Quote Originally Posted by Oneironaut
Huh? What about a directly democratic society would keep us from punishing people who harm or exploit others?
The people who develop the "rules" are going to exploit worst than the former leaders did.

Only in a profit-driven economy. Hence the stress on solidarity, cooperation and mutual aid.
There is no motivation in a completely non-profit driven society. It never works, and probably never will.

I take it you have not studied anthropology in depth. You might be surprised to know that some cultures don't even have a concept like "family". Children in such cultures are raised by the community and taken care of by all. And what's worse for a child, living with two divorced parents or two parents who are married but don't want to be? Relationships go sour; not all families are perfect, and they never will be. But that is irrelevant to the idea of overthrowing capitalism and the state anyhow.
Those "societies" never progress past the stone age. I have no desire to have any kids, either, and I certainly will never take care of the offspring of other people. It's bad enough that there's overpopulation in the first place.

Ah yes, just like in good old sexist slave-owning Athens, where everybody was equal, but some people were more equal than others.
The above posting is a good example of collectivist thinking. In this type of Utopia, the individual only exists for the good of the whole, and will never rise to meet challenges with solutions that are uniquely his. It is a self-defeating way of living because there is no motivation to create things that are going to help mankind.

A well-designed, materialist capitalist society is far better for the world - and the future Those that produce reward themselves, and the sky is the limit if their mind and energy is up to it. Collectivism is never going to work, because people are NOT all equal. They must have equal rights, and social justice, but the right to make profit from an enterprise is central to progress.

Individualism makes for progress and betterment of the human race. Collectivism hinders both.