• Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      3 years ago

      Who makes that distinction? Plus, the idea of destroying the state, Capitalism, class divides, and money definitely is legally opposed.

      • Rusty Shackleford@programming.dev
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        3 years ago

        Who makes that distinction?

        Anyone versed in basic political theory.

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

        destroying the state

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

        Capitalism

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

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

        class divides

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

        money

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

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

        In my opinion, that’s a good thing.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          3 years ago

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

          • Rusty Shackleford@programming.dev
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            3 years ago

            Communism isn’t Communalism.

            Yes, that’s true.

            Advocating for Communism

            … is legal, under the 1st Amendment.

            attempting to implement Communism at a national level is illegal

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

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

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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              3 years ago

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

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

      • force@lemmy.world
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        3 years ago

        Who makes that distinction?

        … literally anyone who thinks about it? The US Communist Party is one party, there are plenty of other parties that identify as communist. You don’t have to be called “The Communist Party” to be communist.

        Socialist Alternative

        Revolutionary Communist Party

        Workers World Party

        New Afrikan Black Panther Party

        Party for Socialism and Liberation

        Communist parties aren’t popular at all, but they’re far from banned. There are multiple such parties.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          3 years ago

          Laws are interpreted and wielded by those in power. The Democrats are already called Communists, what happens if a genuine Socialist party takes some amount of power?

          • force@lemmy.world
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            3 years ago

            That’s literally an argument against anything that exists at all. That’s kind of how laws work, linguistics is complicated so everyone’s interpretation is different, and many people in power intentionally misinterperet laws. But as it stands, communist parties are not banned. What you speak of is a big “what if”, and currently you saying communism as a whole is banned is simply wrong, even as an oversimplification.

            It is a big stretch to turn “Parties other than the two largest ones in the country have considerable cultural, legal, and logistical obstacles to being able to participate in high-level American politics, and an unenforced law from 70 years ago banned one specific communist party before most of the provisions being repealed by congress and the law being overturned in state courts as unconstitutional” into “Communism is banned in the United States”. There is no legal way to criminally prosecute someone on the basis of them being a communist, or belonging to any specific communist party at all, in the modern day.

            I’m not trying to be condescending or anything btw.