Would you endorse communism if it meant...?

Question

... that everybody lives in villas with pool instead of concrete flats, drove BMWs instead of Ladas, and was restricted to travel within the entire planet rather than just some Eastern European countries?

Think about it, it would be like our lifestyle today, only better, because there would be no pressure to actually buy any of these things, the government would just give them to you on application, if after 10 years or so.

I guess what I'm really trying to ask is, did we westerners dread communsim so much because we thought it meant living in crappy flats and driving crappy cars in drab countries? Did we ever actually examine the concept for ourselves and visualized if we could make it happen with western values? I know, one of the biggest western values is "own your own stuff" - but who does? It's all mortgages, loans, and company cars... are we actually practising communism right now without knowing it?

By the way (and this is an addition), thank you so much everyone at this stage - you have really surprised me with your insightful and profound answers so far. I didn't expect this much consideration at all - great! have a wonderful day.

Answer 1

*** there would be no pressure to actually buy any of these things, the government would just give them to you on application, if after 10 years or so. ***

Well my hippie friend, that right there is a good initial reason most people are appalled at the thought of communism -- imagine having to apply to a government bureaucracy in hopes that it will decide to assign you things that you actually need in life. You know what you want and need; a government bureaucracy is absolutely incapable of possessing the information needed to determine what you want and need. So who makes the decision? The ignorant party with the obscure motives. That is just stupid. That is also just the first blow against personal freedom.

I could go on to explain the technical economics that a lack of a free market and pricing mechanism make it completely impossible for there to be any hope of the central planners to collect and process the hugely complex web of information needed to determine an efficient and productive allocation of resources. Even in theory, communism is doomed to egregious failure. In reality, you get North Korea.

Answer 2

No, the reasons we dreaded communism so much were: (1) Under the Soviet system it was a very repressive form of government where the state was god and ruled supreme, therefore there was no such thing as civil liberties, (2) The Soviet Union was bent on world domination and was proliferating weapons and technology in an attempt to take over the rest of the world by force, and (3) The Soviet form of communism did not allow for religious freedom -- they had a state-recognized form of orthodoxy and that was it -- nor did it allow for any type of expression or creativity that was not sanctioned by the state, and it gave no reward for working harder or coming up with a better way of doing things, so in short the Soviet system basically flew in the face of everything our Constitution stands for.

To answer one of your other questions: Yes, we did actually examine the concept for ourselves and determined that there was no way we could make it work. Communism in its purest form is still based on the presupposition that the essence of human nature is good. It's a society where decisions are made based on what's best for everyone and everyone gets an equal share. You need look no further than our own Capitol Hill to see that even our elected leaders make the bulk of their decisions based on their own selfish wants and needs. So we stick to our Western values, and "own your own stuff" is not really at the top of the list. Our capitalist system is based on the idea that people will work harder and be more creative if they are rewarded for working hard or coming up with new ways to do things or inventing new products that people want. To a large extent it has proven to be true, but as in all countries all over the world we have a bunch of disgruntled "have-nots" (by the way, Karl Marx was the EPITOME of a disgruntled "have-not") who believe that they should get everything they want handed to them on a silver platter without having to contribute anything to our society. Sorry folks, but you have to EARN it.

Answer 3

The Western world runs on innovation, creativity and reinvestment of capital.

Communism stifles the incentive to to be proactive in all of these areas.

So, no, it would be an utter and complete failure in the western world.

Why, you say.

After only a few short years of living under the communist banner, the majority of the people will realize that what they have is a free lunch. They can fall to the level of mediocrity and still live the same lifestyle as the person who works diligently to be a productive member of society.

Then, after a few more years, the productive members will finally realize that the majority of the people are living off of their hard work and then become completely disillusioned themselves.

In the end, you have classless mediocrity.

Answer 4

The problem with communism is that it ignores a basic prod to human nature. It assumes that everyone will work for the general good, without personally profiting from it. That doesn't happen. So nobody is going to BUILD the BMW's or estate villas because they aren't getting anything out of it. The only way Marxist communism CAN work is at the point of a gun. You NEED either a carrot or a stick.

Answer 5

But the world tried communism. Communism doesn't mean that everyone lives happily ever after. Communism meant restrictions of freedom and travel, shortages of products, and living in concrete flats.

You are essentially wishing that communism worked, when it failed miserably everywhere it's been tried. There's a reason that countries like Russia, China and Vietnam have abandoned economic communism. It's because it didn't work.

Westerners dreaded communism because it meant giving up many freedoms we hold dear. Freedom of thought, freedom to live as you choose, and where you choose. Freedom to work where you want to obtain what you want. Freedom to benefit from your creativity and hard work. All were sacrificed under communism.

Answer 6

Nice thought.

But communism is a failed experiment. If life was all villas, pools and Beamers, who would be the trash man, or the street cleaner, or sewer worker?

Your opinion shows the positive side of communism, the free receiving. But for every positive action, their is an equal and negative reaction. What would your society contribute to live like this.

And when everyone is "equal" the government is often above all, and strong, and corrupt.

Thanks anyway, but not my idea of utopia.

Answer 7

i agree but most people are not that open minded ,they only think negatively.