What Communism Really is

T. Dean · **Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:14 am**

I've got to say Theresa's right ... if you mean the branches of communism that most people are familiar with, Stalinism and Maoism. In fact it was the Russian communist leader Leon Trotsky who penned the term "state capitalism" when he described the economic system of the USSR. Like Trotsky, most of us socialist see the economic-political systems of places like the USSR or the People's Republic of China are nothing more than the products of authoritarian oppurtunists propped up by Marxist-Leninist propaganda.

Republican_Man · **Mon Apr 26, 2004 5:07 pm**

I still don't think it's ANYTHING like Capitalism, though...

Kate Janeway · **Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:42 pm**

And you have to admit, from a purely economical standpoint, the People's Republic is doing well enough.

Theresa · **Mon Apr 26, 2004 10:47 pm**

Capitalism by the state, RM. Not capitalism as we know it. By the people, for the people.

Republican_Man · **Mon Apr 26, 2004 11:04 pm**

LightningBoy · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:46 pm**

IntrepidIsMe · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:59 pm**

Love Ayn Rand,

Link, the Hero of Time · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:01 pm**

The song "Freewill" is about choosing what you believe in. And Many people believe in communism and socialism.

I dont think I can break it down into simpler terms.

Also people, Stop using the old USSR as a base for your ideas about what communism is. The Soviet Union was an oppressive, exploitative, class-divided society that pretended to be communist.

Republican_Man · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:03 pm**

It WAS Communist, Mr. Link, and that is what virtually all communist government regimes are like, or at least they're similar to...

Theresa · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:08 pm**

T. Dean · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 8:48 pm**

I agree with Link that we can't use the USSR, or the PRC for that matter, as an example of the communism that Karl Marx and Frederick Engels put forth (their idea of communism is the systematic eradication of government by an increasingly socialistic society established by a proletarian regime). You have to see it as the brainchild of Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung (whose aproach toward communism was complete control by the government to ensure their own power).
I don't believe in the Chinese government's propaganda. I realize they call themselves Communist ... but they call themselves Democratic too.

Theresa · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 8:58 pm**

Yes, but the USSR is still communism, even if it is a bastardized version of it.

LightningBoy · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 9:30 pm**

Republican_Man · **Tue Apr 27, 2004 9:32 pm**

Captain Dappet · **Fri May 14, 2004 9:26 am**

Communism as of now can't be done. Socialism must come first, before you even attempt Communism.

And the former U.S.S.R was ruled by Stalinism, which is a terrible form of oppressive governmental type. The creator of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Illyich Lenin, could maintain the nation in a good non-oppressive way. He wrote in his will that the party should NOT let Stalin come to power.

The Party ignored Lenin's wishes and put Stalin in power instead of Trotsky, ruining the idea of Soviet Socialism forever.

And if anyone goes for the lame excuse that it is not possible because of "human nature", let me tell you this; Human nature is a human product. Some 1000 years ago, it was "human nature" to EAT eachother in some places.

Additionally, the world did not change from Feudalism to Capitalism overnight, and it will not change from Capitalism to Socialism overnight, either.

And lastly, Karl Marx himself said on the form of Marxism some use:
"If that is Marxism, then I am not Marxist"

EDIT: There are more things I want to add. You say Communism disregards what people thinks? Stalinism and Maoism disregard what people think. Communism is ABSOLUTE freedom, if it is done right, which, as I said, is not possible. Yet.