You see, communism, in theory, is great. The biggest problem is that it requires a benevolent authority to determine what is provided based on what is needed and wanted.
This is a problem because usually communist countries are structured at authoritarian, where the head of state, a person, usually some guy, is in charge of such things, generally with the help of those in the government. Being human and innately flawed and selfish, all communist systems thus far, seem to follow the same trend of exploitation and indentured servitude for the majority of the populous, meanwhile the “upper class”, mainly the elite and the person’s that make up the government live in luxury. More for them and the bare minimum for everyone else.
If this human factor problem could be resolved, then communism would be a great system. Everyone shares in the wealth and success of their countrymen. But since people are the cornerstone of any government, the system will always be prone to exploitation of the people.
As for Stalin specifically, I don’t see him or his actions as notably different than any other communist dictator. They are all equally terrible people for very different human rights crimes.
I like the idea of communism, but I wouldn’t trust any single person to be in charge… I wouldn’t even trust a coalition of people to run it. It would need the involvement of enough people from the population from all different walks of life to essentially vote on policy changes constantly in order to ensure that no individual or group of individuals is unfairly benefiting from the situation, which, that, in and of itself, would be a nightmare to try to put together, manage, coordinate, and abide by.
Capitalism under democracy isn’t a picnic, but at least there’s enough responsibility imposed on the system by the population that is being governed, that any exploitation is generally slowed at least, or eliminated at best (often the former and not the latter).
I… have a lot to say and not enough energy left to say it.
I would suggest that you’re conflating communism with Marxism-Leninism, which is a common mistake, since the SovUnion spent a good 70 years trying to make them synonymous (and their capitalist enemies being more than happy to assist), and that you should look into non-ML systems.
I’ve been to Cuba. I’ve never seen such a shit show in my life. There were still wealthy and the large majority were dirt poor.
Police everywhere. Military everywhere. Havana smelled horrible and there were massive food shortages.
That said the people were friendly. They talked how they wish they could go to America but they can’t.
It was sad. My polish friends described polish communism the same way and they were fairly high up in the party. As soon as they had the chance to defect they did.
You see, communism, in theory, is great. The biggest problem is that it requires a benevolent authority to determine what is provided based on what is needed and wanted.
This is a problem because usually communist countries are structured at authoritarian, where the head of state, a person, usually some guy, is in charge of such things, generally with the help of those in the government. Being human and innately flawed and selfish, all communist systems thus far, seem to follow the same trend of exploitation and indentured servitude for the majority of the populous, meanwhile the “upper class”, mainly the elite and the person’s that make up the government live in luxury. More for them and the bare minimum for everyone else.
If this human factor problem could be resolved, then communism would be a great system. Everyone shares in the wealth and success of their countrymen. But since people are the cornerstone of any government, the system will always be prone to exploitation of the people.
As for Stalin specifically, I don’t see him or his actions as notably different than any other communist dictator. They are all equally terrible people for very different human rights crimes.
I like the idea of communism, but I wouldn’t trust any single person to be in charge… I wouldn’t even trust a coalition of people to run it. It would need the involvement of enough people from the population from all different walks of life to essentially vote on policy changes constantly in order to ensure that no individual or group of individuals is unfairly benefiting from the situation, which, that, in and of itself, would be a nightmare to try to put together, manage, coordinate, and abide by.
Capitalism under democracy isn’t a picnic, but at least there’s enough responsibility imposed on the system by the population that is being governed, that any exploitation is generally slowed at least, or eliminated at best (often the former and not the latter).
I… have a lot to say and not enough energy left to say it.
I would suggest that you’re conflating communism with Marxism-Leninism, which is a common mistake, since the SovUnion spent a good 70 years trying to make them synonymous (and their capitalist enemies being more than happy to assist), and that you should look into non-ML systems.
I’ve been to Cuba. I’ve never seen such a shit show in my life. There were still wealthy and the large majority were dirt poor. Police everywhere. Military everywhere. Havana smelled horrible and there were massive food shortages.
That said the people were friendly. They talked how they wish they could go to America but they can’t.
It was sad. My polish friends described polish communism the same way and they were fairly high up in the party. As soon as they had the chance to defect they did.
Could we develop an AI to be our communist overlord?