What is communism, and why is it so bad?

Question

..and why do people use "communists" as a derogatory term?

I've tried looking it up, so in your own words could be more helpful

Answer 1

Communism, at least in it's historical form, is the government running everything, including the factories, businesses, what it's people get paid, etc. It also does not respect it's people's rights and freedoms. They are there for the good of the state.

It is bad, because it is horribly inefficient, and because it completely stifles creativity and ambition, except in the arts and intrigue.

There is no place for the entrepeneur, the go-getter.

China has turned this on it's head. They've become a capitalist nation, but with a communist gov't that controls the social and political culture.

Answer 2

Communism is a very beautiful thing. It is a system where everyone puts in their maximum effort in their work, and they do everything in order to benefit society and ultimatelly themself. The leaders of the country are doing the same thing, and everybody gets an equal amount of money for what they do regardless of the responsabiltiy or the difficulty of their job.

That being said I also should mention that Communism in it's idealized form is impossible to be implemented as long as you are dealing with humans. People will not reach their maximum, and they won't put extra effort into their work, just to get compensated as much as the laziest person who is doing the minimum.

Another reason it is unimplementable is because in order for a communist society to function, you'll need checks and balances for the members to do their work in a moral way. And these checks and balances are functioning more or less for the regular people, but for the leaders, they have maximum power, which corrupts...always. It would corrupt you, me, and everybody else. These leaders usually take advantage of the system, and they become dictators. This happened in almost all of the coommunist governments. I say almost, because I did not study this, but I read a lot about it, so I do not know all of the communist governmets and their leaders.

Communist leaders realizing their power eventually like to make as many countries as they can to change to communism, since they can insert a puppet government and take advantage of the country, use it's natural resources for their own benefit.

So you could say that Communism is bad because of our humanity, and this is true. Human beings, needed, need and almost sure that they will always need checks and balances over their actions. But also this humanity of ours is what is capable to create wonderful things, if there is pure free competition. There are political systems where the people will try to give their maximum just to live better than their peers, and that is Capitalism. It awards the real amount for the value of an individuals actions.

Hope this helped...

Answer 3

The ideal end-result of Communism is the same as for Democracy: a pure workers paradise wherein all people vote equally and freely....except for a few things...

Communism is best described as "the ends justify the means". If paradise on Earth is achieved through the death of millions, then so be it in the Communist philosophy. The means to get there also differs from Democracy: In a Communist system, the state owns and controls all private property and the economy in a strict manner.
In a Democracy, the means to getting there are just as important as the end result: paradise on Earth. Individual rights to life and property are protected by an (imperfect) system which allows individuals a say in the operations of the state through their representative government.

Answer 4

Communism is a belief and economic system which, in theory, is governed by a very egalitarian working class: all are equal, there are no economic castes. In reality, the party elite enjoy all the privileges that the wealthy of a capitalist state enjoy.

All matters are centrally governed and planned; land is jointly owned; all business ventures are state-owned. Theoretically, this gives control to the workers that the state supposedly represents; in reality, again, it's the elite.

Pay is not awarded based upon hard work, good work or the amount of work it's based upon need. A parent of four gets much more pay than a parent of one for the same work done. Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff summed it up best: "They pretend to pay us, and we pretended to work" (or words to that effect).

Wages are set by the state; doctors, lawyers and technicians do not necessarily make much more than a cabbie or a farmer. You probably have a lot of money in the bank, but you can't spend it - the shops don't have much, and you have to stand in line to get your apportionment. You may have to wait years for a home phone line or a car; they are alloted based on need or availability, rather than demand.

Basically, it is used as a slur agains Democrats, liberals, progressives, and anyone on "the left," on the mantra that support for any government program except the military is inherantly communistic.

Answer 5

Communism is the most outrageous political system. It denies the existence of the uniqueness of each individual. It denies individual freedom, which has been proven to be the fuel for human creativity.
It provides absolute power for non-elected individuals, a ferment for corruption. Communist authorities have only one interest: to preserve their own power.
Communist is the political version of the Taliban or Muslim fundamentalism.
Look around: all communist countries are socially, financially and morally bankrupt. Soon after China recognized that, it became a roaring giant.
Despite of all the evidence slapping us in the face, some idiotic socialists and leftists are still dreaming.
Freedom is the ultimate human desire.

Answer 6

Communism in a nutshell is the belief that capitalism is a 'lesser' government, as feudalism is a lesser government to capitalism. Communists believe everyone should share the wealth of the country - so people don't get a wage, but get everything provided free for them by the government. In the US you get education paid for by the government - in a communist government everything from healthcare to food is provided free of charge - so everyone gets the same thing, and it's much fairer.

The main problem with communism is that it assumes that people WANT the same thing, and that they will be happy with it. Of course, everyone wants to have more than other people, so will fiddle the system so they get more - and the higher you go up the chain of government you go the easier this is, so essentially you end up with the same system, the more powerful you are the richer you are.

Communism is used as an insult by ignorant people who believe that socialism (i.e. higher taxes for better care for EVERYONE) is a terrible thing - an incredibly backward thing to think. Almost every european government has some form of socialism in their government - the US is one of the only countries in the world not to. It dates back to the cold war period, when communism was believed to be the complete opposite of the american way, that communists wanted nothing more than the absolute destruction of the american way of life, and of freedom. In reality there have been few totalitarian communist governments, and many (especially pre-stalin) communists really did want to the best for their people - but were defeated by corrupt officials.

Answer 7

If you are a capitalist, you work for yourself. You keep any profits and can become independently wealthy. If you are a communist, you work for the state and never become independently wealthy. The state doles out the necessities and, when available, the luxuries. A communist government dominates the people while in a democracy the people elect the government. Communism and capitalism are natural born enemies, much like dogs and cats.

Answer 8

Communism is a type of government, where EVERYONE is equal. There is no ownership, only over one's body.
Communism is a nice idea, and can sometimes work, just not in a large setting.
The system can only work within a small group, of a thousand, nothing more then that.
History has proved that this system cannot work in countries, like Russia or China.
What happens is, everyone might be equal, equal, as in poor.
It's sad to say it, but it doesn't work, and I wish it could.:(

Answer 9

It works in small groups. Everyone does what they are capable of and it contributes to the group welfare. In large groups, such as a nation, It's too easy for unscrupulous people to gain power over others and say they "need" a bigger share of things. It leads to classes of people, not fairness. Other types of government seem to be having the same problems though.

Answer 10

Study the old Soviet Union.
Stalin murdered over 20 million of his own people in order for Communism to rule.
Mao killed many more of his people than that.

It's common knowledge and easy to look up. How could you Not know this?