Pros and cons of communism?

Question

I am doing a school project on communism and was wondering if anyone could give me some pros and cons?

thanks : )

Answer 1

Communism deserves a much worse reputation that it gets.

Here's the plain truth about Communism: it is a system that pervert's man's true nature, which is self-interest. While self-interest sounds bad on the surface, it is the primary motivator for the advancement of civilization throughout the ages. If people didn't want a better life for themselves and their families, they wouldn't work nearly as hard, they wouldn't take big risks, and they wouldn't use their innate intelligence to try and find some way to be prosperous.

The irony is, selfishness ends up benefitting all of society. Do you think that Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb out of compassion? Do you think Bill Gates worked so hard on Microsoft because he wanted people to be more knowledgeable?

Communism can only survive on lies and intimidation. Once people in Eastern Europe saw the truth about the West, they could no longer endure living like third class citizens while people just across the border relatively lived like kings.

Why do you think one of the first thing a Communist government does is take absolute control of the press? It's not because they want people to be informed.

Communism said it was going to create a new, selfless man. Instead, they created a nightmare. People under Communism are afraid to even speak with their neighbors, because a neighbor might betray your trust, and one slip of the tongue about not liking the government, and you are in serious, serious trouble.

Communism needs a lot of people to stay mediocre, so in school teachers will discourage bright students by always criticising their performance. It's an unstated rule that uncommon intelligence is seen as a potential threat. Therefore, if you show a tendency towards brilliance, you will be harshly treated and discouraged at every turn. Communism needs slaves, not cowboys.

My best friend in the Czech Republic is brilliant. He speaks three languages and is capable at everything. However, under Communism, he was being raised to be an auto mechanic, because that was his father's profession. Luckily, Communism ended just as grade school was ending for him, and the tests the democratic government issued showed his high intellect, so he was allowed to go to a high school that prepares people for Univeristy. Imagine, under Communism his life would have been wasted working in some dingy little car repair shop, probably less than 10 miles from where he was born.

Negative Points of Communism:
1) it perverts man's true nature, which is self interest. Self interest encourages people to work hard for themselves, creating the prosperity we know today, a prosperity completely unheard of in man's history.

2) can only live on lies and intimidation. The people in East Germany were brainwashed into thinking that workers in democratic countries were being savagely exploited, as if it were the 1930's depression era days with sweatshops. They told them the Berlin wall was for their protection, to prevent the hordes of westerners from invading their "worker's paradise". See the monstrous lies Communism needed to survive?

3) Will never have the support of the people, because everyone yearns to be free. Therefore, it can only survive in a police state environment.

4) Economically, it makes everyone poor.

5) Socially, it makes everyone distrustful. People didn't even dare talk to their neighbors under Communism. You never knew who the government was paying to snitch. In Communism, the police would stop you on the street for no reason and demand to know where you were going and why. They had ways of discovering the truth; you don't want to know. Also, socially it just made people mean. You will hear this a thousand times if you travel in former Communist countries. People always seemed to be in a gray mood under Communism. No one was polite, no one smiled. No one would help you.

6) Spiritually, it was devasting. Practicing religion was not wise, and you would always be looked on with suspicion, and denied certain privileges.

7) In terms of freedom and personal liberty, you couldn't travel without permission. You had to live in the housing (often small, disgusting and substandard) the government provided, and you had to live where the government assigned you a job. In essence, you were the slave of the government.

8) Few civil rights: You could never speak out against the government, and hence Communism is like a self-perpetuating institution. You can't call for its abolition.

Now..................... the advantages of Communism (I'll bet you thought I'd forget this, right?)

1) Materialism and consumerism did not corrupt people. Since you had so little money, you couldn't waste your free time buying things you neither need nor use.

2) Abysmal poverty did not exist. You might live in a very small, depressing little apartment, but you had a minimum amount of food and social services, such as doctors in case you got sick. (Communists needed to keep the slaves healthy)

3) Everyone had a job. Even if you just passed out toilet paper in a public restroom, or swept floors at night, you had work. (this is probably a good/bad scenario; depends on whether you really wanted to work or not)

My last thought on Communism will surprise you. Even though I despise it as much as Ronald Reagan, people had to develop a self-reliance under Communism because you could never count on getting someone to fix your pipes, repair your furnace, or replace the windows in your aging home. You had to figure it out yourself. Also, it sometimes generated a spirit among the people like men in the army. They are all sharing the same deprivations, and this builds comaradarie.

Answer 2

Real communism has never "really" been practiced, except by religious groups (i.e The Kibbutzim http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz or even the Apostles in Christianity).

Socialism has been practiced and is still alive today. In terms of Socialism there are theoretical "pros" and historical "pros".

A theoretical pro of Socialism is that all people benefit equally. That means there are no "poor" as we know it; society is classless; Health care is universal and equally accessible.

Historical "pros" can be listed only in terms of what has been accomplished. In the Soviet Union, a country that was not even recognized by the U.S. until the 1920s or 1930s, they were able beat the Capitalist countries into outer space.

Cuba has a higher literacy rate than the U.S for those of African descent. Likewise, infant mortality is lower for all Cubans (also significantly lower for those of African descent). They also have a much lower rate of adults living with HIV. There are no homeless in Cuba.

These accomplishments are due to Government run health care, education and disease prevention programs. They accomplish all of this in spite of an aggressive U.S. embargo on the nation.

You will no doubt receive plenty of anti-Communist rhetoric, so I will leave that to the rest of the posters.

Answer 3

The Book of Thomas
Phenomenology of Spirit Hegel Faust
The Communist Manifesto Karl Markz
Materialism and Empiriocriticism Vladimir Lenin,
James Evetts Haley, Sr., A Texan Looks at Lyndon: A Study in Illegitimate Power.

So if your really trying to educate yourself on true communism dialectics our the way of marks you should start at the beginning . Heres a list of books and to get it straight true communism doesn't yet exist. In u true communist society the tools would be returned to the man. meaning business would be employee owned there would be no Ceos everyone that works for his share in the company. The people of the States would own there resource and contract the mining and farming of its resources to employee owned companies. pros, better products meant to last and not end up in a land fill , people are able to do what's best for the people and there economies, sustainability the list goes on. Cons no more slave driving.

Answer 4

Pros:

Communism seems to be the quickest way to transition from an agrarian economy to a modern capitalist one. China managed to do that in about 3 decades. America and Europe took almost 2 centuries to make that transition.

Cons:

Poverty
Human rights abuses
Lack of freedom
Environmental destruction
Corruption
Nepotism
Decay of morale
Shortages
...

Answer 5

There are no pros to communism. It failed in every single last setting in which it was tried. Communism's founding principle is to engender a classless society. Unfortunately, instead of raising the poor, it simply did away with the affluent.

Answer 6

everyone is equal, and everyone works the same, pro,the
con, some are more equal than others, in other words the bosses rule and the workers work.

Answer 7

No pros. But I would consider some real research for a school project...