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The "forced" part is only true when viewed from a highly self-centered and purely individualist perspective. Get it?

I don't blame you if you don't though; only a few people ever recognize the brainwashing they've been subjected to their entire life. Do you know the difference between believing in God and believing in Santa Claus? With the latter parents are sensible enough to tell you at a young enough age that he's just a made up figure... Get it?

I do hope your four-legged, not brainwashed friend is still doing okay :-)

There is only the individual.
That is reality.
Society is a concept. get it?
You can have individuals without a society - but try making a society without individuals....good luck on that.
The individual is the lowest common denominator on which to build any model.

I don't blame you if you don't though; only a few people ever recognize the brainwashing they've been subjected to their entire life.

If you think society is real- not conceptual- have you ever considered the fact that it might be you who's been brainwashed?
(god and santa claus are conceptual too, so understand the concept)

She's doing fine matey, thanks. Back to normal now.

I'm so glad she's doing okay; we (my son actually) just got us a cat, like 4 months ago, and he's not been doing well for a week or two, just wouldn't eat... We were lucky though; turns out it was worms, and he's now back to normal :-) After only a couple of months we got so attached to the little bugger, so I can only imagine how stressed and worried we would have been if we'd had it as long as you've had her...

I'm still curious why the narrow perspective; if you're able to understand that both God and Santa Claus are concepts, why can't you understand that society and individuals are equally real? Individuals make up society, but society makes individuals. Every individual is the result of a community, even in a biological sense every individual is the result of a community of two people. It's that extremist individualism that's been propagated by your rulers that's got you stuck in your narrow perspective on the reality of the human condition my friend. We've always lived in communities and that will never change. All our freedoms are granted to us from the community we're part of and that will never change. Understand that concept.

society and individuals are equally real?

NO, they are not.
One is a concept based on large numbers, the other is a fact.

but society makes individuals

No it doesn't.
You can have an individual without any society.
You cannot have a society made up of no individuals.

I'm not arguing the facts the groups of individuals cannot work together. They can.
(this is also where communism can work on very small numbers)
It doesn't scale up because bureaucracy becomes a necessity - and bureaucracies are corrupt. Because of individuals.

As soon as you discount the individual as the lowest common denominator (coerced collectivism), it just becomes a matter of time before it decays and implodes. (as history as shown us).

You can have an individual without any society.

In what fantasy world is that? Ever heard of feral childs? Where did you get your morals from? From yourself and on your own I guess...

You can have an individual without any society.

Yeah sure, but those would be completely lost individuals because they would lack any moral compass, like those feral childs...

It doesn't scale up because bureaucracy becomes a necessity

That's the first true thing you've said in this entire conversation. And yes, that bureaucracy has a tendency to degenerate into corruption because of individuals.......who place the self above the society they're part of. No one said it would be easy, but that's what we've got to get rid of; the bloated sense of self, which coincidentally is inherent in the mindset created by capitalist societies where everything is centered around the self, a mindset you demonstrate so effectively.

You can have an individual without any society.

In what fantasy world is that? Ever heard of feral childs? Where did you get your morals from? From yourself and on your own I guess...

SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE?
...it was a 'yes' or 'no' , logical answer.
Communism is popular because it ennobles theft and violence with an air of philosophy and legitimacy.

No philosophy required - just an acceptance of a verifiable fact. A truth.

You can have an individual without any society.

Yeah sure, but those would be completely lost individuals because they would lack any moral compass, like those feral childs...

No one asking for opinion, just an acceptance of reality.

That's the first true thing you've said in this entire conversation

No, what i said about the individual is true - A fact - but you seem o be unable to accept that truth. (which is, essentially, the whole problem about communist philosophy - it's built on untruths).

SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE?

No need to shout bro... Opinions don't magically become facts because you shout them, use all caps, embolden them or print them in italics my friend. And yes, I know exactly what I did there, the question is: do you? Communism isn't popular; that's a fact, so starting a sentence with that untruth is bound to be followed by a bunch of nonsense, and you don't disappoint there. So I guess we're once again reaching the inevitable wall where you refuse to accept reality, like the verifiable truth that children who grow up outside of society become humans only in the physical sense. Sensible people are able to recognize the existence, the reality of things by witnessing their effects, hence society is real, not a concept. One of us is stuck in the ideology his rulers so much wants him to adhere to, the other is free in his mind at least. So, no, what you're saying about individuals is far from the reality that's there for all to see. If they want to see it, that is...