Has anyone in the communism community ever actually lived under a communist regime? I have and that shit was not good. No matter how nice communism sounds on paper it depends on humans sharing and not being selfish and power hungry, which is a fantasy. Even in a communist society, you’ll have those who will get more than others and will be more “equal”
It’s funny because I’m pretty sure you haven’t lived in a communist country either. So you’re arguing that lack of personal experience invalidates all arguments in favour of communism, but your lack of personal experience living in a communist country somehow doesn’t invalidate your arguments against communism. Yup, perfectly consistent.
Of course they haven’t, and while I’m happy to be proved wrong, I’m sure they’re all enjoying the benefits of living in a democratic country while cosplaying communists.
Let’s make it more interesting. Name a place where communism has taken hold and has worked as intended without a ruling class and without resorting to human rights violations of their citizens
The downvotes say it all. No one in favour of it here seems able to have an honest discussion.
If you are genuinely unable to see that any political system, no matter how great in theory, doesn’t translate that simply into reality because of human behaviour, then you’ve got some reading and thinking to do.
The attitude towards communism here comes across like a cult. Present facts or a reasonable point of discussion, you get shouted down/strawmanned, othered, etc.
Ironically, the very behaviour that stops things like communism working in reality.
Lots of Authoritarian one party economies are, Hitler’s, China’s, Ghengis Khan’s, Ancient Rome.
You can really make leaps and bounds with forced labour and a Stalinist regime… But I don’t want to live under such a system, nor would I automatically trust how it’s applied.
Gulags were a thing, labor camps have been a thing, vocational education and training centers, have been a thing, north koreas camps have been a thing, siberian labor camps have been a thing, pol pots torture camps have been a thing.
Authoritarian one party systems tend to have political prisoners, and institutions, camps, or prisons where they’re dealt with.
These are things the proletariat and lumpenproletariat (and other classes) get subjected too for political reasons, I’m saying I don’t want that happening. That it’s a bad thing.
I didn’t say they were conspiracies. I said conspiracies were a thing. Just like you didn’t say shit about all the scary terms you threw around. I’m supposed to look up ‘political prisoners’ and then divine what your point is? You’re fucking dumb.
Weird how the socialist command economies lead to a massive increase in literacy, life expectancy, women’s rights, access to education, doctors per person, decreased infant and maternal mortality, I could go on.
Almost like there is a difference between a capitalist command economy like the nazis did and a socialist command economy. Wonder what the difference between those three word phrases is, hmmmmm 🤔🤔🤔
No, I dislike all Authoritarian regimes. I dislike single party systems.
We’re discussing systems of the past of course, not possible variations or was a new Socialism moght structure its self.
But the problem is that Capitalism isn’t going down without a fight, and if there’s a fight there will likely be an Authoritarian one party system after, that performs a period of white/red terror, that’s difficult to avoid.
It’s a hard problem for revolutionary forms of Socialism.
No, I dislike all Authoritarian regimes. I dislike single party systems.
Living in WW2 Belarus would cure you from that centrist hyperidealist nonsense. Or maybe not, there would be statistically 1/3 chance nazis would murder you.
"Even when communism is not achieved, communism will not be achieved.’ is probably the most common and basic declaration from people have yet to learn anything about it.
If a revolution from the bottom happens, there will still be new leaders appointed from those at the bottom. And will soon become less like the rest of us, and will become just like the old Masters
I think the only way it works is if you start chopping off hands and shit as punishment for corruption and that’s a whole can of worms, and there will still be certain people immune
The BV’s were initially grass roots, along with other communists in Russia at the time, but after Lenin got control the policies all came from above with little to no input from the workers below, and the BV’s became the defacto only party.
That stands in direct contrast to the actual structure of the USSR, and a misunderstanding of Democratic Centralism. The Soviets were the organizational organ of the USSR, as shown here:
Secondly, being a single party does not mean democratization lowers. Parlimentarianism obscures the material impact of a Worker’s voice. A single party system can be bad, such as in Nazi Germany, where there was little to no actual democracy.
As per your previous statement that “most of us want bottom-up revolutions,” that’s correct, but “most of us” do not agree that the October Revolution was a “top-down” revolution.
I recommend reading the following texts, if you have not done so already:
Which communist country, and when? It’s hard to imagine anyone in any former communist country who was old enough to remember communism, and lived through the 90s, could think communism was worse.
No matter how nice communism sounds on paper it depends on humans sharing and not being selfish and power hungry
Those problems are a million times worse in capitalism where each capitalist is a dictator responsible only to themselves and each politician is responsible only to their capitalist donors.
I summed it up in my response to them, but essentially they have a confused idea of what Communism even means. It’s perfectly possible for them to have grown up in a Communist nation, but 2 points stick out as confused:
They believe Communism structurally depends on “good people not being selfish” without elaborating, and
They believe Communism to be about some vague “equality,” despite Marx arguing against said very notion.
Agreed, but I am sad that they don’t choose to share any of those personal experiences that they claim are vital for understanding communism.
Even if communist revolutions tend to fail for the same reasons most revolutions fail (a need for temporary authoritarian rule followed by fumbling the succession) anything that can help understand how and why something failed is useful.
Has anyone in the communism community ever actually lived under a communist regime? I have and that shit was not good. No matter how nice communism sounds on paper it depends on humans sharing and not being selfish and power hungry, which is a fantasy. Even in a communist society, you’ll have those who will get more than others and will be more “equal”
It’s funny because I’m pretty sure you haven’t lived in a communist country either. So you’re arguing that lack of personal experience invalidates all arguments in favour of communism, but your lack of personal experience living in a communist country somehow doesn’t invalidate your arguments against communism. Yup, perfectly consistent.
You’re weird. You’re one of those weirdos people are talking about I think, going around questioning people’s nationalities and race
They want to know what you’re talking about to determine whether you’re full of shit. You’re weird.
Of course they haven’t, and while I’m happy to be proved wrong, I’m sure they’re all enjoying the benefits of living in a democratic country while cosplaying communists.
Do you think your bourgeois democracy is actually democratic? If you are for democracy you’d be a socialist.
Philosophical question: Can socialism and capitalism coexist?
Purely hypothetical.
No, capitalism vs socialism is; who owns the means of production, the capitalist class or the working class?
I haven’t stated my position. Yes, I think our democratic processes could be better in many countries.
I also understand the reality that there is no simple 'one system" solution that is just going to miraculously fix everything.
No, we do not have democracy. We have bourgeois democracy that cannot be reformed into democracy.
What is bourgeois democracy?: https://www.leftvoice.org/bourgeois-democracy-what-do-marxists-mean-by-that-term/
If you are skeptical of the inability to reform bourgeois democracy I would do some reading on Allende and Chile.
Where and when?
Let’s make it more interesting. Name a place where communism has taken hold and has worked as intended without a ruling class and without resorting to human rights violations of their citizens
Why don’t you just say where and when you lived under a communist regime?
Why are you so insistent I doxx myself to you? For a person defending communism you sure do seem to want to throw me in a dungeon for wrong think
I’m not the one who claimed to have lived under a communist regime. You did.
Are you still living under a communist regime?
Would simply stating where and when you live under a communist regime put you in danger?
If so then why did you volunteer that information on a public Internet forum?
The downvotes say it all. No one in favour of it here seems able to have an honest discussion.
If you are genuinely unable to see that any political system, no matter how great in theory, doesn’t translate that simply into reality because of human behaviour, then you’ve got some reading and thinking to do.
The attitude towards communism here comes across like a cult. Present facts or a reasonable point of discussion, you get shouted down/strawmanned, othered, etc.
Ironically, the very behaviour that stops things like communism working in reality.
Authoritarian central planning sucks…
Workers having shares in companies and or the means of production doesn’t.
The soviet economy was insane(ly good)!
https://youtu.be/Hcl3R-yARX8?si=Z2Us5pkG9a7FBPUw
Well sourced easily digestible video on it.
Lots of Authoritarian one party economies are, Hitler’s, China’s, Ghengis Khan’s, Ancient Rome.
You can really make leaps and bounds with forced labour and a Stalinist regime… But I don’t want to live under such a system, nor would I automatically trust how it’s applied.
Here’s some photos of some gulag laborers digging the White Sea to Baltic canal for some extra bread and meat rations: https://allthatsinteresting.com/white-sea-baltic-canal
Insanely “good” economies are often created from poverty, serfdom, slavery, and forced labour. That’s not how I’d define a “good” economy though.
Just to note; Capitalism also has this problem of paying workers the minimum in order to transfer wealth to profit/owners.
Lol
God I wish
reeducation camps were a thingPolitical prisoners are a thing.
Gulags were a thing, labor camps have been a thing, vocational education and training centers, have been a thing, north koreas camps have been a thing, siberian labor camps have been a thing, pol pots torture camps have been a thing.
Authoritarian one party systems tend to have political prisoners, and institutions, camps, or prisons where they’re dealt with.
These are things the proletariat and lumpenproletariat (and other classes) get subjected too for political reasons, I’m saying I don’t want that happening. That it’s a bad thing.
You aren’t saying anything except bringing up scary terms you heard. Conspiracies are a thing. War profiteers are a thing. El Chupacabra is a thing.
You’re just talking shit without any specific accusations. Just vibes.
You’re free to look up these various systems of political punishment. Just answering 'theyre conspiracy theories ’ isn’t a convincing argument.
You have to win people to your cause if you want your systems to win.
I didn’t say they were conspiracies. I said conspiracies were a thing. Just like you didn’t say shit about all the scary terms you threw around. I’m supposed to look up ‘political prisoners’ and then divine what your point is? You’re fucking dumb.
Weird how the socialist command economies lead to a massive increase in literacy, life expectancy, women’s rights, access to education, doctors per person, decreased infant and maternal mortality, I could go on.
Almost like there is a difference between a capitalist command economy like the nazis did and a socialist command economy. Wonder what the difference between those three word phrases is, hmmmmm 🤔🤔🤔
You hate it because it defeated the nazis or…?
Auth left and Auth right have had all of human history and they’ve blown it. Don’t you think it’s time for someone else to give it a go?
The political compass turned you into a fucking moron, dude.
No, I dislike all Authoritarian regimes. I dislike single party systems.
We’re discussing systems of the past of course, not possible variations or was a new Socialism moght structure its self.
But the problem is that Capitalism isn’t going down without a fight, and if there’s a fight there will likely be an Authoritarian one party system after, that performs a period of white/red terror, that’s difficult to avoid.
It’s a hard problem for revolutionary forms of Socialism.
The one party system is going to perform white and red terrors?
There’s always more than one side in a revolution, and there’s always massacres.
Living in WW2 Belarus would cure you from that centrist hyperidealist nonsense. Or maybe not, there would be statistically 1/3 chance nazis would murder you.
"Even when communism is not achieved, communism will not be achieved.’ is probably the most common and basic declaration from people have yet to learn anything about it.
Communism cannot be achieved. It sounds nice but humans suck.
Reminds me of Star Trek. Great vision of the future, but it’ll never happen cause HUMANS SUCK
views this on a smartphone encapsulating about a dozen concepts inspired and portrayed in Star Trek.
A revolution from the top was always going to be bad. I think people in this forum are hoping for a revolution from the bottom.
If a revolution from the bottom happens, there will still be new leaders appointed from those at the bottom. And will soon become less like the rest of us, and will become just like the old Masters
What if we keep replacing the leaders with new people from the bottom?
I think the only way it works is if you start chopping off hands and shit as punishment for corruption and that’s a whole can of worms, and there will still be certain people immune
What do you mean by a “revolution from the top?”
The BV’s were initially grass roots, along with other communists in Russia at the time, but after Lenin got control the policies all came from above with little to no input from the workers below, and the BV’s became the defacto only party.
That stands in direct contrast to the actual structure of the USSR, and a misunderstanding of Democratic Centralism. The Soviets were the organizational organ of the USSR, as shown here:
Secondly, being a single party does not mean democratization lowers. Parlimentarianism obscures the material impact of a Worker’s voice. A single party system can be bad, such as in Nazi Germany, where there was little to no actual democracy.
As per your previous statement that “most of us want bottom-up revolutions,” that’s correct, but “most of us” do not agree that the October Revolution was a “top-down” revolution.
I recommend reading the following texts, if you have not done so already:
Fair enough, carry on sir.
Which communist country, and when? It’s hard to imagine anyone in any former communist country who was old enough to remember communism, and lived through the 90s, could think communism was worse.
Those problems are a million times worse in capitalism where each capitalist is a dictator responsible only to themselves and each politician is responsible only to their capitalist donors.
What about Communism depends on this, structurally? How, in any way, does Capitalism do better?
Where does Marx say that Communism is about equality?
The fact that people are downvoting you and saying no no you didn’t actually live through that is fucking crazy
It isn’t crazy if you know the first goddamned thing about what he’s talking about. Because then you’d know he doesn’t.
I summed it up in my response to them, but essentially they have a confused idea of what Communism even means. It’s perfectly possible for them to have grown up in a Communist nation, but 2 points stick out as confused:
They believe Communism structurally depends on “good people not being selfish” without elaborating, and
They believe Communism to be about some vague “equality,” despite Marx arguing against said very notion.
Agreed, but I am sad that they don’t choose to share any of those personal experiences that they claim are vital for understanding communism.
Even if communist revolutions tend to fail for the same reasons most revolutions fail (a need for temporary authoritarian rule followed by fumbling the succession) anything that can help understand how and why something failed is useful.
This is why
authoritarianism is infinitely preferable to authoritarianism + communism + famine + repression of speech etc etc
Why?
For a revolution to succeed you need the power to remove any people in power that oppose you, doesn’t get more authoritarian than that.
If everything is shared while living a communist way of life, that would include political power. This makes communism a direct democracy.
Does that sound like the country you’re thinking of?