As I wrote to Guttermouth, communism as posited by Marx/Engels is a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes (one class ruling over another). This does not mean that people will not own anything, but under communism no one person would be able to amass …
As I wrote to Guttermouth, communism as posited by Marx/Engels is a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes (one class ruling over another). This does not mean that people will not own anything, but under communism no one person would be able to amass trillions of dollars off the backs of others. No one who has to do actually work or pay others what the work is worth in terms of production can amass riches like that. For instance, the wealthy plantation owners in the Southern US could never have been able to support their lifestyles without slaves who worked for nothing. They would have had to do the work themselves or pay a fair price for the labor. Rockefeller could never have amassed his fortune if he did not EXPLOIT the labor of others. Now we all know that these empires are not acheived by worker exploitation alone. There is always murder and theft involved as well. If anyone stands in the way of these people, they are wiped out, displaced or just taken from (stolen)...and since the laws were/are writ even from the beginning by and for the wealthy, the law ultimately serves the wealthy. Rulers fear above all else uprisings of the peasants/people and the ideas of communism have been demonized and propagandized to keep us from considering the theory of a classless society of people who govern themsleves. The theory of communism/socialism also has been twisted into the communitarianism we are seeing today, where we are asked to give up our liberty and individual sovereignity for what we are told by "authority" is the common good or the greater good, a trope used by the Nazis. We are told not to be selfish and then made to feel sanctimonious when we join the herd and obey. That's not communism, but I do think there is social pressure like that in China (don't know for sure because I am not Chinese no have I been to China, which is not communist at all because it has a top down government and billionaires. Anyway, I am just trying to make the distinction between what communism is in theory and what we is being pushed on us today. What are your thoughts, Kitten, on why you see this as a push into communism?
As I wrote to Guttermouth, communism as posited by Marx/Engels is a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes (one class ruling over another). This does not mean that people will not own anything, but under communism no one person would be able to amass trillions of dollars off the backs of others. No one who has to do actually work or pay others what the work is worth in terms of production can amass riches like that. For instance, the wealthy plantation owners in the Southern US could never have been able to support their lifestyles without slaves who worked for nothing. They would have had to do the work themselves or pay a fair price for the labor. Rockefeller could never have amassed his fortune if he did not EXPLOIT the labor of others. Now we all know that these empires are not acheived by worker exploitation alone. There is always murder and theft involved as well. If anyone stands in the way of these people, they are wiped out, displaced or just taken from (stolen)...and since the laws were/are writ even from the beginning by and for the wealthy, the law ultimately serves the wealthy. Rulers fear above all else uprisings of the peasants/people and the ideas of communism have been demonized and propagandized to keep us from considering the theory of a classless society of people who govern themsleves. The theory of communism/socialism also has been twisted into the communitarianism we are seeing today, where we are asked to give up our liberty and individual sovereignity for what we are told by "authority" is the common good or the greater good, a trope used by the Nazis. We are told not to be selfish and then made to feel sanctimonious when we join the herd and obey. That's not communism, but I do think there is social pressure like that in China (don't know for sure because I am not Chinese no have I been to China, which is not communist at all because it has a top down government and billionaires. Anyway, I am just trying to make the distinction between what communism is in theory and what we is being pushed on us today. What are your thoughts, Kitten, on why you see this as a push into communism?