Communism is bad?

[~kitty~]

My dad and his friend try to tell me that Communism is bad. They say "it's bad because many millions die under the Communist rule, lots of their own people, and it's a God-denying type of government, and supports dictatorship." They talk about how corrupt it is, and how it's evil and there are no human rights in Communist countries.

Apparently, anyone who uses the word "Imperialism" in conversation, or in politics, is a Communist, or extreme leftist. Someone tell me exactly what this is all about?

[TheSaxRunner05]

Re: Communism is bad?

Just go read some books about modern history and make your own judgments.

[bmah]

Re: Communism is bad?

I didn't really take your friend's/father's quote seriously as soon as they included "God-denying" as part of their reasoning.

In any case, the idea of communism is good. But the result never turns out as it is originally intended. That refers to the corruption, bureaucracy, etc. you're talking about.

More likely, however, most people misuse the word "communism". Some extreme Americans might say that Sweden or Canada is communist, when really, it's just a slightly lefter leaning capitalistic society. To be truly communist, it's a much longer road to the left than that. I suggest your father/friend don't swing that word carelessly; use the word as is it actually defined.

[~kitty~]

Re: Communism is bad?

I didn't really take your friend's/father's quote seriously as soon as they included "God-denying" as part of their reasoning.

In any case, the idea of communism is good. But the result never turns out as it is originally intended. That refers to the corruption, bureaucracy, etc. you're talking about.

More likely, however, most people misuse the word "communism". Some extreme Americans might say that Sweden or Canada is communist, when really, it's just a slightly lefter leaning capitalistic society. To be truly communist, it's a much longer road to the left than that. I suggest your father/friend don't swing that word carelessly; use the word as is it actually defined.

See, my problem is I don't know what the details are of what's actually going on, because both sides are saying the other is lying. Reading about it wont help because one will say the other is just writing with bias to brain-wash the other. My dad would probably say the people in all Communist countries have no human rights and are evil. Someone who supports Communism says that people hate Communism because it takes money from the rich Capitalists and redistributes the wealth to the poor. Then the counter for that is that the people working for the government takes the money that's supposed to be redistributed and leaves the rest of the population in poverty.

[bmah]

Re: Communism is bad?

Well then, it's up to you to decide what side to take. Read up on communism and capitalism on wikipedia (for starters), make the assumption that you're not being biased or poisoned by opposing influences, and then make up your mind.

Also, try to relate everyday things/practical aspects in life to the effects of capitalism and communism. Then you can gain an appreciation (or dislike) of these two ideologies. Up to you to decide.

[PriestREA]

Re: Communism is bad?

My dad and his friend try to tell me that Communism is bad. They say "it's bad because many millions die under the Communist rule, lots of their own people, and it's a God-denying type of government, and supports dictatorship." They talk about how corrupt it is, and how it's evil and there are no human rights in Communist countries.

Apparently, anyone who uses the word "Imperialism" in conversation, or in politics, is a Communist, or extreme leftist. Someone tell me exactly what this is all about?

I used to be quite leftist when it came to politics. However, my stance is still moderately leftist, but I've definitely moved to the right by quite a substantial margin.

Obviously bmah has touched up on this topic, but I just like to give my stance on things. Communism is strictly theory based. It's probably the most sound type of government; again, only in theory. It lacks the foundations when it executes in a country. For example, a doctor vs. a construction worker. The doctor has most likely devoted a large sum of his/her time to achieve a license to practice said profession. A construction worker (no offense if anyone works in this field), requires less in terms of post-secondary education than a doctor. Yet, the construction worker is bound to make the same thing. This leads to internal instability, revolt by the populous and protest for a democratic regime to reign supreme.

[~kitty~]

Re: Communism is bad?

Well then, it's up to you to decide what side to take. Read up on communism and capitalism on wikipedia (for starters), make the assumption that you're not being biased or poisoned by opposing influences, and then make up your mind.

Also, try to relate everyday things/practical aspects in life to the effects of capitalism and communism. Then you can gain an appreciation (or dislike) of these two ideologies. Up to you to decide.

These sources kind of do not provide the information I'm looking for. I'm looking for what both sides arguments are, actively, not just these things. I can't form an opinion if I only know the ideals of each Communism and Capitalism. I need to know what actually happens or at least what people think happens. From what I heard, it's not so bad in China. However, China isn't a truly Communist country, due to its open market. I'm not sure what to think, really. To what extent is there individual freedom in the Communist countries? Reading up on them doesn't necessarily give me this information, because there aren't really any "Communist" countries as the ideology wants it be... I guess.

[bmah]

Re: Communism is bad?

That's right; there hasn't been a single country that has worked out according to the true ideals of communism.

For your query, you'd have to do a lot more searching. I mean looking up the statistics of "communist" countries, reading up on documentaries, and so on. I can't really give you an explicit source, because what you decide upon is cumulative.

Maybe you can watch this for a start?

[PriestREA]

Re: Communism is bad?

These sources kind of do not provide the information I'm looking for. I'm looking for what both sides arguments are, actively, not just these things. I can't form an opinion if I only know the ideals of each Communism and Capitalism. I need to know what actually happens or at least what people think happens. From what I heard, it's not so bad in China. However, China isn't a truly Communist country, due to its open market. I'm not sure what to think, really. To what extent is there individual freedom in the Communist countries? Reading up on them doesn't necessarily give me this information, because there aren't really any "Communist" countries as the ideology wants it be... I guess.

I guess a common leftist argument is that of the more controlled the government, the more controlled the people. It's just a matter of the government needing control. One of the biggest arguments of a leftist person is that of equality, which is quite hard to explain due to its flawed basis and very poor foundation of ideas.

Any right wing politician or ideologist would easily argue that along the lines of "The freer the market, the freer the people." This is absolutely true, and that's also why China, as you said has broken the habits of communism and become the powerhouse of the world (or soon to be). It's growing by the largest amount economically in terms of every other country, and they owe it all to the open market.

To sum it up, leftist arguments are about governmental control, how the government is the authority and authority makes society for the better.

Right wing arguments are about freedom with minimal government involvement, allowing a free trade system and freedom for everyone living in said country. They believe that a foundation of good government is giving power to the people; as well as getting support from the people.

That's really the most I can help considering that I haven't really gone farther into history at the moment. Hope it helps.

[~kitty~]

Re: Communism is bad?

That's right; there hasn't been a single country that has worked out according to the true ideals of communism.

For your query, you'd have to do a lot more searching. I mean looking up the statistics of "communist" countries, reading up on documentaries, and so on. I can't really give you an explicit source, because what you decide upon is cumulative.

Maybe you can watch this for a start?

I will when I have my laptop fixed.

I guess a common leftist argument is that of the more controlled the government, the more controlled the people. It's just a matter of the government needing control. One of the biggest arguments of a leftist person is that of equality, which is quite hard to explain due to its flawed basis and very poor foundation of ideas.

Any right wing politician or ideologist would easily argue that along the lines of "The freer the market, the freer the people." This is absolutely true, and that's also why China, as you said has broken the habits of communism and become the powerhouse of the world (or soon to be). It's growing by the largest amount economically in terms of every other country, and they owe it all to the open market.

To sum it up, leftist arguments are about governmental control, how the government is the authority and authority makes society for the better.

Right wing arguments are about freedom with minimal government involvement, allowing a free trade system and freedom for everyone living in said country. They believe that a foundation of good government is giving power to the people; as well as getting support from the people.

That's really the most I can help considering that I haven't really gone farther into history at the moment. Hope it helps.

I know this already, however this pretty much explains the outer surface of what I want to know. I'm trying to find out the opinion of the inner workings of these places such as China, Korea, and the other countries that claim to be under Communist rule.

How does the Communist rule kill their people? What do they do to kill them? I heard from one source that China doesn't allow you to speak about God. From another, I heard that the people of China tolerate religion to an extent and allows you to practice some religions as well. I don't know the details, so I can't really have a stance there. As for North Korea, I have no idea what they're doing. I'm trying to figure these things out, and watching the News provides really biased views of these things. I don't know where I can find credible information of these details.

[PriestREA]

Re: Communism is bad?

I will when I have my laptop fixed.



I know this already, however this pretty much explains the outer surface of what I want to know. I'm trying to find out the opinion of the inner workings of these places such as China, Korea, and the other countries that claim to be under Communist rule.

How does the Communist rule kill their people? What do they do to kill them? I heard from one source that China doesn't allow you to speak about God. From another, I heard that the people of China tolerate religion to an extent and allows you to practice some religions as well. I don't know the details, so I can't really have a stance there. As for North Korea, I have no idea what they're doing. I'm trying to figure these things out, and watching the News provides really biased views of these things. I don't know where I can find credible information of these details.

Well, I'm happy to look around at articles and see if I can find anything that matches the query =D

[TheSaxRunner05]

Re: Communism is bad?

I'd suggest looking for academic or professional sources, which tend to be less biased. Remember, every text has some bias because it was written by a human being.

[ffraxis]

Re: Communism is bad?

what kind of communism are you talking about guy, there are many different kinds of communist governments/doctrines.

start by looking at authoritarian/libertarian governments then slowly work away to find desired form of communist government (or make one up).

[Izzy]

Re: Communism is bad?

Communism is bad in practice, not in theory. And it is only bad in practice because it is near impossible to execute the concept of communism perfectly.

[kommisar]

Re: Communism is bad?

communism looks great on paper, but obviously the history of communism implemented in any given society is atrocious. because there's so much money coming in that's supposed to be distributed, it's hard for whoever's in charge not to profit off this. too much responsibility that can be easily abused and unless there's someone else who disagrees with you (democracy!) there's usually nothing to stop you from doing such. unless you get overthrown or some shit which would be funny to see in china lmao