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I support the concept of communism and I think it's sad that it never works. Am I sick in the head, or misguided? Please help, someone?
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com·mu·nism (kŏm'yə-nĭz'əm) n.
A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
Communism
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the proletariat.
The problem with communism is that it takes away an individual's desire to excel. If I can't obtain any more than you have, why should I want to work harder than you or anyone else.
It also reduces the incentive to invent.
It also takes away your right to decide what is best for YOU and leaves that decision to a dictator or committee.
Capitalism may not be perfect, but it does allow individuals a reason to excel, invent and accumulate for the future.
Communism is one of many, many theories that sounds like perfection on paper but doesn't really pan out. For all the anti-commie sentiment in America, most people don't want to understand that there's a very good reason so many large industrialized nations went communist -- because it sounded like a great idea.
But if you look at any political or economic system boiled down to its base components, they all sound good in one way or another. Even a dictatorship sounds good when you describe it like, "The wisest and strongest among us will decide the course our nation will take, and we the populace shall be free from worry and strife." Things tend to fall apart pretty quickly after that, alas.
But I also want to make sure that you aren't confusing communism (an economic system wherein there is no class and everything is owned collectively) with socialism (a political system in which the government provides for all the needs of the citizens). People often get them confused.
In certain circumstances Communism works well. If you look at an emergency situation like a plane crash the concept of private property quickly disappears. All resources are pooled for everyone's mutual survival. There are religious communes that are so strict that they don't even allow people to sleep in the same bed every night else they might start to think of one bed as theirs rather than belonging to the group.
Communism works best when resources are limited (as in my plane crash example) or within homogeneous groups (like religious communes). Nobody has been successfully making communism work in large heterogeneous groups (like the US).
Due to transportation and communication the world is getting more homogeneous and effectively smaller every day. Perhaps one day Communism will work and the world will be one big happy family. Perhaps in a few centuries.
cherubrocks, many people view the right to private property to be as fundamental a right as speech, religion, association, etc. For people with this viewpoint Communism is a totalitarian government.
Capitalism and Communism are economic ideologies. Democracy, Republic, Dictatorship, and Monarchy are political systems. In the past we have supported brutal dictators who were anti-communist while we have opposed democratically elected leftist leaders. For many Americans economic ideology is more important than what political system a country uses. We may talk pro-Democracy but the way we act is pro-Capitalism.
You know, like amblessed just confused communism and socialism. Actually, I think she might actually be confusing communism and fascism, but I'm not sure. She has a lot of political theory all jumbled together there.
And if we really wanted to stir the pot, we could take her comment of "everything government control - no individual rights - suppression and censorship" and make a very strong case that she's describing W. Bush's America. Nothing is as perfect or as terrible as some would have us believe.
everyone thanks so much for your comments. most of them were really helpful. amblessed, I think you're a little confused between a dictatorship and communism but eaach to their own I suppose.
If you want everything government control - no individual rights - suppression and censorship - then it's for you - definitely NOT for me !!
