares

==Some Notable Swedes==
* [[Alfred Nobel]], instigator of the [[Nobel Prize]]
* Greta Garbo, actress
* ABBA
* Roxette
* Dag Hammarskjöld
* [[Anders Celsius]]
* Astrid Lindgren
* Carl von Linné
* Fredrik Ljungberg
* Henrik Larsson
* Stellan Skarsgård
* Saint Bridgid
* Lars Magnus Ericsson
* Gustavus Adolphus (king, founder of Gothenburg etc, died 1632 in the Thirty Years War)
* Björn Borg, tennis player
* Olof Palme
* Ingemar Bergman

==References==
*[http://www.sweden.se SWEDEN.SE]
*[http://www.svenskakyrkan.se Svenska Kyrkan]
*http://www.lo.se
*http://www.moderaterna.se
*http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=913&a=324428
*http://www.gluefox.com
*[http://www.historyofnations.net/europe/sweden.html History of Sweden]
* Forte, Angelo. Oram, Richard. Pedersen, Frederik. ''Viking Empires''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005
* Hudson, Benjamin. ''Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion, and Empire in North America''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
* http://www.livetsord.se/default.aspx?idStructure=918
* http://perkornhall.se/LivetsOrd/index-eng.htm
* http://www.skattebetalarna.se

[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:EU Members]]
[[Category:Scandinavian Countries]]

Talk:Sweden

2007-04-17T20:43:59Z

Fg:

Why did you erase the information from MissisppiMud?

'Sweden is highly socialistic, and poorer than Mississippi. The suicide rate is extremely high. The citizens of Sweden must pay most of their income to the government.'

I think they are worth knowing.--[[User:Sherman|Sherman]] 09:05, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

No references to the poorer than Mississippi part. I don't think it's true. The same goes for the part about the suicide rate. Even though Sweden is far mote socialistic than the US there has been a change of direction in Swedish politics lately to a more rightwing government. /What

Suicide rates per 100 000 by country, year and sex
Year Male Female
01 18.9 8.1 (Sweden)
01 17.6 4.1 (US)

According to the WHO

Although it is true that Sweden has some of the highest suicide rates in the world however Sweden is one of the richest country’s in the world.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:43, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

== Removed ==
I removed the part which said something along the lines of: The swedes pay about 65% in taxes, if counting all taxes.
This is simply not true as they use a scaling system if ones income is above a certain amount. I've written this.

== Writing style ==
This article {{hide personal remark|looks like it was written by a semi-literate child copying from a pamphlet. It}} could use a very thorough re-write from an expert.
[[User:Palmd001|Palmd001]] 20:12, 18 March 2007 (EDT)

== Too much opinion and editorializing ==

I agree that this article is poorly written, but it appears to contain grammatical and syntactical errors related to English not being the writer's native language.

If this site is going to be taken seriously, it cannot show such obvious bias, opinion and editorializing. If the articles just stick to facts, the people who use this site can draw their own conclusions. This article can discuss the state of religion and the general position of Swedes on social issues without commenting that these things are somehow "bad." The conservative reader can draw this conclusion on his or her own without being told this is how he or she is supposed to think.
--[[User:Vonratt|Vonratt]] 16:09, 19 March 2007 (EDT)

"however, most of the population have been taught in the state-administered schools that socialism is a superior economic system." Removed this sentence. It's just not true. Even if Sweden is a country where socialism is strong, this is not something thougth in school. Education in Sweden may be liberal, but it is not that biased. Christianity, for example, is still a part of the eduction, together with the other major religions of the world. Socialism is also taught, together with the other political systems. --[[User:What|What]]

::true but Sweden follows a more moderate version of socialism called the social democracy which seeks to reform capitalism rather than destroy or abolish it.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:40, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

== Sweden IS not a democracy ==
"What", just tell me: Are you living in Sweden? I'm living in Sweden and I'm studying in a swedish school 5 days/week, I know what I'm talking about.
The trade unions would'nt "possibly" strike, they would SURELY strike, because they are idiots and they are going to burn in hell forever!
How can you call a country were the trade union rules over everything, a democracy?!
/JohnG

I wrote nothing about trade unions and nothing about democracy. I simply didn't delete it, someone else wrote it. If you have reliable sources to back your claims with, then edit the article. [[User:What|What]] 08:29, 22 March 2007 (EDT)

while Sweden really is a social democracy.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 12:46, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

:We need an article on [[Democracy]] which would tell our readers what a [[social democracy]] is; and whether the [[United States]] is a "democracy".

:Is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea a democracy? Is a regime which is "democratically elected" a democracy? Does that have any bearing on whether the people have the right to alter or abolish it? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 12:49, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

A [[social democracy]] is a economic and political system which is a moderate form of [[socialism]] which aims to reform capitalism in order to remove its perceived injustices and often has a democratic government.

'''In general, most modern social democrats support''':
* A [[mixed economy]], consisting mainly of [[private enterprise]] but with government owned or subsidized programs of [[education]], [[healthcare]], [[child care]] etc for all citizens.
* Regulatory systems over [[private enterprise]] in the interests of workers, [[consumers]] and fair [[competition]].
* Advocacy of [[fair trade]] over [[free trade]].
* An extensive system of [[social security]] (though usually not to the extent advocated by [[democratic socialist]]s or other socialist groups), notably to counteract the effects of poverty and to insure the citizens against loss of income following illness, unemployment or retirement.
* Moderate to high levels of [[taxation]] (through a [[progressive taxation]] system) to fund government expenditure.
* [[Environmental protection]] laws (although not always to the extent advocated by [[Greens]]), such as combating [[global warming]] and increasing [[alternative energy]] funding.
* [[Immigration]] and [[multiculturalism]].
* A [[secular]] and [[progressive social]] policy, although this varies markedly in degree. Most social democrats support [[gay marriage]], [[abortion]] rights and a liberal [[Recreational drug use|drug]] policy, while others are either non-committed or opposed to these policies.
* A [[foreign policy]] supporting the promotion of [[democracy]], the protection of [[human rights]] and where possible, effective [[multilateralism]].
* As well as [[human rights]], social democrats also support [[social rights]], [[civil rights]] and [[civil liberties]].
--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:20, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

Talk:Sweden

2007-04-17T20:40:38Z

Fg: /* Too much opinion and editorializing */

Why did you erase the information from MissisppiMud?

'Sweden is highly socialistic, and poorer than Mississippi. The suicide rate is extremely high. The citizens of Sweden must pay most of their income to the government.'

I think they are worth knowing.--[[User:Sherman|Sherman]] 09:05, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

No references to the poorer than Mississippi part. I don't think it's true. The same goes for the part about the suicide rate. Even though Sweden is far mote socialistic than the US there has been a change of direction in Swedish politics lately to a more rightwing government. /What

Suicide rates per 100 000 by country, year and sex
Year Male Female
01 18.9 8.1 (Sweden)
01 17.6 4.1 (US)

According to the WHO

== Removed ==
I removed the part which said something along the lines of: The swedes pay about 65% in taxes, if counting all taxes.
This is simply not true as they use a scaling system if ones income is above a certain amount. I've written this.

== Writing style ==
This article {{hide personal remark|looks like it was written by a semi-literate child copying from a pamphlet. It}} could use a very thorough re-write from an expert.
[[User:Palmd001|Palmd001]] 20:12, 18 March 2007 (EDT)

== Too much opinion and editorializing ==

I agree that this article is poorly written, but it appears to contain grammatical and syntactical errors related to English not being the writer's native language.

If this site is going to be taken seriously, it cannot show such obvious bias, opinion and editorializing. If the articles just stick to facts, the people who use this site can draw their own conclusions. This article can discuss the state of religion and the general position of Swedes on social issues without commenting that these things are somehow "bad." The conservative reader can draw this conclusion on his or her own without being told this is how he or she is supposed to think.
--[[User:Vonratt|Vonratt]] 16:09, 19 March 2007 (EDT)

"however, most of the population have been taught in the state-administered schools that socialism is a superior economic system." Removed this sentence. It's just not true. Even if Sweden is a country where socialism is strong, this is not something thougth in school. Education in Sweden may be liberal, but it is not that biased. Christianity, for example, is still a part of the eduction, together with the other major religions of the world. Socialism is also taught, together with the other political systems. --[[User:What|What]]

::true but Sweden follows a more moderate version of socialism called the social democracy which seeks to reform capitalism rather than destroy or abolish it.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:40, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

== Sweden IS not a democracy ==
"What", just tell me: Are you living in Sweden? I'm living in Sweden and I'm studying in a swedish school 5 days/week, I know what I'm talking about.
The trade unions would'nt "possibly" strike, they would SURELY strike, because they are idiots and they are going to burn in hell forever!
How can you call a country were the trade union rules over everything, a democracy?!
/JohnG

I wrote nothing about trade unions and nothing about democracy. I simply didn't delete it, someone else wrote it. If you have reliable sources to back your claims with, then edit the article. [[User:What|What]] 08:29, 22 March 2007 (EDT)

while Sweden really is a social democracy.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 12:46, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

:We need an article on [[Democracy]] which would tell our readers what a [[social democracy]] is; and whether the [[United States]] is a "democracy".

:Is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea a democracy? Is a regime which is "democratically elected" a democracy? Does that have any bearing on whether the people have the right to alter or abolish it? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 12:49, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

A [[social democracy]] is a economic and political system which is a moderate form of [[socialism]] which aims to reform capitalism in order to remove its perceived injustices and often has a democratic government.

'''In general, most modern social democrats support''':
* A [[mixed economy]], consisting mainly of [[private enterprise]] but with government owned or subsidized programs of [[education]], [[healthcare]], [[child care]] etc for all citizens.
* Regulatory systems over [[private enterprise]] in the interests of workers, [[consumers]] and fair [[competition]].
* Advocacy of [[fair trade]] over [[free trade]].
* An extensive system of [[social security]] (though usually not to the extent advocated by [[democratic socialist]]s or other socialist groups), notably to counteract the effects of poverty and to insure the citizens against loss of income following illness, unemployment or retirement.
* Moderate to high levels of [[taxation]] (through a [[progressive taxation]] system) to fund government expenditure.
* [[Environmental protection]] laws (although not always to the extent advocated by [[Greens]]), such as combating [[global warming]] and increasing [[alternative energy]] funding.
* [[Immigration]] and [[multiculturalism]].
* A [[secular]] and [[progressive social]] policy, although this varies markedly in degree. Most social democrats support [[gay marriage]], [[abortion]] rights and a liberal [[Recreational drug use|drug]] policy, while others are either non-committed or opposed to these policies.
* A [[foreign policy]] supporting the promotion of [[democracy]], the protection of [[human rights]] and where possible, effective [[multilateralism]].
* As well as [[human rights]], social democrats also support [[social rights]], [[civil rights]] and [[civil liberties]].
--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:20, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

Democracy

2007-04-17T20:35:20Z

Fg:

[[Image:Elekcja Wola.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The free election of Augustus II at Wola, outside Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1697, painted by Bernardo Bellotto.]]
'''Democracy''' is a form of government. The origin of the term is [[Greek]], from the words ''demos'' (people) and ''kratos'' (strength). Although many forms of government fall under this broad classification, the defining characteristic of a democracy is that the citizenry of a nation decides upon their form of government.

The United States of American is an example of a [[representative democracy]], in which the populace elects ''representatives'', who are charged with the protection of ''liberties'', such as the right to free assembly, free speech and equality before the law.

Although a number of societies have practiced some form of democracy, the concept as it is understood today was invented in ancient [[Athens]], where citizens (not women or slaves) were allowed to vote in the Assembly which made the laws of the city-state. But however certain [[tribe]]s and most [[band societies]] such as the [[bushmen]] organised themselves using different forms of participatory democracy or consensus democracy. [http://law.cua.edu/ComparativeLaw/Iroquois/]

[[Category:politics]]

Talk:Sweden

2007-04-17T20:20:35Z

Fg: /* Sweden IS not a democracy */

Why did you erase the information from MissisppiMud?

'Sweden is highly socialistic, and poorer than Mississippi. The suicide rate is extremely high. The citizens of Sweden must pay most of their income to the government.'

I think they are worth knowing.--[[User:Sherman|Sherman]] 09:05, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

No references to the poorer than Mississippi part. I don't think it's true. The same goes for the part about the suicide rate. Even though Sweden is far mote socialistic than the US there has been a change of direction in Swedish politics lately to a more rightwing government. /What

Suicide rates per 100 000 by country, year and sex
Year Male Female
01 18.9 8.1 (Sweden)
01 17.6 4.1 (US)

According to the WHO

== Removed ==
I removed the part which said something along the lines of: The swedes pay about 65% in taxes, if counting all taxes.
This is simply not true as they use a scaling system if ones income is above a certain amount. I've written this.

== Writing style ==
This article {{hide personal remark|looks like it was written by a semi-literate child copying from a pamphlet. It}} could use a very thorough re-write from an expert.
[[User:Palmd001|Palmd001]] 20:12, 18 March 2007 (EDT)

== Too much opinion and editorializing ==

I agree that this article is poorly written, but it appears to contain grammatical and syntactical errors related to English not being the writer's native language.

If this site is going to be taken seriously, it cannot show such obvious bias, opinion and editorializing. If the articles just stick to facts, the people who use this site can draw their own conclusions. This article can discuss the state of religion and the general position of Swedes on social issues without commenting that these things are somehow "bad." The conservative reader can draw this conclusion on his or her own without being told this is how he or she is supposed to think.
--[[User:Vonratt|Vonratt]] 16:09, 19 March 2007 (EDT)

"however, most of the population have been taught in the state-administered schools that socialism is a superior economic system." Removed this sentence. It's just not true. Even if Sweden is a country where socialism is strong, this is not something thougth in school. Education in Sweden may be liberal, but it is not that biased. Christianity, for example, is still a part of the eduction, together with the other major religions of the world. Socialism is also taught, together with the other political systems. --[[User:What|What]]

== Sweden IS not a democracy ==
"What", just tell me: Are you living in Sweden? I'm living in Sweden and I'm studying in a swedish school 5 days/week, I know what I'm talking about.
The trade unions would'nt "possibly" strike, they would SURELY strike, because they are idiots and they are going to burn in hell forever!
How can you call a country were the trade union rules over everything, a democracy?!
/JohnG

I wrote nothing about trade unions and nothing about democracy. I simply didn't delete it, someone else wrote it. If you have reliable sources to back your claims with, then edit the article. [[User:What|What]] 08:29, 22 March 2007 (EDT)

while Sweden really is a social democracy.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 12:46, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

:We need an article on [[Democracy]] which would tell our readers what a [[social democracy]] is; and whether the [[United States]] is a "democracy".

:Is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea a democracy? Is a regime which is "democratically elected" a democracy? Does that have any bearing on whether the people have the right to alter or abolish it? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 12:49, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

A [[social democracy]] is a economic and political system which is a moderate form of [[socialism]] which aims to reform capitalism in order to remove its perceived injustices and often has a democratic government.

'''In general, most modern social democrats support''':
* A [[mixed economy]], consisting mainly of [[private enterprise]] but with government owned or subsidized programs of [[education]], [[healthcare]], [[child care]] etc for all citizens.
* Regulatory systems over [[private enterprise]] in the interests of workers, [[consumers]] and fair [[competition]].
* Advocacy of [[fair trade]] over [[free trade]].
* An extensive system of [[social security]] (though usually not to the extent advocated by [[democratic socialist]]s or other socialist groups), notably to counteract the effects of poverty and to insure the citizens against loss of income following illness, unemployment or retirement.
* Moderate to high levels of [[taxation]] (through a [[progressive taxation]] system) to fund government expenditure.
* [[Environmental protection]] laws (although not always to the extent advocated by [[Greens]]), such as combating [[global warming]] and increasing [[alternative energy]] funding.
* [[Immigration]] and [[multiculturalism]].
* A [[secular]] and [[progressive social]] policy, although this varies markedly in degree. Most social democrats support [[gay marriage]], [[abortion]] rights and a liberal [[Recreational drug use|drug]] policy, while others are either non-committed or opposed to these policies.
* A [[foreign policy]] supporting the promotion of [[democracy]], the protection of [[human rights]] and where possible, effective [[multilateralism]].
* As well as [[human rights]], social democrats also support [[social rights]], [[civil rights]] and [[civil liberties]].
--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:20, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

Talk:Sweden

2007-04-17T16:46:09Z

Fg: /* Sweden IS not a democracy */

Talk:How Old is the Earth According to the Bible?

2007-04-16T17:07:31Z

Fg: /* How old is the earth according to the bible? */

Is this supposed to be a debate, or an article, or what?--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 16:33, 14 April 2007 (EDT)
:I don't know if this article is worth keeping, but I've rewritten it and added a couple of halfway decent sources (though they're not as good as I'd like).--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 16:46, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

== How old is the earth according to the bible? ==

The Bible doesn’t specify how old the earth is the estimate of the earth being 6000 years old was only [[Bishop James Ussher|Bishop James Ussher's]] calculations and many people such as old earth creationists and evolutionary creationists believe that the idea of the earth being billions of years old does not contradict the bible.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 10:55, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

Emiliano Zapata

2007-04-16T17:06:00Z

Fg:

[[Image:Emiliano Zapata.jpg|thumb|500pix|Emiliano Zapato]]
Emiliano Zapata lived August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919. He was of key importance in the [[Mexican Revolution]].

[[category:history]]
[[category:political people]]
[[Category:Communists]]

Pol Pot

2007-04-16T17:05:20Z

Fg:

'''Pol Pot''' (1926?-1998) was the ruthless [[Cambodia]]n [[communism|communist]] [[dictator]] responsible for killing 1-2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. Anyone thought to be intellectual was murdered, including the killing of people simply for knowing a foreign language or even merely wearing classes. Pol Pot held power through a combination of enormous charm and complete ruthlessness.

When Pol Pot took over Cambodia in 1975, he abolished private property, money and religion and converted everything back to an agricultural society. He emptied the cities. His [[Khmer Rouge]] government fell in 1979 when [[Vietnam]] invaded Cambodia after a series of violent border confrontations, and Pol Pot fled to the northern jungle with his forces.

An Oscar-winning film about his dictatorship, ''[[The Killing Fields]]'' brought a wider knowledge of his atrocities, but only years after they had taken place. The United States and other Asian nations were blamed for once supporting him in order to counter Vietnam next door.

There was a bloody power struggle within the Khmer Rouge in 1997. Pol Pot was then arrested by his former supporters in July 1997. They charged him with [[treason]] but a "people's tribunal" merely sentenced him to house arrest for life.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pot, Pol}}
[[Category:Heads of state]][[Category:Communists]]

Karl Marx

2007-04-16T17:04:43Z

Fg:

'''Karl Marx''' (1818-1883) was a [[Germany|German]] economist who sought to set [[socialism]] and [[communism]] on, what he saw as, a scientific basis. Marx was born in Prussia, educated in Germany, and a writer in London.

Marx saw "primitive" socialist thought as fundamentally a moral movement with no base in a practical science. Marx's solution was to ground an analysis of society on his principle of dialectical materialism.

Dialectic was a principle created by German philosopher [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] which, although ferociously complex in his works, is based on the fairly straightforward conception of action and reaction. A situation arises that is less than perfect ("thesis") which provokes a reaction ("antithesis"), eventually a settlement is reached ("synthesis") which, is still far from perfect and provokes its own antithesis. Hegel saw the driving force of changes being the "Geist", variously translated as "spirit" or "mind". Marx took the dialectic and replaced Geist with materialism, at root the metabolism of man. To put it bluntly: you've got to eat!.

The necessity for material sustenance gives rise to an imperfect means of production, which changes as the internal contradictions of thesis and antithesis work themselves out. A key feature of Marx's sociology was that the competition for resources splits society into mutually antagonistic classes ("The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.") whilst the operation of the dialectic serves to continually reduce the numbers of classes until, in the industrial age, society was almost wholly split between "bourgeoisie" and "proletariat".

"''Das Kapital''" ("''Capital''") seeks to demonstrate that the bourgeoisie make profits by exploitation of the proletariat. The exploitation arises where the value of the goods produced by workers is much more than the wages paid, and this "surplus value" is literally stolen from workers by owners. Marx sought to show that the competition amongst the bourgeoisie forced them to exploit their workers as much as possible. If an individual bourgeois refused to continue the exploitation he would soon be forced into bankruptcy or be taken over by someone who would. The result is a relentless increase in the misery of the proletariat who, eventually, would rebel and replace the existing capitalist system with a socialist/communist system. As well as proposing an economic system Marx also had modern views on education, he advocated education for all including women and the lower classes who at the time were without any education.

Marx is considered very controversial in religious circles for his statement, "Religion...is the opium of the people." This was written in his 1843 work "A Contribution to the [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]" and expresses Marx's belief that religion offers a false palliative to assuage the suffering of the oppressed, which he felt prevents people from seeking to cure the conditions which cause that suffering. It is often cited as evidence of Marx's atheism and generally reflects Marx's disdain for those who have found belief in powers higher than man himself.{{fact}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Karl}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[Category:Economists]]
[[Category:Philosophers]]
[[Category:Communists]]

Vladimir Lenin

2007-04-16T17:04:07Z

Fg:

[[Image:Khvhkgfiy.jpg|right|thumb]]
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (né: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. Russian: Владимир Ильич Улянов, Ленин) (1870-1924) was the 1st Premier of the [[USSR]]
==Revolution==
In November 1917, Lenin, the great leader of the Communist Party, led a Proletarian Revolution to overthrew the Provisional Government that had replaced the Empire.

Lenin was one of the most influential persons in all of history. He was both a thinker and a revolutionary. He was an atheist. In 1889, he became a Marxist (as previously formulated by Karl Marx). He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to Siberia as punishment. Once he served his time he left for Western Europe, where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the Bolsheviks. He returned to Russia after the [[tsar]] abdicated in March 1917, and then Lenin led the Bolsheviks to power in the "October Revolution" (November in the Gregorian calendar). He then ruled the Soviet Union under Marxism-Leninism, until his death in 1924. The régime of [[Josef Stalin]], the next Premier of the USSR, saw a reversal of many of the advances brought about by Lenin. [[Category:Political people|Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich]]
[[Category:History]][[Category:Communists]]

Joseph Stalin

2007-04-16T17:02:30Z

Fg: /* References */

[[Image:Josephstalin.jpg|right|thumb]]


'''Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin''' (born Dzhugashvili) (December 6th, 1878 (Julian: December 18th)-March 5, 1953) was the [[communist]] [[atheist]] General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] (CPSU) from 1922 until his death. He was the son of a poor Georgian cobbler and a former seminary student who became a Bolshevik and one of [[Lenin|Lenin's]] closest allies during the their take-over of the Kerensky regime. During the [[Russian Civil War]] Stalin, who chose his name from the Russian word for steel, held the city of Tsaritsen on the Volga from counter-revolutionary forces. Stalin later re-named [[Stalingrad]] in honor of his victory, and was the same city of [[Germany's]] massive defeat in [[World War II]].
 
 
 
 
 
==Rise to Power==

Stain was tapped by the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police, as a low-level informer shortly after he was expelled from the Tiflis seminary in 1899. Stalin then began to systematically inform on revolutionary comrades in party organizations in Tiflis, Baku, and Batum over the next few years. He acquired a highly unsavory reputation among the [[Social Democrats]] of these cities and was finally arrested for cover purposes in 1902 when suspicions about him were about to boil over. It was the Okhrana taht furnished the invisible means of support for the family he acquired after 1904.

In 1917, the Commissariat of Nationalities was formed with Stalin as its Commissar (Minister). The Commissariat addressed the question of the nationalities of the Russian Empire, and helped integrate them into the [[Soviet Union]]. From 1919-1922 he was also the People's Commissar of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (Rabkrin, from the Russian), which was founded to be a check on the burgeoning Soviet bureaucracy.

In 1922, Lenin named Stalin General Secretary of the CPSU. In 1924 Stalin in turn created the "Secret Department," a unit of 94 of his personal functionaries that maintained special privileges as the ''[[nomenklatura]]'', or a list of trusted individuals. He also appointed regional party secretaries who all, of course, supported Stalin. Through the Secret Department Stalin gained control of the [[Red Army]] after removing [[Lev Trotsky]] in 1925 and the OGPU (later, [[KGB]]) when its leader [[Felix Derzhinsky]] died in 1926. Lenin had foreseen all of this and had warned in his last testament that Stalin should be removed from General Secretary because the position's power was unlimited.

Stalin, however, did not allow this to happen. His most powerful rival, Lev Trotsky, who was the commander of the Red Army, was painted as a danger to the Revolution, because he continued to push the idea of international revolution; the "left opposition." Other Soviet leaders, like [[Zinoviev]], leader of the [[Comintern]], and [[Kaminev]], the head of the Communist Party in Moscow, were painted with the same brush because they supported Trotsky and did not wish to expel him from the CPSU in 1927. Later, he accused his ally [[Bukharin]] of being a member of the "right opposition," i.e. he was in favor of a more capitalistic economic system, as seen under the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP) of the early 1920s. Trotsky was murdered in Mexico in 1940 by [[Ramón Mercader]] in an extenisve conspiracy that included underground operatives from the [[Communist Party of the United States]] (CPUSA). Zinoviev, Kaminev, and Bukharin were the center of the famous "[[Great Purge|show trials]]" of the 1930s. All were put to death.

==Catch and Overtake==

In 1928 Stalin decided that the Soviet Union was not properly industrialized to enjoy a communist future, so he initiated the First Five Year Plan and the campaign to collectivize agriculture in order to "build socialism," and to "catch and overtake" the capitalist world. Stalin fanned the fires of collectivization, claiming that peasants had been hording grain and that they needed to be controlled. Under this program, rich peasants (kulaks), were exiled or killed for being enemies of the people, and peasants' land was taken in order to introduce collective farming to expedite grain appropriations. Many were called kulaks by jealous neighbors, while the peasants who remained were often the laziest and most ill suited to producing enough grain. Collectivization caused massive famine in Russia, particularly in [[Ukraine]] (see [[Holodomor]]), where Stalin ordered the Red Army to blockade certain regions and take grain by force. It is estimated that the famine of 1931-33 killed 6-7 million people, while 20 million starved.

The First Five Year Plan was a program of crash-industrialization. After [[World War I]] and the Russian Civil War Russia had an industrial capacity equal to that of its 1861 capacity. The only way for Russia to be able to break the "capitalist encirclement," Stalin declared, was to industrialize. Brigades of shock workers were formed to work faster and harder than the world had ever seen. Most of this, however, was pure propaganda, although the shock workers did set the record for concrete poured in a single shift. Compared to the capitalist world which was experiencing the Great Depression, Soviet growth was impressive. Between 1929 and 1937, 8,000 factories were constructed, average GDP growth was around 10%, and official unemployment was 0. In 1936, after the Second Five Year Plan, Stalin declared socialism "built." Nevertheless, the capitalist world lived better than the Soviet Union, despite the Great Depression. [[John Scott]], an American CPUSA member and Comintern oeprative who was living in the Soviet Union during the Five Year Plans, notes this in his memoirs of that period "Behind the Urals." The legacy of the Five Year Plans (most of which Stalin declared "completed" in 4 years) injured the Soviet's production models, because the encouraged quantity and speed over quality. However, the planning of the 1930s enabled the Russians to defeat the Nazis in the 1940s. <ref>Suvorov, Viktor. ''Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?// (Viking Press/Hamish Hamilton; 1990) ISBN 0241126223.</ref>

==Stalin's Terror==

Between 1936 and 1938, [[Joseph Stalin]] launched his purges to rid the Soviet Union of "fifth columnists," or spies who were loyal to the [[capitalist]] world. During the Terror 3 million people were arrested on various and often made-up charges, while 750,000 were executed. Due to the interrogation techniques of the NKVD (later, KGB), which often were torturous, most of those arrested confessed and were sent to work camps, called the [[Gulag]] for 10 years and sometimes even 25. Here, prisoners were forced to labor in mines, to log forests, or to do construction. Few lived through their sentences.

The infamous show trials of former leaders of the Soviet Union occurred during this period, where they were accused of working with Trotsky or sabotaging the Soviet Union. Stalin also evicerated the high command of the Red Army, killing 90% of the leadership. The minions of oppression were not spared either; of the NKVD's 809 officials, 43 lived through the purges. The leadership of the communist party was persecuted as well. For example, in 1934 130 members of the 139-member Central Committee were arrested. The Terror forever made Russians afraid to speak out against the government, and also made sure that no one but Stalin could ever rule the Soviet Union as effectively.

==World War II==

To avoid war with [[Germany]], Stalin ordered the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, [[Molotov]], to sign a non-aggression pact with [[Adolf Hitler]], named the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on 19 August 1939. The treaty detailed the agreement to split up [[Poland]] between Germany and the Soviet Union, give Stalin the Baltic Republics of [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Estonia]], and to allow the Soviets to wage war on [[Finland]], a war that ended in a humiliating Soviet defeat. Both sides, however, knew that they would eventually engage in hostilities.

It seems that Stalin anticipated this less than Hitler, who, in June of 1941 invaded the Soviet Union with the largest land army ever assembled. It consisted of 170 divisions, or 3.5 million troops. Stalin was caught off guard, and the [[Nazis]] blazed a path through the Ukraine and European Russia. Reaching [[Moscow]] in October 1941, the Nazis threatened Stalin and the entire Soviet Union with defeat. In only 6 months, the Nazis controlled one third of the Soviet economy, a total of 5% of the Earth's surface. Hitler's troops were defeated at Moscow during the winter of 1941-42 after Stalin appointed [[Yorky Zhukov]] as commander of the Red Army. A spy in the German embassy in Tokyo, [[Richard Sorge]], informed Stalin that Japan was not going to attack [[Siberia]], freeing thousands of winter ski-troops to move to Moscow to defeat the Nazis. It was during this time that Stalin famously invoked the name of [[God]] and allowed religious services to be conducted after 20 plus years of repression. Also, 1500 factories were evacuated and restored in Siberia and 12-15 million workers were moved east of the [[Urals]], where Soviet production was higher than Germany's in 1942, despite Germany holding some 50% of Soviet industry.

The Red Army went on the offensive after the defense of Moscow, but soon the Nazis gained the advantage and pushed to Stalingrad. More than one million troops fought on each side in urban combat. Hitler refused to allow surrender, and eventually the Nazis were encircled and routed. After turning the tide of war in Stalingrad, the 1943 [[Kursk]] tank battle was decisive in pushing the Nazis from European Russia. In two years, the Red Army pushed the Nazis all the way back to [[Berlin]]. Stalin used his control of Eastern Europe to extract concessions from [[President Roosevelt]] at Allied conferences, including control over the region. [[Winston Churchill]] warned against this very control, for he greatly feared Soviet hegemony in Europe. Victorious, Stalin named himself Generalissimo and became more popular than ever in the Soviet Union and more dangerous than ever to the capitalist world.

Over the course of World War II, around 25 million Russians died. Twenty million were in the armed services. The total number of 25 million reflects half of the worldwide losses of human life during World War II. The population did not recover until 1956. Many Soviet POWs, like famous writer [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]], were sent to the Gulag after the war because they had fallen into German hands, and were accused of being spies. This swelled the prison camps by the thousands.

==Post-War Period and Death==

Similar to the 1930s, Stalin undertook a harsh campaign of industrialization, which hurt the Soviets as much as it helped them rebuild. Money was devalued to one-tenth of its previous value, 2 million German and Japanese POWs were forced to stay in the Soviet Union and rebuild the country, and 10% of investment from 1945-46 was from looted machinery. The crops produced by household plots were collected by the government to sell, and a famine in 1947 caused by drought and Soviet single-crop farming killed 2 million. The recovery was built on the Soviet subjects.

After World War II, Stalin's cult of personality emerged as the dominant force of Soviet life. He was credited as the savior of the Soviet Union and the architect of victory, though it was really General Zhukov who was responsible for most of this. The communist youth group, the [[Komsomol]], devoted songs to "the Father of All Nations" or "the Driver of the Locomotive of History." Party membership increased by one million people between 1945 and 1953. Books quoted Stalin as an expert in communism, while he was often photographed surrounded by children to make him seem friendlier. This all served to form a deep, personal connection with Stalin for many Soviets. Indeed, he was loved by the Soviets. When he died in 1953 an anxious mob at his viewing crushed and trampled some mourners to death. Dissidents like Sakharov, the man forced in a prison to build the Soviet atom bomb, cried upon hearing that Stalin had died, despite their intense hatred of him. Despite his terror, he had convinced millions that he was their father.

Following a stroke on 1 March 1953, Stalin died on 5 March after a period of declining performance. Between 1949 and 1952 Stalin increasingly took vacations and met with the [[Politburo]] less and less. When he died a short power struggle ensued, one which led to the execution of KGB head [[Beria]] as a spy. Eventually [[Khrushchev]] became the General Secretary of the CPSU and denounced Stalin's repressive tactics, his purges, gulags, and his cult of personality in the [[Secret Speech]] at the 20th Party Congress of 1956. Gulags were dismantled and the political climate was slightly less tense, but Soviet oppression still continued. The period following Stalin's rule is called the "thaw," the start of life again after a long winter.

==Quotes==

"The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." ~ to Churchill, 1945.

==References==
Though this isn't footnoted, it is culled from the following sources:

Hosking, Geoffrey. The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from Within. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.

Kotkin, Stephen. Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as Civilization. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 1995.

Scott, John. ''Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia’s City of Steel''. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1989.

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isaevich, ''The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956''; an experiment in literary investigation'', Translated from the Russian by Thomas P. Whitney, Publisher New York, Harper & Row (1974-78), 1st Edition, pg. 67n.

[[category:political people]][[category:communists]]

Talk:How Old is the Earth According to the Bible?

2007-04-15T21:17:01Z

Fg: /* How old is the earth according to the bible? */

Is this supposed to be a debate, or an article, or what?--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 16:33, 14 April 2007 (EDT)
:I don't know if this article is worth keeping, but I've rewritten it and added a couple of halfway decent sources (though they're not as good as I'd like).--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 16:46, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

== How old is the earth according to the bible? ==

The Bible doesn’t specify how old the earth is the estimate of the earth being 6000 years old was only Bishop James Ussher's calculations and many people such as old earth creationists and evolutionary creationists believe that the idea of the earth being billions of years old does not contradict the bible.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 10:55, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

Lamarck

2007-04-15T16:42:08Z

Fg: the ancient Greek philosopher anaximander developed a theory of evolution before Lamarck.

Jean Baptiste Lamarck was one of the first scientists to develop the idea of evolution (though a different version than [[Darwin]]'s).

Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet was born in the village of Bazentin-le-Petit in the north of France, on August 1, 1744. He was the youngest of eleven children in a family with a centuries-old tradition of military service; his father and several of his brothers were soldiers.

The young Lamarck entered the Jesuit seminary at Amiens around 1756, but not long after his father's death, Lamarck rode off to join the French army campaigning in Germany in the summer of 1761; in his first battle, he distinguished himself for bravery under fire and was promoted to officer.

After peace was declared in 1763, Lamarck spent five years on garrison duty in the south of France, until an accidental injury forced him to leave the army. After working as a bank clerk in Paris for a while, Lamarck began to study medicine and botany, at which he rapidly became expert; in 1778 his book on the plants of France, ''Flore Française'', was published to great acclaim, in part thanks to the support of [[Buffon]].

On the strength of ''Flore Française'', Lamarck was made assistant botanist at the royal botanical garden, the Jardin des Plantes. In 1793, his became the ''Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle'' (National Museum of Natural History). This institution boasted 12 professors in 12 different scientific fields. Lamarck was
appointed professor of the natural history of [[insects]] and [[worms]], something he knew nothing about at the time! It was also seen as the lowliest position, since few naturalists of the 18th Century considered [[insects]] and [[worms]] worthy of study.

Lamarck, however, proved equal to the task and was responsible for coining the term [[''Invertebrate'']]. In effect, he created a whole new field of [[biology]] with his studies. In 1803, after 10 years of study, he lectured his students that:

''we perceive that, relative to the animal kingdom, we should chiefly devote our attention to the [[invertebrate animals]], because their enormous multiplicity in nature, the singular diversity of their systems of organization, and of their means of multiplication, . . . , show us, much better than the higher animals, the true course of nature, and the means which she has used and which she still unceasingly employs to give existence to all the living bodies of which we have knowledge.''

Lamarck published a series of books on [[invertebrate]] [[zoology]] and [[paleontology]]. Of these, ''Philosophie zoologique'', published in 1809, most clearly states Lamarck's theories of [[evolution]]. The first volume of ''Histoire naturelle des Animaux sans vertèbres'' was published in 1815, the second in 1822. Aside from Lamarck's contributions to evolutionary theory, his works on invertebrates represent a great advance over existing classifications; he was the first to separate the [[Crustacea]], [[Arachnida]], and [[Annelida]] from the [[Insecta.]] His classification of the mollusks was far in advance of anything proposed previously; Lamarck broke with tradition in removing the [[tunicates]] and the [[barnacles]] from the [[Mollusca]]. He also anticipated the work of [[Schleiden & Schwann]] in [[cell theory]] in stating that:

''no body can have life if its constituent parts are not cellular tissue or are not formed by cellular tissue.''

Lamarck even found time to write papers on [[physics]] and [[meteorology]], including some annual compilations of [[weather]] data.

''' How does Lamark's theory differ from Darwin's?'''

In basic terms, Lamarck thought that the way an animal behaved during its life could affect the form of its offspring. [[Darwin]] meanwhile thought that an individual animal might have a characteristic that gave it an advantage over other individuals of the same [[species]], meaning that it would be more successful in reproduction.

The best example to illustrate this is in considering how the [[giraffe]] came to have a long neck.

'''Lamarck's''' theory suggests that [[giraffe]]s developed a long neck because the animals constantly stretched upwards to reach the highest leaves while it was feeding. As a consequence of this, its young were born with longer necks.

'''Darwin's''' theory suggests that [[giraffe]]s developed as they did because an animal with a longer than average neck would have an advantage in reaching foliage that its shorter-necked fellows could not. Therefore it would be healthier, more successful in breeding and hence more likely to pass on its long-necked genes.

While Lamarck's theories were rejected relatively quickly, Darwin's have proved more enduring.

Debate:Which is a more powerful ideology, Islam or communism?

2007-04-15T15:08:01Z

Fg:

{{debate}}

== Apples and Oranges ==
[[User:Phist|Phist]]Well, one is a religion and one is a societal structure, so to a degree we are compairing apples and oranges here. You could, in THEORY have a country that is both communist and islamic. While religion was of course banned in communist russia, by that point they were so far from the ideal of communism that it really should have been called something else.

For the record, I like apples better.

Islam is more powerful. Commumism was a good idea in theory but it has failed enough times in real world countries that I'm ready to discount it as a valid possibility. It simply doesn't address some aspects of human nature, and I think it's only real power right now is as an alternative to capitalism for a working class tired of being poor. But one only has to point to the still-smoking ruin of the USSR to discount the validity of that ideal.

On the other hand, Islam carries a supernatural message of hope to an entire continent of anti-american people raised with extremism being a daily reality. When a man with complete hatred of something is told that destroying his enemies is holy, and that there is a place in heaven for those who die fighting, the man is turned into a weapon. Islam is volatile like no other religion in the world, and though I try to avoid bias any of us can turn on the news any day of the week to see turmoil in the middle east. In fact, I cant even think of the last time in history the middle east went 15 years without a major armed conflict.

Considering that there are over 1.4 billion Muslims I'd say it was Islam that is the more powerful ideology. Communism is like third, and the second is Secular Humanism for the most powerful ideology. Unless you consider that Secular Humanism is new age communism? --[[User:Orion Blastar|Orion Blastar]] 23:30, 9 March 2007 (EST)

----
Actually, the Soviet Union never banned religion. It suppressed religion quite severely, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. However, the Soviet constitutions always included nominal guarantees of religious freedom. Also, Stalin made a point of restoring the legal position of the Russian Orthodox Church during the Second World War (part of his wartime efforts to appeal to Russian nationalism).

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Islam. Communism is fundamentally flawed.

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A more accurate characterization of Soviet religious policy would be to say that the regime persecuted and clamped down on official churches, religious leaders and the like, but that its main efforts focused on making religious leaders, priests, imans, etc. agents of the state, and to dissuade religious practice through education. This reflected an official belief (which many scholars would argue had its origins in Enlightenment ideals about reason and progress) that with improved education, scientific achievement and general social progress, Soviet citizens would come to recognize the falsity of religion and would thus turn their backs on religion of their own accord.

Moreover, while many term the Soviet Union an "atheistic regime," this is perhaps technically accurate, but wildly misleading. The Soviet government was "atheistic" in the sense that it did not have an established religion (such as the Russian Orthodox Church), but in this respect it was no more atheistic than the U.S. government has always been, or how any number of other states are, where the separation of church and state prevents the official establishment of a particular religion.

Religious belief and practice never ceased to exist in the Soviet Union, nor did the Soviet government ever formally proscribe it. --[[User:SmithHall|SmithHall]] 03:01, 10 March 2007 (EST)
----
"Islam is volatile like no other religion in the world, and though I try to avoid bias any of us can turn on the news any day of the week to see turmoil in the middle east. In fact, I cant even think of the last time in history the middle east went 15 years without a major armed conflict." -Orion Blastar

This is an interesting statement. Does anyone remember history? What about the Christian crusades from 1095 to 1270 that accomplished little more than death and destruction? The third crusade was even focused on ransacking Constantinople, a fellow Christian state, for little more than funding further crusades. The crusades even turned internal targeting parts of southern France and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II after he was excommunicated from the church by the Pope for returning to port after becoming ill on his way to accomplish the 5th crusade (which he later accomplished through peaceful means). There are many examples of volatility as well as many current examples of radicalism in Christianity.

"Considering that there are over 3 billion Muslims, and a good number of them are radicals or terrorists, I'd say it was Islam that is the more powerful ideology." -Orion Blastar

Also an interesting statement. Islam is the second largest religion in many European countries and only 20% of Muslims are from the Middle East. If Islam were so innately hate filled and "a good number of them" were radicals, why aren't more areas of the world with prominent Muslim populations "anti-American?" Just as an example, the two largest Muslim nations in the world are India and Indonesia - non-Arab. What is going on here is a gross generalization of Muslims and Islam. Think back to our very recent history here in the US. The KKK (Klu Klux Klan) was a very heavily religious organization. What religion did they espouse? Christianity of course. The KKK was responsible for many murders and terrorist acts and is still alive today. Should we generalize all Christians and Christianity to match the KKK? Should we say that "a good number of" Christians are radicals or terrorists because of the actions of the KKK? I would hope not and I'm sure you feel the same way. --[[User:Blubuster|Blubuster]] 02:18, 11 March 2007 (PST)
----

I vote Islam. Or Communism. Wait...what was the question? Who's got the oil? Mmmm....oil.
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Islam. We haven't seen many Communists blow themselves up to go to that great workers paradaise in the sky which they don't believe exists anyway. And Communism as a civil government lasted about 70 years, whereas Islam as a civil government has lasted 1400 years. That is 70/1400, or 5%. Not much comparison. [[User:RobS|RobS]] 20:55, 12 March 2007 (EDT)

Islam is NOT an ideology, it is a religion.
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Ideology holds no power without behavior to support it. One may think that it is perfectly okay to strap a bomb to themselves or take private property for the sake of the government, however; until it is actually done, the ideology has no objective power.
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To answer the question, look at the effects. How many people follow the ideology for how long ? It is pretty clear that Communism did not the have adherence, of all of those under it. Contrawise, Islam persists mainly because it is adhered to by its followers. Communism in Russia and China failed, those governments changed, while Islam is alive and well today. [[User:Terryeo|Terryeo]] 15:58, 19 March 2007 (EDT)
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Islam. Relgions have a bad habit of hanging around longer that political philosophies. But its an absurd question.
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Ironically I chose my name before seeing this...

and I think both are false hoaxes compared to most other problems (corruption, environmental degredation, and incessant foreign intervention).

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Islam is a religion not a political ideology(although like Christianity it has been used to justify political actions in the past and present) so communism would be because it is the only political ideology on that list.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 11:08, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

Talk:How Old is the Earth According to the Bible?

2007-04-15T14:55:15Z

Fg: How old is the earth according to the bible?

Is this supposed to be a debate, or an article, or what?--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 16:33, 14 April 2007 (EDT)
:I don't know if this article is worth keeping, but I've rewritten it and added a couple of halfway decent sources (though they're not as good as I'd like).--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 16:46, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

== How old is the earth according to the bible? ==

The bible doesn’t specify how old the earth is the estimate of the earth being 6000 years old was only Bishop James Ussher's calculations and many people such as old earth creationists and evolutionary creationists believe that the idea of the earth being billions of years old does not contradict the bible.--[[User:Fg|Fg]] 10:55, 15 April 2007 (EDT)