so why such a bad feeling towards communism? Everyone seems to talk about it badly but I want some opinions of more sensable people.
1 not one communist country can support itself without the West 2 communist society is very corrupt, cops become mafia, stealing is considered the norm 3 communism doesn't care about elderly, disabled, you don't work you don't eat, you not with us are are against us - don't you know in places like China and Russia they still don't treat anyone over 65 at a hospital? their only choice is to go to private clinic where they have to pay which they can't afford. communism doesn't give you a choice
it is antithetical to the way society behaves and how individuals act in the marketplace. because of this, it takes a great deal of force to implement a communist society - or anything close to it. so, it should be no surprise that communist states of the past and present result in totalitarian dictatorships -- single party states that crush any sort of opposition, and which ironically oppresses the working class even worse than in capitalist societies. lots of corruption and poverty ensues. no thank you to that.... this is probably why people say it looks good on paper but could never work
Communism would work in a small commune but only if the participants could leave whenever they wanted. What we saw in China, USSR, etc may have began with noble ideals and good intent but quickly descended into a blood fest. This advertisement was paid for by the US government "God Bless America"
It is true that in the past few if any country's have practiced communism and prosperd, but as stated above, it devolved into totalitarian dictatorships. In theory communism could and should work, should it not? The way I see it it's the perfect escape for the common proletariat, a chance to escape the "all powerfull" bouzwazi.
In theory yes. The problem lies with people. Inevitably, you are going to have a divide between those in power and the everyone elses. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." _ Animal Farm - George Orwell As you stated, it devolved into totalitarianism. There's a reason for that. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - John Dalberg-Acton
my problem with communism is how are you going to support that kind of system in the long run? What corporation would want to do business in a country in which it is required to pay astronomical taxes? Better to pack up and leave. If there are no corporations around to pay those taxes where is the funding going to come from now?
For all intensive purposes let's say the country was in transition between a democracy and a communist society, would that sate your qualms with funding?
Central planning of the economy leads to things like toilet paper shortages. Free market follows supply and demand principles. Its natural. Evolution. The consumers want toilet paper. Someone will be there to make.money off it. Central planning attempts to predict needs. "Hmmmm. I think should grow 10000 carrots. People don't eat many corrots." Then we run out of carrots and have to vote and petition to rennovate new farmland to grow carrots -Yuri
The US is an exceptional country populated by exceptional people. The United States has a divine duty to spread democracy, do not question this. The US is spreading democracy throughout the world incountries such as Saudi Arabia. The US has a divine duty to stop the spread of anything that the US does not agree with. This advertisement was paid for by the US government "God Bless America"
Collectivism - Shits on the individual, state oligarchs are almighty for the sake of the supposed greater good.
One of my most basic objections to communism is, how does a publicly owned means of production actually work in practice? If everyone owns it, how do you make decisions about it's use? You can't have everyone in an entire country voting on every decision. So in practice "publicly owned" becomes "government owned", which is the worst situation I can imagine for the individual. The Western world may have it's issues, but I'm super glad I was born in Canada and not in Camelfuck, Arabia.
Pros of communism - Looks good on paper Cons of communism - Doesn't actually work Edit: at least on a national scale
Basically this. Greed, corruption, while still here in "democracies" is much more widespread in communist countries. My parents lived through communism, needless to say they didn't like it lol.
My mum who lived in the soviet union admit that, even though communism was a failure - it was nice to be able to walk down the streets in the middle of the night without worrying about getting robbed or assaulted. It was also nice to be able to get a job straight after you left university. I've never lived in a communist country, but that's what my mum said - and she's as capitalist-conservative as it gets. Anyway, we're not in the cold war anymore. I really think that the left shouldn't be hating on rich people - they should be hating on Poverty. Markets should be allowed to flourish with minimum regulation, but without a social safety net, a lot of people will not be able to have the opportunity to participate in this beautiful economic system, because they'll be too busy digging up dumpsters and finding a place to hide from the rain at night. Radical libertarians will point out to charity as the solution to the problem of poverty. Then again, the reason we have welfare systems in the first place... is because... charities, have obviously not been enough. I suggest that we replace our current welfare system with universal basic income, so everyone has a floor to stand on, so they can then choose what they want to do with their lives, whether it's starting a small business, going to college, training to become a carpenter, etc. It combines the best of communism and capitalism. Hell - I don't even think you could call it communist! In a communist country, you were given a job and forced to work, whether you liked it or not. UBI is about freedom of choice and equal opportunity.