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this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2025
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And this, folks, is why I prefer to live in a democracy.
Perhaps some dictators are competent. But if they go crazy, you are truly fucked.
i’d like to point out that communism is an economic system whereas democracy is a social one, they are not incompatible concepts….
just because Stalin wasn’t a very communist regime but was brutally authoritarian and is widely criticized as “what communism is like”.
Communism under a dictatorship is a paradox. The people own and control nothing. The leader and their chosen circle own and control everything. That is neither communism nor socialism and it is not possible for either to exist in any authoritarian context.
I like the "moneyless" part of the definition, aka if you have a currency you're not communist. Which, to be fair, they didn't call themselves as a country.
Well, the problem is that to get to the utopia called Communism were everybody is equal, a Society has to first go through the Dictatorship Of The Proletariat after the Workers Seize The Means Of Production and, curiously (or maybe not so curiously if one understands at least a bit of Human Nature, especially that of the kind of people who seek power) none of the nations which went into the Dictatorship Of The Proletariat (i.e. all the ones which call or called themselves "Communist") ever actually reached Communism and they all got stuck in Dictatorial regimes (and I believe in not a single one of those is the Proletariat actually in charge: for example in China Labour Unions are illegal),
So whilst it is indeed not possible for Communism to exist in an authoritarian context, according to Marxism-Leninism to get to Communism one must first go through an authoritarian context and eventually from there reach Communism, hence why all those nations that tried to reach Communism never got past the authoritarian stage that precedes Communist.
Ahh... please tell me more about this human nature which is incompatible with communism while microplastics flows in your veins.
I think they were specifically referring to Marxism-Leninism. It is "human nature" to act in your own self interest, so any system with hierarchies of decision-making power will eventually become corrupt. We just have to take a non-hierarchical path towards communism.
human nature does not exist. explained it here:
https://blorp.blahaj.zone/inbox/c/youshouldknow@lemmy.world/posts/https%3A%2F%2Flemmy.world%2Fpost%2F38937776/comments/17913885
Agreed, that's why I put it in quotes. The way I should have worded it is that evolution has incentivized living things to act in a way that prioritizes their own survival over the survival of others. This is known as the survival instinct, or self-preservation, and is well established scientifically. This is a more appropriate argument against hierarchies of decision-making power than "human nature".
Re-read my post.
I was not making any human nature claims about Communism, I was making them about what happens when a dictatorial system is created, no matter how good the original intentions stated as the reason to create it.
The viability or not of actual Communism (as in, a classless system were everybody is equal) is a whole different subject. My point is entirely around the good old "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" effect and how that tends to turns supposedly transitional dictatorial stages into something permanent.
oh btw i am an anarchist. Anarchy also is not well with "human nature". So dont think I am a Marxist-leninist and defending them. I just...
...hate that word.
Yep.
Communism and socialism in itself isn't that problematic an economic system. Unless of course you belong to the few select brands of freeloaders who've successfully managed to sell to the general population that without you, everything would collapse (looking at you, landlords and billionaires and stock market speculators).
The problem is that the economic part can't work without an evenly matched societal system - and for people to bypass their immediate greed reaction of the usual "why should the result of my work go to others who didn't do that work" BS, as seeing far ahead to realise that pooling resources in such manner will benefit everyone, and when the community thrives, so does the individual. For that, one needs proper education, which is usually the antithesis of a capitalist system (a capitalist system will inherently only allow one to learn a limited set of facts, and will systematically ridicule those who dare step outside those limits).
And herein lies the second problem. Socialism and communism could be great for the average people, but the average people have been misled and lied to and been brainwashed for so long, they need to be forcibly broken out of that bubble. And the only way to force that is through a revolution, and authoritarian enforcement of the socioeconomic system.
Now the problem with that is... it's incredibly easy for a malicious actor to then infiltrate the authoritarian system, and push its leaders to do counterproductive things. Add on top of that the constant CIA meddling, and you get your run of the mill authoritarian "communist" (in name only) paranoid leader who rules with an iron fist. The intention might've been good, but the execution was starkly against the very people the revolution was supposed to help. Repeat it a few times and now the whole world is afraid of the economic system, not authoritarianism.
Then continue by throwing in some brainwashed tankies who literally suck up to the authoritarian regimes, spreading BS about how those are "true communism", just so average people don't even consider learning about it because the term becomes synonymous with authoritarians and their bootlickers.
That word "only" seems too pessimistic and unjustified, and your point relies too heavily on it.
well that’s absurd, and exactly why the tankies are shilling so hard
Pooling resources is how car insurance works.
And the value it provides is enough to prop up the entire car insurance industry with incredibly inflated salaries at the top, and pay for a good portion of the damage caused by car accidents plus a fuckload of attorneys paid trying to avoid the rest of the damage.
It's part of how car insurance works. It also works by underwriters and adjusters being paid to do everything they can to keep from paying out claims.
Communism is very much a social system. Implying economics don't have a huge impact on society would be the opposite of Marxism.
But he wasn't criticizing communism, or advocating for capitalism. He was criticizing a dictator and saying he prefers democracy.
Unless you think communism can't exist outside of a brutal dictatorship.
I think communism can't exist in a brutal dictatorship
I would personally prefer a Mutualist system.
Communism inherently couples both the economy and the government.
In theory, capitalism can be decoupled since it mostly depends on laissez-faire governance. Communism inherently requires a planned economy and centralized control of such.
There is theoretically nothing stopping said leaders of a communist regime from being elected through a democratic process. But much like democracies tend to favor capitalism and (lower case) libertarian ideals, communism tends to lend itself to dictatorships because... you have a centralized control of all aspects of society.
is the democracy in the room with you now?
Looks around.
Is that what you gotta tell yourself?
Why do lemmy.ml users get hysterical when Joseph Stalin is described accurately?
I honestly have no issue there. My issue is the claim that such atrocities don't happen in democratic institutions.
I can't recall any democratic countries, fragile or not, that can hold a candle to the atrocities committed by Joseph Stalin.
Can you point out the equivalent that we should look at in this case of whataboutism? Since we're talking about millions being killed by Joseph Stalin, what are the comparables?
But that's the point, they don't. Atrocities can happen, but not as bad as such.
Just give one example of a democracy where an atrocity remotely close to that happened.
lol. have you seen how child labor works? or banana republics? or coups? or prison labor? or slavery?
come on now. stop being a thick moron.
You sure?
Really?
How sure?
Like, I could look at ICE raids and their obvious purpose of terrorizing the immigrant community, but I have a feeling you're the type of bootlicker that thinks those actions are justified.
Compared to genocide by Stalin, ICE is peanuts.
But no it's not justified, that still doesn't make it an equal atrocity to what Stalin did.
Also USA is not a democracy, it is a deeply dysfunctional democracy. And In USA it can go 2 ways now, they either go full dictator, or if they go the other, these things will be softened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_mortality_in_the_Soviet_Union_under_Joseph_Stalin
So kindly piss off with your false equivalences.
Dude the US is fully funding a genocide right now. Since October 7, 2023, the U.S. has provided Israel with billions in military aid, including at least $21.7 billion in approved funding, along with tens of billions more in future arms sale commitments.
Your entire premise is so inherently flawed.
Also rofl at you sounding like a tankie:
"It wasn't real communism bro."
Please read my edited post.
And no I'm not anything remotely like a tankie, I am one who favor ACTAUL democracy, where among the best models we have running currently is the Scandinavian model.
A 2 party system can never be accepted as a functional democracy, also the level of corruption in elections is undemocratic. preventing people from voting and gerrymandering.
All those things detract from USA as a democracy.
You are delusional and create strawmen and then you think you have a superior view based on your delusions and false equivalences that have no basis in reality.
fine. compare stalin to something else that was closer to his time than he is to us:
American slave trade. do it. tell me stalin was worse than slavery?
the gfy.
because they’re Tankies
Keep making assumptions.
fuck off, tankie swine
liberal democracy is a lie. voting does not matter, your political actions matter. the one solution to this is abolition of authority