Are You a Candidate for Communism?

[Nakosis]

Are you ideal enough, perfect enough for communism?
Can you work to the best of your ability without special compensation?
Can you share to support whatever is needed by others without complaint?
Can you sacrifice of yourself, from yourself for the good of all?
Can you lift your fellow man/woman, whoever they are, whatever station they have in life, whatever disability the face to stand equal with you?
Can you give up your excesses and live a minimalist lifestyle if necessary for as long as necessary?

If you can answer yes to these question, you may be a candidate for communism.

IMO, communism doesn't work because we the people are not capable of making it work.
People naturally gravitate toward power. Having power and consolidating it.

If you think you are immune to the temptation of power, I suspect you might be lying to yourself.

The power to live where you want, live how you want. Money/capitalism offers this if you can learn how to play the game.

 

[The Hammer]

The power to live where you want, live how you want. Money/capitalism offers this if you can learn how to play the game.

The truth is though. The game was rigged from the start.

https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-game-was-rigged-from-the-start

 

[Nakosis]

The truth is though. The game was rigged from the start.

https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-game-was-rigged-from-the-start

I agree, it was rigged by human nature.

 

[MikeF]

Are you ideal enough, perfect enough for communism?
Can you work to the best of your ability without special compensation?
Can you share to support whatever is needed by others without complaint?
Can you sacrifice of yourself, from yourself for the good of all?
Can you lift your fellow man/woman, whoever they are, whatever station they have in life, whatever disability the face to stand equal with you?
Can you give up your excesses and live a minimalist lifestyle if necessary for as long as necessary?

If you can answer yes to these question, you may be a candidate for communism.

IMO, communism doesn't work because we the people are not capable of making it work.
People naturally gravitate toward power. Having power and consolidating it.

If you think you are immune to the temptation of power, I suspect you might be lying to yourself.

The power to live where you want, live how you want. Money/capitalism offers this if you can learn how to play the game.

I would add that power isn't the only factor that makes communism untenable. I think motivation and reward involved in human psychology plays a large role. If large and small effort is rewarded the same, we will naturally take the path of least resistance and effort.

 

[The Hammer]

I agree, it was rigged by human nature.

All economic systems are rigged. Capitalism moreso then some others imo.

 

[Nakosis]

I would add that power isn't the only factor that makes communism untenable. I think motivation and reward involved in human psychology plays a large role. If large and small effort is rewarded the same, we will naturally take the path of least resistance and effort.

I think I might make it work. I'm not really motivated by power or financial reward.

However, being able to live where and how you want. Once you get a taste of that, it starts to get hard not to want a little more. Then a little more.

Most will say that capitalism can only work through the exploitation of others. While I don't think this is true there is certainly nothing inherent in capitalism which prevents it.

So to me the problem is not with the economic system as much as it is with human nature.

 

[Nakosis]

The truth is though. The game was rigged from the start.

https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-game-was-rigged-from-the-start

And yet the protagonist goes on to decide their own fate in that game.

That's the hope. To negotiate passed all of the hazards and end up on top. That's the dream in capitalism.

In games, you get do-overs. In life, you usually don't.

 

[sun rise]

 

[MikeF]

I think I might make it work. I'm not really motivated by power or financial reward.

However, being able to live where and how you want. Once you get a taste of that, it starts to get hard not to want a little more. Then a little more.

Most will say that capitalism can only work through the exploitation of others. While I don't think this is true there is certainly nothing inherent in capitalism which prevents it.

So to me the problem is not with the economic system as much as it is with human nature.

And I totally agree that it is all down to human nature. Hence, any economic system has to be designed to work within the framework of how human beings, on the whole, actually behave. In addition, we are not all identical widgets, we all express the many varied traits and properties of human ability in different ways. This must also be accounted for.

 

[exchemist]

Are you ideal enough, perfect enough for communism?
Can you work to the best of your ability without special compensation?
Can you share to support whatever is needed by others without complaint?
Can you sacrifice of yourself, from yourself for the good of all?
Can you lift your fellow man/woman, whoever they are, whatever station they have in life, whatever disability the face to stand equal with you?
Can you give up your excesses and live a minimalist lifestyle if necessary for as long as necessary?

If you can answer yes to these question, you may be a candidate for communism.

IMO, communism doesn't work because we the people are not capable of making it work.
People naturally gravitate toward power. Having power and consolidating it.

If you think you are immune to the temptation of power, I suspect you might be lying to yourself.

The power to live where you want, live how you want. Money/capitalism offers this if you can learn how to play the game.

I don't think it is to do with power. It is to do with where people's first loyalties are.

People feel loyalty first for themselves and their families. They want the best they can get for themselves and those dear to them. They won't willingly accept second best for the sake of some social principle.That's what every society that has tried communism has found.

Communism only works in monasteries.

 

[Viker]

No. I'm human not an abstract. Human nature often overrides the best of any philosophical ideology. We can't have nice things even like the American Dream.

My "excesses" are actually hard fought for rewards. And I have the freedom to live where and how I wish. It's too late. I've spoiled myself.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Naw. We know what Communism brings to the table.

But I do like saying comrade and sharing a vodka and those warm hats...

I'll just skip the rest however, as I like and treasure my personal freedoms too much to give it all up to a system known for its totalitarian ways along with its agregious human rights violations.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

Are you ideal enough, perfect enough for communism?
Can you work to the best of your ability without special compensation?
Can you share to support whatever is needed by others without complaint?
Can you sacrifice of yourself, from yourself for the good of all?
Can you lift your fellow man/woman, whoever they are, whatever station they have in life, whatever disability the face to stand equal with you?
Can you give up your excesses and live a minimalist lifestyle if necessary for as long as necessary?

If you can answer yes to these question, you may be a candidate for communism.

I can do all of those things, but only for people I feel connected to. I do that in my home with my wife and dogs. We all contribute according to our abilities and consume according to our needs, including the dogs. As groups become bigger and the participants less bound to one another, the degree to which people will do those things diminishes. Communes and members of a sports team will do those things with one another more than people who happen to be on the same cruise. By the time you get to the size of a nation, self-serving behavior dominates, people resent others who do less or use more, and cooperation diminishes.

Communism doesn't work for groups the size of nations.

 

[Revoltingest]

No.

 

[Valjean]

Human nature, though, is not so clear as we in the West imagine it.

How much of our adulation of money and power, and our fascination with symbolic wealth is enculturated rather than inborn? How much would remain if the basic needs of everyone were met, and justice, equality and general prosperity became the celebrated virtues?

 

[The Hammer]

And yet the protagonist goes on to decide their own fate in that game.

I don't think so.

Others decide. Those with the most capital, have the most power.

And more Capital does not equate to a better/effective worker.

 

[Nakosis]

I don't think so.

Others decide. Those with the most capital, have the most power.

And more Capital does not equate to a better/effective worker.

I was referring to the Fallout game were the person with the most firepower usually wins.

 

[osgart]

I think a bottom level equality among everyone is healthy, beyond that people should be free to earn more on their own. I cannot see doing away with capitalism. Capitalism is incentive to work.

I don't agree that everyone deserves the very same rewards. Those who do more for society deserve more. I'm not above social safety nets and regulated capitalism though.

Perhaps a mixed economy would be the solution. Capitalism and a cooperative economy side by side.

It would be nice to see community work in service to the elderly, disabled, and the poor be a priority in society. Any way to make civilization more humane, I'm all for it.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Can you work to the best of your ability without special compensation?
Can you share to support whatever is needed by others without complaint?
Can you sacrifice of yourself, from yourself for the good of all?
Can you lift your fellow man/woman, whoever they are, whatever station they have in life, whatever disability the face to stand equal with you?
Can you give up your excesses and live a minimalist lifestyle if necessary for as long as necessary?

Can you find where all of that is promoted in the Communist Manifesto?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Capitalism is incentive to work.

That simply isn't true and is a lie promoted by Capitalism to keep people believing in their fairy tales.
Case in point, people have always worked and strove to do better even long before money and Capitalism. Like in the old days when many people didn't care who was their lord so long as they were left alone in peace to their work.