Ask a Red III

[aelf]

I was talking with a friend about Communist theory and his major point against it was that in a Communist society there would be no incentive to work because of "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need".
Because I'm not very good at Communist theory I couldn't articulate an argument against that. In the future, how should I respond to that assertion against Communist theory?

The answer would probably have something to do with a shift in incentive frameworks. As it is right now, within our hegemonic social structures, we find it hard to conceive of any forms of existence whereby the individual does not measure the cost and benefit of work from a primarily selfish angle. But socials structures in which this happened have, I believe, existed historically, particularly in communal societies. Therefore, it's clearly not impossible.

But let's turn the question around. Would a capitalist society be able to function in conditions of overflowing material abundance (achieved, for example, through technological breakthroughs in efficiently synthesising material goods from molecular building blocks)? Given that scarcity has been such a focal point in the organisation of capitalist societies, I cannot imagine how they could remain as they are when you take scarcity out of the picture completely. What would be the incentive to work then?

 

[Takhisis]

Tell him a simpler thing: Capitalism-> poor people. Explain how the poor people are not part of capitalism.

 

[caketastydelish]

Which language has the best communist literature written originally in that language?

 

[Traitorfish]

Probably German. You've got Marx and Engels themselves, Luxemburg and the Spartacists, and the Dutch-German council communists. (You've got the Frankfurt school, but I haven't actually read anything by them so I wouldn't feel fit to comment. I'm also not sure if they qualify as "communist",at least not collectively.) I'd say it's followed by French and English, and after that I'd probably venture Italian, but I'd be open to contradiction.

 

[caketastydelish]

Somehow I was very surprised that you didn't mention Russian.

 

[Ajidica]

While the Russians excelled at slogans and iconography they didn't really do that much to advance Socialist or Communist thought.

 

[Takhisis]

Which language has the best communist literature written originally in that language?

Das Kapital… 'nuff said.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Somehow I was very surprised that you didn't mention Russian.

Strangely enough, Russians were much bigger on Anarchism.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Somehow I was very surprised that you didn't mention Russian.

While the Russians excelled at slogans and iconography they didn't really do that much to advance Socialist or Communist thought.

The great volume of communist literature in Russian that is worth reading is by Lenin and Trotsky. As TF noted, there are dozens of German-speaking communist thinkers. After German, the big language is probably English.

 

[Takhisis]

Strangely enough, Russians were much bigger on Anarchism.

Makhno FTW.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Makhno FTW.

I can't think of a single thing Makhno wrote. I think Park was referring to Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Volin.

 

[Takhisis]

Practice v. theory, Cheez. Also, I'm a bit heavy on the sarcasm after enduring Romney's stream of lies.

 

[ParkCungHee]

I can't think of a single thing Makhno wrote. I think Park was referring to Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Volin.

And Tolstoy.

 

[Traitorfish]

It's also important to remember the extent to which Germany and the German language dominated the Second International, so you'll find a lot of non-native speakers producing a lot of their most important work in German, such as Lukacs (Hungarian), Luxemburg (Polish) and Pannekoek (Dutch).

 

[ace99]

While the Russians excelled at slogans and iconography they didn't really do that much to advance Socialist or Communist thought.

Says you.

When Leonid Brezhnev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he went home to his village to tell his elderly mother.
Brezhnev: Mama, you would not believe how far I've come. I now have a personal motor car and chauffeur who drives me wherever I want to go. I have an apartment in the Kremlin, better than you can imagine. I shop at a store only for Party members where I buy things not available anywhere else. And now that I am General Secretary, you can have all this too.
Brezhnev's Mother: All this is very fine, Leonid, but what will you do if the Communists come to power and confiscate your wealth?

 

[Takhisis]

So Ajidica's Leonid Brezhnev's mother?

 

[GhostWriter16]

Do you guys actually approve of Lenin?

 

[Takhisis]

You always use such simplistic phrases to cover everything, Dommy. THe name changed but you're still committed to the McCarthy blanket ban on redness.

 

[Traitorfish]

Do you guys actually approve of Lenin?

I approve of Lenin as an advocate of soviet power. I disapprove of Lenin as an agent of the party-state. It's not really possible to reduce it more than that without descending into caricature.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Do you guys actually approve of Lenin?

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: I've asked you before not to ask questions in such a provocative manner. We are well aware of your opinions here, you don't have to preface the fact that you don't like Lenin by using the word "actually," as if opinions other than your own are wholly unimaginable.