893
The Democracy of the founding fathers was Greek Democracy, predicated upon a slave society, and restricted to only the elite. This is the society we live in today, even with our reforms towards direct representation. The system is inherently biased towards the election of elites and against the representation of the masses. Hamilton called it “faction” when the working class got together and demanded better conditions, and mechanisms were built in (which still exist to this day) that serve to ensure the continued dominance of the elite over the masses. The suffering of the many is intentional. The opulence of the wealthy is also. This is the intended outcome.
I didn't say it was an intentional policy by the USSR or Stalin, but that, in the end, the famine was artificially caused by the reckless policies of the USSR. It's not a coincidence that it happened just after the first five year plan was implemented in the whole USSR and the famine propagated throughout the whole union.
Please provide sources, I couldn't find any. Also, talking about the "western powers" before WW2 is just an historical inaccuracy. In the 1930s the soviet union did indeed export large quantities of grain to pay for heavy machinery, but afaik there was no coercion in this. Among other trade commodities exported by the USSR there were oil, timber, furs, minerals and other raw materials, which were traded primarily with Britain and Nazi Germany (culminating in 1940 with the German-Soviet commercial agreement)
What information? That the SK economy is doing a lot better than the NK one? By the way, while NK was cut off from western trade and western aid, it did have full access to the other communist and third world countries, including China and the USSR, which sent significant aids after the end of the war to help reconstruction, canceled or postponed their debts and gave lots of money and equipment. On the other hand SK was also heavily propped up by the US and at the same time was cut off from communist trade and aid. The USSR recognized SK only in 1990, before collapsing and China only did so later in the 90s, with trade happening some time before that in the 80s.
And in all of this I'm not saying that the US were always right in their actions or judgement, or that their form of rabid capitalism is the ideal economic policy, far from it. But from there to say that communism is great or even the answer to societal problems is really misguided. Communism as predicated by communist countries wasn't really that great. Also it always regressed to some form of authoritarianism.
Which countries do you think did to do communism really well and should be an inspiration for other countries to follow?
If we look at the material conditions of people living in what became communist countries before and after revolution, every single one has been a success. Life expectancy in pre-soviet Russia was under 30. Similar in pre-CPC China. Hell, even NK under its blockade as a tiny country has increased the life expectancy of its citizens by over 20 years. The average working hours in Russia were more than cut in half, and wages more than quadrupled. Wages in China have quadrupled in just my lifetime. At the time of the revolution Russia had one of the least educated populations in the world, and now have one of the highest, even decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Hell, to this day there are still more women as a percentage in science than in my own country.
China was by definition the poorest country in the world at the time of its revolution, and now it is legitimately the number 2 superpower, and outputs more STEM grade a year than any other country. There is not a single objective metric by which you can measure either country that would reveal anything other than a success, and not only a success, a massive success.
If you’re genuinely interested in learning what the USSR was allowed by capitalist powers to export, the soviet archives are exceptional, but I can also see if I can find a video or something for you, no promises, I read most of my information.
You also misread, my post said that NK was more developed than SK until the 80s, not that it’s economy is doing well now. It’s been under a brutal embargo for decades after that Axis of Evil speech, but still somehow has life expectancy trending up, which would be definitionally impossible if things were half as bad there as my news says.
I definitively live under authoritarianism capitalism. Maybe you don’t notice it because you have some privileges I don’t, whether that be your race or class, but I do. I am harassed every time I see a policeman. I’ve been pulled over and held at gunpoint because I looked like some other brown person. I’ve seen my friends houses raided and families harassed because they dared to report police brutality. I’ve been held in a chokehold by the police until I passed out for the crime of playing Pokémon go after dark and refusing to provide my ID. I have had friends murdered for being brown in public, and other friends who were beaten for the same. Thousands of people are in jail without being charged as we speak.
I think the obsession many westerners have with “authoritarianism” is extremely telling of their privilege. We live in authoritarianism capitalism. Authority exists, and currently it is primarily used to oppress the working class and minorities. It will continue to exist, and just because you are in a position of privilege doesn’t mean that hundreds of thousands if not millions of others do not suffer nearly daily abuses at the hands of the system, just within the U.S, but if we include the rest it is billions every single day.
The US the HIGHEST PRISON POPULATION IN KNOWN HISTORY, BOTH AS A PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION AND AS RAW NUMBERS.
What myself and other people want is that authority to be vested in service of the people, rather than in service of capital. We want a government that, instead of restricting the rights of their people or encouraging abuses of minorities, uses it’s power to oppress the oppressors. So put the Walton kids in prison, and return their ill gotten goods to the people. They deserve it, genuinely, so do many many other horrifically sick people who predate on the working class in order to line their already huge pockets.
China arrests their billionaires and executes them for exploiting the working class, we name colleges after them.
They were all just coming out from some of the most brutal wars ever tbf. In that sense any government in 1920s was a great success compared to the 1910s in terms of, you now, not killing millions or starving. Same for the 1950s compared to the 1940s. Any peace is better than war. None of those countries were independent, strong capitalist societies before the revolution. Russia was a feudal absolutist monarchy based on serfdom, China was an empire in ruin after numerous wars (against colonial powers) and Korea was pretty much just colony, of the empire of China before, then of the empire of Japan.
Yeah, sorry, don't know where to find them, or the article saying what you are claiming. Do you have a link? Btw, as for "western powers" in the 1930s, what do you mean? The US? Britain? France? Nazi Germany? Italy? Because at the time there was no NATO, the US wasn't really into projecting power outside of the Americas, and the alliances between Britain, France, Germany and Italy were really fluid and changed several times over the decade (at some point Mussolini was friendlier with Britain than Hitler, while Hitler was friendlier with Stalin than anyone else).
As for everything else, I definitely agree on the fact that the US system is fucked and should be reformed. I'm just not convinced that the system in communist countries is any better. Are you really certain that a communist system like that of China or the USSR or the DPRK would be any better? Do you think that moving to, say, China, would really improve your standing in society?
BTW, economically speaking, I regard China as a capitalist country with a dictator. There's really nothing inherently communist in their economy. They have billionaires and they don't execute all of them, only those who say or do things that cause the government to lose face, or that criticize the government in any way. There are companies, stock markets, bosses and employees, rich and poor.
As for Korea, we can't really know their condition, as they don't let anyone just enter and go where they please. They don't even let their people go outside of the country, not even to allies like China. This is what I call authoritarianism. You don't get to complain and you can't even leave, it's essentially a huge prison, isn't it?
In the end I don't see any reason to think communism is any better than crony capitalism. They are both radical ideologies that will fuck over the population in order to enrich the leaders. A middle ground would be best in my opinion. Capitalism with strong social policies and a democratic government with a plurality of ideas.
PS: if you are American, try moving somewhere else in the world if you are so displeased with your current condition. You can do it (which is something many people can't say) and you'll probably feel better, or at least expand your mind. Sorry to break it to you, but communism will NEVER, and I mean NEVER, happen in the USA. Keep hoping or whatever, but live your life first and foremost.