Communism: What It Is, How It Could Work, And Why It Hasn't

Turkeyasylum Note to the reader: This post expresses political views of the writer that the writer no longer believes in.

Welcome to the first post in my One-Off Threesome. People seem to be uneducated on what Communism is, except for most people in the western world associate it with strictness, loss of human rights, atheism, prison camps, or worst of all, pure evil. But we seem to neglect what Communism is and why it was created. Go ahead White House, question me all you want for this post, but remember the first amendmant of the US Constitution. This blog post outlines what Communism is, why it was created, why it could work, and why efforts in the past have "failed".

Before I get into the meat of what this ideology is about, I will tell a story. I one dreamt of "traveling the world for a documentary series", which I still do today. When I told that to my dad one day, he told me I couldn't go to North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, or China because they were Communist (he failed to mention Laos). I had asked why, and he told me it was because "the government controls business". This is partially true, but he failed to mention more about what Communism is. This goes to show how us Americans are told how Communism is bad because of the Cold War (tensions between the USA and USSR over ideologies), when it's not even that bad of an idea.

Now to what Communism is: simple, it's an ideology for goverment. And how it works is everyone is seen to be an equal: equal wages, equal work, and equal social status. Because of this, businesses are government-owned so everyone has the same wage. This can benefit the poor because they wouldn't be pigeon-holed in having to pay for education. Also note college is free, and real estate is free also. But how did someone come up with this? It dates back to Karl Marx, who wrote a book called the Communist Manifesto, which predicted a war between the rich and the poor would happen when resources would get scarce. He thought Communism alone would prevent the war from happening.

Now to how Communism could work in these days: Communism itself has a few flaws in it: there's no way to get higher in society, therefore no passion to work your way up, and possible corruption. In the past, Communism has been contaminated with the idea of a dictatorial state, resulting in totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is simple: it's where everyone is equal in society except one person who is far above the rest. An example would be the USSR during Joseph Stalin's rule. Additional note: that is why totalitariansim is also known as Stalinism. If we tweaked Communism a little bit, maybe some wiggle room in salary (but not too much), a Constitution protecting the government from totalitarianism, and the freedom to practice your religion (often Communism doesn't allow religion), Communism would be a flawless system that would allow harmony.

Now to the obstacles to go through first: the world is mostly Capitalist, with a few Socialist and Communist minorities, so adjusting to the new and improved Communism would be hard. In addition, of only a small amount of countries switched, it would be possible the countries that stayed Capitalist would try to convert the newly changed states back to Capitalism. And finally, there's (I know I said it already) no urge to move up in society. That, my friend, is why Marxist Communism is a rairity in societites today.

Now, Communism has flaws, but Capitalism also has its fair share. Take the argument of "trickle-down economics". The argument goes that money acts as wine, and people act as wine glasses stacked in a pyramid, the wealthy at the top, the poor at the bottom. It goes where the wine is poured at the top, and trickes down to the bottom as the top cups get full. This is a strong belief to me on what Capitalism allows. But a Communist government makes sure this doesn't happen, so how do we make sure there's a balance between the clashing systems? Put a slight stagger on slalry so people can move up if they're at the bottom, leaving a strive to be more educated, but making sure the top 1% of people don't own 99% of the money (we're getting close here in America...).

But now to my wrap-up to this complicated post: I am not a Communist, a Socialist, or a Capitalist. I have my own set of beliefs for government, that many people don't know about me. And these beliefs would blend the plusses of Communism and Capitalsim together, neglecting the flaws of both. Now that you know my beliefs, all I have to say now is that, I don't care if you think this idea is a piece of bullcrap, you have your beliefs, I have mine. And, I am the same TopTenner, and I'm making a big confession here.

Comments

You've got a point, if it's you beliefs you can believe. - visitor (5/3/2015)

Note: I'm not trying to force you to believe a blend like this has to happen. I'm simply stating my opinion. - Turkeyasylum (5/3/2015)

I understand - visitor (5/3/2015)

Communism is based on Socialism, and it contrasts with Capitalism. - Pony (5/9/2015)

I understand where your point comes from. However, it is possible to mix two contrasting things to make something in between. - Turkeyasylum (5/16/2015)

.-. - CerealGuy (6/18/2015)