Why have nearly all "communist" countries also become totalitarian?

Question

Isn't totalitarianism against core socialist principles such as liberty and equality? Why does the central economic, political and social control have to be placed in the hands of an oligarchy rather than the hands of all workers, or even all people?

Answer 1

There are those who would argue that the principles of communism, e.g., to each according to his ability, for each according to his need, have never been properly implemented in any communist state.

More fundamentally, however, the ideals of communism were used as a smokescreen for the pursuit of power. It can be argued that Lenin, Stalin, and other communist leaders were more interested in gaining power than in actually implementing any of the ideas of communism.

Probably the biggest reason is that many of the countries in which communism took root had no tradition of democracy in the first place. Russia is a good example; its current "democracy" is a joke and the country is reverting back to totalitarianism under Vladimir Putin. It can be argued that for the average Russian, things got worse under democracy and the "wild west" mafia-run capitalism Russia has now. On the other hand, the former East Germany, Poland, and a number of other countries have not reverted to totalitarianism.

Throughout this post I've been careful to talk about communism, rather than socialism--many Americans think they're the same thing. Social democratic parties have come to power in a number of countries and even a few Canadian provinces with no harm done to the populace or to democracy.

To get a better fix on communism and totalitarianism, read George Orwell. As well as being a novelist, he was a journalist who leaned left but who recognized the danger of totalitarian governments at a time when few others did.

Answer 2

Well the central theme in Marxism is that "the working class has to emancipate itself". There was no working class revoluton in Cuba, China or North Korea, therefore there was no socialist state established. In terms of Russia, the 1917 revolution actually saw the establishment of a workers state, with workers councils electing delegates who were paid the same as workers, and were revocable at any time the workers insisted on it. The delegates made up soviets. The soviets made up congresses. Lenin was the elected leader of the congress. Unfortunately, Russia was economically backward. You had a dimunitive working class side by side with a mass peasantry which was nothing short of Tzarist barbarism. The civil war after the revolution, and the subsequent invasion of Russia by 19 different imperialist armies (US, UK, Japan, Germany) and the Brest-Livosk treaty which chipped away a good portion of Russian territory to Germany just to get them out of WWI, destroyed whatever gains the revolution had made. The working class became practically non-existent after the civil war, since most of the people who had brung the revolution forth had either died in the civil war, or migrated to the countryside in search of food. Therefore the agent that had started the revolution was no longer in existence anymore, but the country was still in chaos, and the Bolshevik party still in existence. So the Bolshevik party had to supplement itself to rule the country in place of a working class in dissapearance. And with the rise of Stalin, things went to hell basically. I can explain to you more about this if you want.

Answer 3

You seem to misunderstand the core principles of socialism. All the socialist/ communist/ fascist/ nazi/ maoist (identical ideological concepts, different "faces") states are totalitarian- some use softer methods, that is all.
the main aim of that ideology is control. it places a small oligarchy in power, using catchy slogans to justify the move. One of the most famous such occurences was the so-called "French Revolution" where the "tyrant" King was overthrown by a bunch of "liberals" who soon intrduced the reign of terror and murdered hundreds of thousands of people- real opponents and anyone who even might think of opposition
exactly the same methods in Russia, germany, China...
The "soft" socialist states use legislation and propaganda to ensure their political power. Ideological opponents are ridiculed in the media or silenced by the enforcement of "hate speech" laws. State handouts ensure that lage electoral groups can become dependent on the "care" of the "state". Sure, it much nicer than the traditional bullet in the neck, but the aim is still the same- the oligarchs are in power, practically forever.

I know how the system works- I've spent most of my life under that system and "evil" capitalism is head and shoulders better than that.

Answer 4

Totalitarism is like democracy with capitalism, except with slight more controls.
Technically, the communist countries themselves were ruled by the "government" (like totalitarism) but with "common wealth" (which didnt exist for long), so to switch to capitalism, they just changed the way wealth is distributed, but they are still the same "government".

But in democracy, isnt the control placed in the government too? We have more rights than these communist countries, and we can choose our own "dictators". What these presidents choose to do, we cant control anyways.

Our own society has things that are against liberty and equality. Why are there never non-white, non-male president? If there WAS equality we would have seen them.
If there was liberty, then why would an investigator with "threatens national security" suddenly lose all his rights? Sounds like a communist state doesnt it? Against the government and you lose all your rights.

Answer 5

Communism is a governmental system. Socialism is an economic system. You can have socialism without communism--Britain was pretty socialistic, right before Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister--but, as a one-party system, communism pretty easily lapses into totalitarianism by default.

Answer 6

The communist theory says that in time the mediums of production (factories, industries and such) would go to the possession of the government, who will administer them to the common good. It is a false theory, but significant amounts of people believe it. A totalitarian government would pretend to believe such ideals so as to get legitimacy from people.

A totalitarian government cares only about getting and keeping the power. They may tell people that they are communists not only to keep them quiet, but also to justify their taking over the factories and such. They want this power not to benefit the people, but to reward loyalists and cronies. Besides, such control allows them to weaken opposition.

I should emphasise a totalitarian government cares not about theory, but only about getting and keeping the power. They may pretend to believe, and may supposedly move in that direction, but you will never see them yielding power.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

well... that's the problem...

but now many have social democracies that elect their leaders but still have socialist ideas in place...

but ultimately, they are accountable to the people... like in much of Europe...

in the past, it seems that many dictators used the dream of communism to gain power... and once they were in power, it's hard to get them out...

Answer 9

because socialism economically, is central control over the means of production.

it therefore almost always becomes under the state's control.

Answer 10

Greed!

Power!

Control!

They want to rule with an iron fist!