UraniumBlazer

In Cuba if your family disowns you after coming out, you can sue them for child support That's the case everywhere lol. Disowning a child does not exempt parents from paying child support. Child support only stops when the parents' rights are terminated by the state or when someone adopts the child.

As for the transphobic legislation, you're right. Which is why I said "parts of the US".

Naaah mate... it can matter a lot lol. We have a road closure (for the past few months) in our neighborhood. Google maps still hasn't updated it. I routinely see drivers driving up to it and getting annoyed for having to turn back. This wouldn't have happened had they used OSM tho!

Why have you linked an article from fkin 2009 lmao. Did you look up "East Germans love East Germany" and link the first article that you saw? What poll is this article referring to? Pewresearch (2019) say something very different. According to their surveys, East Germans have reported a dramatic rise in quality of life post 1991.

I never said that. There were many things that socialist governments did very well. I'm literally a socialist. It would be hypocritical of me not to approve of these policies. Now that being said, I don't feel the need to glorify these same states either. There were MANY things that they did VERY badly. I do not want to replicate these governments. When I say that I want to implement socialist policies, I do not mean that I want to have a great firewall. By this, I do not mean censorship of literally every fkin thing.

I do not have to idolize former or present socialist governments to be a socialist.

I wasn't aware of queer history in East Germany. Thank you guys for enlightening me there. I am also very happy for Cuba for the strides that they have taken in relation to queer rights.

That being said, calling them "literally the most progressive country in human history in terms of queer rights" is very dumb. Most of western Europe, Canada and even parts of the US to a certain degree are as progressive as one may get in terms of queer rights, both legally and socially.

Okay, so I read up more about homosexuality in the Soviet Union. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism_and_LGBT_rights#Soviet_Union From the looks of it, it was legally quite open during Lenin, but progressively got worse with time. I don't think we even need to talk about modern Russia's position on it. Let's look at China. Why can't same sex families adopt children?

In case of Vietnam, again.... let's look at suppression of freedom of speech. Why isn't the press free?

The DPRK isn’t perfect... Omg wtf are you talking about? Why then aren't they allowed access to the internet? Why are they still stuck in the 70s? Why aren't North Koreans allowed to emigrate to South Korea? Why is the Kim family in power for so long and uncontested? When was the last North Korean election? Who was the prime contender? Why is some soul crushing music played every morning in Pyongyang? Or are the videos of that western propaganda too? The DPRK is literally the most dystopian place on the face of this planet.

knowledgeable people Define "knowledgeable people"..... Sure, western propaganda is definitely a thing. So is Chinese/Russian propaganda. Again... I'm not defending the west anywhere here. All I'm doing is refusing to idolize the socialist governments of the past and the present like the USSR. When I say I want a "socialist future", I do not mean that I want the Soviet Union. What I want is something that is very very different than that nightmare.

Fair. Here r some arguments for you:

• The Berlin Wall: Why wasn't I, as an East German permitted to go west if I wanted to? Why were families separated during the entire thing? Was it to keep the hopeless western Germans from emigrating to the East?
• The Holodomor: Why did the Soviet Union commit genocide against its own citizens?
• Freedom of speech: Why would the KGB be on my ass if I said anything against the State? Why wasn't the media critical of the government? Why was Chornobyl covered up?
• Why did the USSR destabilize Afghanistan?: Wasn't this an act of imperialism? Or were they trying to liberate the poor wittle Afghani children by killing them using cruel weapons like butterfly mines? Did the USSR really need to go in there
• Why do literally all Eastern European countries hate Soviet rule? Had they loved it, they surely would've kept the policies of the USSR, right? Or is the CIA involved here too?
• North Korea: Let's not even talk about them.....
• Why was state enforced atheism a thing in the USSR? I am an atheist. However, I still believe that everyone should have the right to have faith in whatever institutions that they seem fit. Is that dumb? Yes. Should the state get to decide what's dumb and not? No.
• China: Why is the great firewall a thing? Why do they refuse to allow their citizens to connect to the wider world?

Now, someone here is most definitely going to come up with the "but the US did XYZ" argument. And I wouldn't disagree there. However, this isn't a competition of "who's the bigger asshole". Glorifying any states or institutions is plain dumb. As a socialist, I want to do good for the people of the world. I can't do good if I ignore the atrocities committed by the people "on my team".

Oh wow.... Wasn't aware of this part of history!

Oh heck yea! My neighborhood is better mapped on OSM than Google Maps even now! Very fulfilling to see.