Why do the historical applications of communism revolve around forcing people into it rather than letting them choose democratically?
by linuxuser371038 from LinuxQuestions.org on (#6PGJ4)
I was watching a couple of communism docs recently and it said even Trotsky was not against coercing people by gunpoint into joining the regime in an either "follow us or die" type of ultimatum.
Prima facie one might have thought Trotsky a victim of the brutal Stalin, the ideal of communism that could have been but given the above, less so.
So why do all the communisms that have been enacted, that I am aware of, seem to depend of forcing people to do it or die?
Hopefully there are thoughtful replies not just COMMUNISM IS DOOMED TO FAIL CAPITALISM ROX!!!
Why can't communism come about through agreement that it would be good to work for the greater good of society?
I don't think the "humans are naturally hierarchical and selfish" get out cuts it.
There are 60s flower power communes which are based on a lot of communist ideals which people went into voluntarily and did not end up killing each other.
So why has communism been so inexorably tied up with violence? This seems to be what has given communism a bad name and not that it is inherently a bad idea.
Also why is capitalism tied to democracy when it doesn't necessarily seem to be related? They seem to be separate entities, one related to the economy and one related to social governance so why do most people speak in terms like democracy is only a product of capitalism and so if you like freedom you have to be for capitalism? You can have democracy without dog eat dog laissez-faire capitalism can't you? They seem to be two different subjects but pro capitalists seem quick to say "no democracy without capitalism" in common rebuttal of suggestions of communism but not seen why that is.
Prima facie one might have thought Trotsky a victim of the brutal Stalin, the ideal of communism that could have been but given the above, less so.
So why do all the communisms that have been enacted, that I am aware of, seem to depend of forcing people to do it or die?
Hopefully there are thoughtful replies not just COMMUNISM IS DOOMED TO FAIL CAPITALISM ROX!!!
Why can't communism come about through agreement that it would be good to work for the greater good of society?
I don't think the "humans are naturally hierarchical and selfish" get out cuts it.
There are 60s flower power communes which are based on a lot of communist ideals which people went into voluntarily and did not end up killing each other.
So why has communism been so inexorably tied up with violence? This seems to be what has given communism a bad name and not that it is inherently a bad idea.
Also why is capitalism tied to democracy when it doesn't necessarily seem to be related? They seem to be separate entities, one related to the economy and one related to social governance so why do most people speak in terms like democracy is only a product of capitalism and so if you like freedom you have to be for capitalism? You can have democracy without dog eat dog laissez-faire capitalism can't you? They seem to be two different subjects but pro capitalists seem quick to say "no democracy without capitalism" in common rebuttal of suggestions of communism but not seen why that is.