Why do people hate communism?
This is a complex question, as there are many reasons why people can dislike a political system. Some people may view communism as extreme, and others may think it is a system of control. But one of the most common reasons is that people misunderstand or fail to understand what communism is. Many people have been taught to believe that communism is a totalitarian system that restricts individual freedom and promotes a centralized government. However, communism is actually a system which focuses on the collective ownership of resources and the equitable distribution of wealth. With this understanding, people can come to realize that communism is not necessarily a bad thing and can provide a more fair and equitable economic system than traditional capitalism.
Communism Explained
Whats the difference between Socialism and Communism?
Socialism is the stage of human development that comes after/subsumes/invalidates capitalism. It's characterized as a move away from a societal focus on private profits and wage minimization towards focusing on public development and worker ownership/control of industry. Later stages of socialism will involve a near complete erasure of any owning or ruling classes as it moves towards communism.
Communism is a the stateless, classless, moneyless end goal emerging from a fully actualized and maximally organized/productive socialist society. Think Star Trek (TNG)
Name one time communism worked!
This is a “gotcha” question trolls ask when they don’t understand the difference of Communism and Socialism.
Communism hasn’t been implemented yet. But socialism has worked most every time it has been tried. It has achieved immense gains for people world wide.
Such as letting imperialized and or colonized peoples work against the yoke of oppression through development and self-determination, but it's also led to direct concessions in the imperial core: the only reason we have even the slight worker protections we have now is due to the efforts of communist-inspired unions and movements.
Anyone can call themselves a communist or socialist to gain support in order to take power, but once they have power they usually aren't living to communist or socialist ideals. doesn't matter if a tyrant says they're communist, it matters what policies they implement.
Didn’t people hate living in the Soviet Union? Have you spoken to anyone living under communism?
Most of my best friends are from Russia and some have lived in the USSR. Beyond personal acquaintances, we communicate regularly with socialist groups in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakstan, and Kyrgyzstan. You can find these sources at the bottom of this page:
Economics
How are you communist? Everything you own was made by capitalism. How come you have an iPhone?
You may know the joke by now, “Communism is when no food iphone.”
This joke has gained traction because of the ridiculous assumption of the question: “One cannot exist in a system and change the system.”
But what about enslaved peoples that revolted and gained freedom?
What about peasants and capitalists overthrowing the feudal system?
Humans do not exist in a historical vacuum. We must use the tools available to us to change the system. Communists must use platforms like Tiktok to reach the masses and raise class awareness. To hide under a rock would be to admit defeat.
"Buh-buh-buh-but the Economic Calculation Problem (ECP)"
Competition vs Innovation
- "Why would anyone plant crops if they are all going to be taken by the government?"
- “Why would anyone work” pointing to competing in the market
Famine
Didn’t 1 billion, trillion, zillion people die under communism?
Millions die each year due to Capitalism. If you add up the deaths due to Capitalism it eclipses even the most outrageous and lie filled exaggerated communist death counts.
But for a more direct rebuttal: The Black Book of Communism falsely inflated the number of deaths attributable to communist governments. The authors of the book have admitted their numbers are falsified.
Nazi (killed by the Soviet defenders in WW2) count as "victims of communism.” This is used to falsely inflate the number.
Didn’t Stalin kill 100 million people?
Usually not worth wading into the stalin morass.
But if they're starting off with ridiculously inaccurate black book of communism/gulag archipelago numbers then just laugh at them and direct them to a real source.
Losurdo and Martens each have good books on Stalin. Furr has a book defending Stalin. But I wouldn't say Furr is particularly reputable or a good recommendation.
Stalin cause a famine or something?
Three things caused famine in the USSR.
In order of causal importance least to most:
1.) Friction from collectivization did cause some agricultural downturns as it was initiated. In a short time however the agricultural yields from collective farms overtook the original precollectivized rates.
2.) Kulak sabotage: large land owners frustrated with their loss in status due to the collectivization of farmland actively sabotaged agriculture during the famine. They slaughtered livestock en mass, let entire harvests rot in the fields, and burnt grain stores before they could be redistributed.
3.) The most important cause for the famine was literally just the weather. Semi-regular famines were common for centuries in the region, drought leading to famine was the norm until the USSR developed agriculture enough to not face starvation every drought.
Sources on the Holodomor:
Attacks on Character
If you love communism so much why don't you move to a communist country like Russia, China, etc.?
- Russia has not been socialist since 1991. Though we could argue that they succumbed to capitalism before 1991 as anti-communism had penetrated to classrooms and political systems years prior.
- I believe in fighting for change here in America. It would be weak of me to run away. We need to raise the standards of living here in the US - this can only be done by revolutionary means.
When will you get out of this phase?
From my experience, most people come to communism after trauma in their lives, typically caused by those in positions of power abusing the system. Though this is not always the case.
Communism is a system based on empathy and compassion for other humans. We hope more people grow into a communist mindset. Communism is about caring for all of humanity and attempting to raise us all up out of the suffering and chaos caused by capitalism.
Why are you a communist if they executed gay people?
Though some socialist countries have a dark history with LGBT rights, many of them are world leaders.
- The USSR was the most advanced LGBT state in the world in the 1920s. Remember, it was illegal to be gay in the United States at the time.
- As of 2022, socialist Cuba hosts the most advanced LGBT laws in the world!
- Cause only through intersectional revolution against capitalism can LGBTQ liberation be achieved.
Interesting Sources:
Political Theory
Communism is Fascism, right?
The Nazis were far-right in their ideology and were explicitly anticommunist.
Examples to prove it:
- The "first they came for the communists" holocaust poem.
- They literally murdered the members of the German Communist Party and the German Democratic Socialist party.
- The fact that the word "Privatization" was coined to describe the nazi's economic actions.
- To preempt the "but what about the MR pact that my 10th grade history class straight up lied to me about": The USSR tried for over 5 years to make an antifascist pact with France and the UK after already trying to go to war over Czechoslovakia. The UK and France actively refused to seriously negotiate with the USSR because they wanted the nazis and the USSR to kill each other. The MR pact was a direct prelude to the eastern front of WW2. Certainly nothing like how it's described in US classrooms as some sort of nazi-soviet alliance.
Weren’t the nazis communist? Aren’t communist nazis?
Wasn’t the Soviet Union part of the Axis?
See M-R pact comments above.
But the answer is firmly no, the USSR was the majority of casualties fighting the axis. Such an accusation requires absurd leaps.
Isn’t being communist basically being a fascist?
No, fascism is an ideology of extreme reaction/bigotry in favor of putting one class or race or nationality or culture above all others, usually by the creation or denunciation of an enemy class/culture/race/ideology/nationality.
Communism seeks to uplift all peoples and is diametrically opposed to fascism at its core, so much so that one of the core pillars of fascism is anticommunism.
Communism & Authoritarianism
"So you want the government to control everything you do like where you work, where you sleep, and how you act?”
The left is the same as the right (pointing towards horseshoe theory)
Isn’t communism a dictatorship?
Commies are evil! You were just too young to remember the Red Scare here in the US. Are you an evil commie? Are you spying for Russia on us???
- The Nazis were far-right in their ideology and were explicitly anticommunist.
Cuba
Russia
Isn’t Putin Pro-Communism?
No. He has attacked socialists many times.
- Read his threats to decommunize Ukraine: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/statements/67828
- Watch my Russian communist friends almost get arrested while celebrating The Great October Socialist Revolution 2022: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cks683KDnB4/
North Korea
Jobs & Motivation
Why work a harder job when you could work an easier job?
Why pay a doctor as much as a janitor?
