Hi, I know that Russia fell as a result of communism, but what I dont understand is, how is communism different from capitalism? In where I live and have lived, I have always known that people work in various capacities in various jobs and earn money and live. So how is communism different? In communist countries. does everybody earn the same amount irrespective of job or position? If everybody earns different amounts in different jobs, isnt it capitalism? What makes communism any different? Are there taxes in a "communist" country? If they sell goods and services for cash at different prices in a "capitalistic" or "semi-capitalistic" country, do they sell all goods at the same price in a "communistic" country? If they sell different goods at different prices then isnt it capitalism? I really dont understand what communism is so please somebody patient explain me what is the meaning of communism. Why Russia fail. If communism is all about sharing what you have then how we can say it doesnt happen in capitalism?
Russia didn't fall as a result of communism. So far, there is no real communist state. u can visit http://www.marxists.org/ it's totally free, with no prejudice and under no political influence the introduction guide is very helpful and easy to understand i suggest u start with "Wage Labour and Capital" regards
Russia fell because COMMUNISTS tried to implement COMMUNISM. It was a catastrophe, as it has been in every other country where it has been attempted. In fact looking at history, it is clear that communism does more damage to your economy than being bombed to smoking rubble. And that's not counting the the human costs. However, there will always be apologists.
I'd say part of the reason communism failed was because those promoting communism associated it with communalism. The problem was that they failed to recognize the differences between communism and how communal societies operated. Even in some communal cultures there was privately owned property and kings,cheifs etc didn't own all the means of production or dictate the value of goods being traded. That was determined by barganing,not price controls.
im not an expert, but i think communism should focus on social justice (eliminate any form of deprivation) and communism should protect private property. it's not contradictive at all.
I think communism has failled in the past because the 'classical' marxist recipie for a revolution involves a period after the revolution called "the dictatorship of the prolitariate" this is what you might call the 'terror', anyone identified as a counter revolutionary, is eliminated or imprissoned. Unfortunately, when you put someone in power they never get bored of it, so most revolutions have never progressed past this point. I was chatting with a Check (i'm sure there's a Z in that word) he was raised in the former USSR and said he was told that this period was socialism, and that oneday we would all live in perfect communism. This 'jam tommorrow' attitude reminds me of christianity; if we all do as we're told today, then oneday we'll be rewarded with a wonderfully free and fair society, maybe. So i urge you all to join my new political movement, 'Utopian Anarchist Tendency'. You needent be a utopian anarchist to start with, just to have tendencies in that direction. peace x darn i don't think i answered any of your quesions did i?
Russia fail because it was trying to compete with the US and remain a super power. Big mistake that lead to it is economic collapse and downfall. It was too worried about it is external problems than it is internal, people were going hungry while the government was trying to out produce a capitalistic nation on arms production. Stomachs come before guns.
Why have China and Vietnam moved away from Communism? They weren't competing with the U.S for super power status like the USSR.
To put it simply, communism isn't focusing all it's efforts on improving its economy whereas capitalism is.. but obviously, if you're a communist state/country living in a mainly capitalist world, you're going to fall short and not be able to provide for your people. That is why communism fails in my opinion.
Between China and the Soviet Block there were enough communists around. Ever wonder why capitalism never needs to blame communism for its failings?
Their primary ideologys were focusing on seperate things (ie the economy in Capitalisms case, and bridging the gap between the rich and the poor in communisms case). Capitalism has it's own failings brought about by it's ideology, for example, in the US, increasing corruption in high places and reliance on war and oil to keep the economy from crumbling. $500 billon dollars in debt, I wouldn't be suprised if they have certain wars planned. The US spend more on 'defense' than all of nato + china combined, yet there is never a real, imminent threat. The irony about it is the army and the war machine in general is mostly comprised of people who would be poor if they didn't join.
communism/capitalism are more or less the same product, given enough they end up mirroring each other. the loss of liberty, the reduction of the population to uneducated oafs only good for chanting mindless mantras and cannon fodder. men can't be changed from who they are. given though there will be a tiny fraction of the population that even thinks for themselves, brains alone are not enough in an ocean of bestiality.
My question is: why did the US feel the need to stop the spread of communism? Like it was some sort of disease? So basically, whenever people aren't happy with the government, they blame "radicals" and "liberal" and "communists". I believe it was Isabel Allende who wrote about something like "communist bastards who eat little children." If you're different, then you're bad? I guess to the capitalists...
start with? fuck, no, man, thats not easy reading, and not something to start withh. The manifesto is the thing to start with
Capitolists extole freedom, the freedom to do whatever you want. Which is meaningless if you don't have any money. Freedom to starve and live in a cardboard box? Cuba has much better health care and higher rates of literacy than the US. Castro is not perfect. I do find it funny to hear bush criticise Castro for human rights abuses, when US has Guantanamo bay prisson camp (illegal under international law) on a US base on cuban soil, which it was ordered to leave by the UN in the 60s.
I didn't know that. Under capitalism, the capitalist class ("the rich") owns the means of production (factories, etc.). In a communist society, class no longer exists. In a communist society like Marx thought of, there would be no wages. In the transition period between capitalism and communism, called socialism, people will not receive the same wages. Some jobs include a certain health risk. Some jobs are harder to perform than others. No. In the transition period between capitalism and communism, taxes exist sometimes. Other times, it does not exist. I say Russia failed because of lack of democracy. Because the people, although they enjoyed many social benefits, were powerless, and the state ruled without any "checks and balances".
What matters most is whether you are an ally or an alien. US hated the former Communist Russia and now hate Capitalist Russia. It's not dealing with the spread of communism. It's just an excuse.
