Are the princibles of communism good

[Swiss Bezerker]

I was wondering if the priciples of communism were though of as good or bad by the CfC community. This asummes that their is no or little corruption and food and such can arrive at its required destination, removing the problem of starvation and lack of suplies. What's your oppinion?

Edit: the definition of communism is: a form of goverment where all people work towards a common goal of making as much stuff as possible. Then the stuff is equily devided amonst the population by the government.

 

[MjM]

If its so great in theory how come it doesnt work?

 

[Comraddict]

there is no ideal gas.

 

[sanabas]

If its so great in theory how come it doesnt work?

Same reason democracy doesn't work. People are selfish & greedy.

 

[MjM]

Democracy works. Maybe not a perfect one, but look at most 1st world countries (if not all, correct me if wrong) but they are Democracies.

 

[cgannon64]

The priniciples of communism are not good. The primary principle of communisn isn't charity, it is compulsory charity.

 

[blackheart]

The priniciples of communism are not good. The primary principle of communisn isn't charity, it is compulsory charity.

I think they prefer to call it state-enforced sharing

 

[Urederra]

... This asummes that their is no or little corruption and food and such can arrive at its required destination, removing the problem of starvation and lack of suplies...

Those asumptions bias the poll. It is like saying. Could communism work if there is not envy nor laziness in the world? Envy, especially amongst the ruling ones (sorry but even in the communism there are rulers of the party = the nation) generates corruption and, If the mana-government gives you food and shelter, why bother to go to work?

But, if there is not envy, food is everywhere and for everybody, you have your house and your CIV IV game, and the rulers don't tell you what do you have to do, then, Why should you bother about what type of government you have?

Anyway, since communists use to like to tell you what you have to do too often, then, it won't work.

Given the same wonderfull asuptions, (no corruption, and food and the such for everyone), my choice would go for a government less restrictive for my personal freedom

 

[SoulRipper]

If its so great in theory how come it doesnt work?

It does work. It worked perfectly in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until Josip Broz Tito died. Well, at least in the Federated Socialist Republics of Slovenia and Croatia.

 

[sysyphus]

I hate when people refer to commuism as "evil", that is plain ridiculous. There is nothing morally apprehensible about it.

That said, it is not a good economic practice. It doesn't work on paper for a very simple reason. Whether democratic or authoritarian, all economic resources are handled through the government, therefore all decisions and economic practices are determined by a single body, even if different elements of that body have different opinions, everything is done in one way, and therefore is subject to political influence, thus keeping many good ideas and practices from coming to fruition.

In capitalism, since economic activity is supported by the resources of the individuals, people of differing opinions and ideas can exercise those practices and ideas without political interference (except in cases where the practice will impact others, depending on the level of libertarianism). Therefore, all practices and ideas can come to fruition, and (in theory) the best will survive and the bad will die.

That's why capitialism is inheirently superior to communism.

This is all of course on paper, in practice there are checks required on capitialism, but it's still the better choice as a base system.

 

[Swiss Bezerker]

The priniciples of communism are not good. The primary principle of communisn isn't charity, it is compulsory charity.

thats the thing. In volentary charity mean people will benefit, while in communism, evryone benefits, beacuse the whole prosess of adveritisation and cost stress are removed

In capitalism, since economic activity is supported by the resources of the individuals, people of differing opinions and ideas can exercise those practices and ideas without political interference (except in cases where the practice will impact others, depending on the level of libertarianism). Therefore, all practices and ideas can come to fruition, and (in theory) the best will survive and the bad will die.

Unfortunatly, the induhvidual(notice the spelling)is to stupid to make their own decision, and ends up doing whatever the heck big companies want them to do. and since companies love tax cuts, thats usually voting rebublican (canadian conservatives are a different story)

 

[sanabas]

Democracy works. Maybe not a perfect one, but look at most 1st world countries (if not all, correct me if wrong) but they are Democracies.

I'm not sure if I'd call them working. Least broken maybe. US, UK, Australian, etc systems look to me like the two-party system is entrenched enough, and good enough at propagating itself, to make it very hard for actual democracy.


Democracy certainly relies less on people not being selfish & greedy, and therefore people being selfish & greedy in a democracy don't completely cripple it. People being selfish & greedy somewhere trying to implement socialism or communism do cripple it. Socialism or communism can work, but I'd be very skeptical & cynical about it working on a large scale. On a community level though, it can definitely work.

 

[littlehorn]

I say communism is the most beautiful pretext in the world. And that's all it has been until now.

If the mana-government gives you food and shelter, why bother to go to work?

Well, probably because such a life would be BORING. Not everyone need to do something, that's sure. But most of us need to accomplish stuff to feel good at the end of the day. And also, at the end of your life. So be it for money or just to DO SOMETHING, i'm sure people would work on their own.
You know, i'm pretty sure humanity started working on its own, it wasn't because some republican guy was there in the prehistoric days , sayin' work dammit ! work you slackers ! .

Besides , what are we talking about here? I hear democracy and communism are raised to the same level. This is wrong.
Democracy is a form of government , communism is an economic system. If you wanna make comparisons, you're gonna have to face Democracy with Dictature , or Capitalism with Communism.
Please note that Communism is not always about Dictature. And yes, the best is always the free . What is imposed by the force can last for some time, but it collapses eventually. Democracy is the only way to accomplish things and keep those things from the erosion of time. China will fall one day.

 

[Swiss Bezerker]

If the mana-government gives you food and shelter, why bother to go to work?

because the government will be very mad at you. And whent he government controls all food and suplies, its not good to piss them off

 

[Aramazd]

Communism is good on paper, but every communist society has not succeeded. The main reason is government corruption. If everybody got equal resources that would be fine, but I have read that members of the Communist party in the USSR were treated much better than the average working person. Greed motivates humans and communism suppresses greed. In practice communism comes down to the influence people have with the government. Another thing, why work hard or good if you don't get anything better for doing good?

because the government will be very mad at you. And whent he government controls all food and suplies, its not good to piss them off

AFAIK this has never been the case and if it was I have never heard of it. Most differences in what people got were due to the fact of if they were members of the communists or were political allies or enemies.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

I have recently read Karl Marxs's Communist Manifesto for AP Euro. In theory communism is a good idea, I still don't believe that the world can every achieve it. Though according to Marx, I shouldn't be able to as I live in the world of bourgeois who can't picture how a perfect world can function. I think capitalism has changed enough that a class revolt across the world is unlikely to occur, as workings standard of living has improved substancially compared to early industrialization.

 

[El_Machinae]

Communism works when the people are connected by bonds of affection - I can easily share 'pizza buying' duties with my friends, and my household functions well with everyone having chores and duties.

However, communism tends to reduce choice, and thus innovation. As well, the investment of profits needs to be done wisely. If everyone does their share, and only takes what they need, then there will be profits. The profits can either be distributed as luxuries or invested.

 

[Swiss Bezerker]

AFAIK this has never been the case and if it was I have never heard of it. Most differences in what people got were due to the fact of if they were members of the communists or were political allies or enemies.

but the government still wont be happy if you are not giving to the community by going to work

 

[Urederra]

because the government will be very mad at you. And whent he government controls all food and suplies, its not good to piss them off

Exactly...

And that is what every communist government in the world (Tito's included) has done. They ended up treating everybody as slaves/prisoners. Since they controlled all the food and suplies in the nation, they used it to control the population. They built walls (Berlin) to prevent people from fleeing away and they sentenced the bad boys to a starving death penalty or to brutal labor camps (archipelago gulag)

Communism is nothing but a mischivious form of feudalism where all the population is living like slaves/prisoners.

Why there are still people who think it is a great idea?

 

[amadeus]

100,000,000 dead would probably say "no."