Do you think Communism can ever work?

Question

I don't think so. Those left-wing hippy type people who always think that we can create some stupid utopia are seriously on drugs (besides the weed they already smoke). Communism cannot work because people are inherently selfish.

Answer 1

People may be somewhat selfish but it serves the interest better to work together, thats why the means of production in society is socialised.
Also if you examine how communists agitate they tend to target working peoples' personal problems which are connected to wider failings of capitalism, such as wages of people, unemployement of people etc. This is opposed to religious organisations who appeal to people to be more generous and give money to the third world.
Moreover the system communism itself rationalises itself not through altruism but rationalism. Since the majority of society live in poverty it serves their personal interests to take the wealth from the richest and redistribute it.
Also in a communist society the term "each according to their abilities and each according to their needs" does not refer to what liberal theorists would consider needs in the 1800's or the basest poverty in third world but would somewhat mirror the needs of people in modern western societies. And since people can live with those needs without the breakdown of society into universal competition today(and the only time that society suffers breakdown is when people's needs are not taken care of-- Argentina due to neoliberal reforms destruction of its economy).
Also there doesnt have to a be a centralised organisation to decide everybodies abilities since this isnt even need under capitalism why would it be needed under communism.

If this is a reference to corruption in current and previous societies with socialist modes of production. The thing here is they were all based on countries of great poverty before the became socialist and thus due to the lack of satisfaction of human needs there need to be a body(the state) which repressed societal breakdown, in order for this state to function and be made out of people these people need to be priviledged over the poor. It needs to be based on not only the most advance productive forces but the whole of the worlds productive forces and resources. This is why russian marxists where so concerned with the idea of permanent revolution and the struggle against the bureacracy.

What is also better about communism is that it plans the economy rationally rather than leaving it to uncrontollable market forces

Finally I dont smoke weed or do any other drugs and im not a hippy. Just because I dont think the same things as you doesnt mean Im an intoxicated irrational hippy(as you intend to portray them).

Answer 2

Communism was a dictatorial socialistic system.
Dictatorial systems are more efficient than other systems of government.However the dictators are always tempted to take advantage of the people to their own favor.Such was the case with communism where they restricted people to mere poverty level while the Cadre had all kinds of benefits and priviledges.They were living on the backs of peasants and workers.
So on a practical level a centralized goverment a la communist style where freedoms that are naturally inherent to humans were totally denied, becomes a tyranny.
Therefore the communist system does not work for the good of the people,because of the leaders taking advantage robbing the people.
Another system called communalism worked among people who are altuistic.Since Human nature is basically not altuistic it is dificult for a government to use such a system to a perfectly sucessfull degree.

Answer 3

I think equal cooperative and autonomous control of industry and industry alone can and will eventually work. Collective ownership of property however is a terrible idea and all the political aspects of communism should be separated and in fact do not work properly. They are separate issues and don't really have anything to do with the fabric of economics. The idea of giving people hand outs, in my opinion, does not work and will never work. The idea of people being inherently selfish is only true of some unenlightened people, but I do agree that the majority are this type. The autonomous and cooperative control of industry is the right of the society and not the individual...Industry is social by physical nature plain as day, you involve workers and consumers...and therefore should be owned as such, not considered private individual property.

Answer 4

I'm glad to see, Vitas, that you have looked to utopian ideas for a glimpse of communism, as opposed to totalitarain regimes such as the old Soviet Union and Mao's China.

The basic tenet of communist thought: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" has a nice ring to it, but is doesn't play well with the OTHER basic tenet -"The state shall wither away."

Why? Because SOMEONE (or some group) has to decide what your abilities are, and whether you're making the most of them, and then someone has to figure out if your needs are really needs, and how best to satisfy them. Those who have great ability may end up leaning toward leadership; and those with really great needs may lean toward, well, being tossed out. And so, except in the case of relatively small groups where everyone is personally involved with everyone else, it doesn't usually work out very well, because individual preference is of secondary importance to the welfare of the group. Its that "selfish" thing you mentioned.

And so, successful societies tend to be a mix; democracies have an element of communism in them, because everyone gets to an equal right to vote (in theory). But then, once the votes are in, everyone has to go along with the result until the next vote, and meanwhile you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't violate whatever was voted on. The idea is to create a balance beween individual preference and group welfare. And it never really is in balance -its more like trying to keep both ends of a see-saw off the ground by making constant adjustments of your weight somewhere in the middle. Now this way, now that -always adjusting.

But there's something to be said for all those hippies working in their fields, smoking their dope and experiencing the bliss of acid. Keeps 'em out of MY neighborhood!

Answer 5

Communism is a utopia, Marx wrote it because it is the ideal type of goverment order, however he said that it is no more than a model. Socialism however may work, but in the socialism that was established in russia wasnt what Marx wrote, because it wasnt ideal and Lenins doctrines were very aggressive, which communism shouldnt be like. So communism will never work.

Answer 6

I agree that communists need to understand that their ideas are ideals that are not obtainable because of human nature... but don't lose site of the fact that their vision is IDEAL meaning that it would be nice if we could live equally. The most important thing to remember about communism is that it works great as a personal philosophy in a capitalist system. A so-called communist-capitalist could pay his employees a larger portion of the profits for example, instead of hording it for himself. Communists just need to understand it should be about the individual being WILLING to share the fruits of his labor, not being forced to.

Answer 7

It works just fine, in truly voluntary systems made up of high-moral-value people. Like convents and monasteries. When it's involuntary, you see what you've already seen: some free-riders or others of low ability take, while the others produce, until the productive class gets sick of producing. Then the ruling class (that produces nothing, of course) forces the producers to produce more; they resist harder, it takes more engorcers who demand more production from fewer producers... Everybody does the minimum to get through, and you end up with mass poverty, stagnant technology, starvation, and defections. Or you end up with wars and conquests. Or both.

Answer 8

certain, yet no longer precisely contained in the way Marx expected. the upward thrust of the dep. of exertions less than capitalism will unavoidably carry about capitalism rendering itself out of date. a number of technological advancements have positioned this outcome interior view: the IT revolution, open source software, nanotechnology, eco-friendly technologies and distributed ability era. easily, as technologies advances, there'll grow to be a lot less elect for massive-scale, capital intensive industries. Small, agile, resourceful agencies will benefit a aggressive benefit over huge multinational organizations. a transforming into form of, individuals are operating as contractors and specialists, and traders are in search of for selections to capitalist economic markets. The logical end of those tendencies is the sluggish end of the capitalist classification. The transition to "communism" will extremely be the most suitable acceptance of the capitalist proper. Self pastime gained't flow away, nor will markets, nor do I anticipate a violent revolution. extremely, the inflexible segmentation of society into training will slowly deplete over many many years.

Answer 9

I remember during communism there was no difference between rich and poor,everybody could afford the same things,people felt more secure cause the state took care of them.Of course,there was a lot of bad things as well but people mostly like to remember good stuff.

Answer 10

To answer your question literally, I have to say no for the very reason you state. It's the human flaw in the system. Would Communism be good? Yes, it would. But, the closest result attained so far when factoring in humanity has been socialism.