Quote:
Originally posted by B_part:
Communism holds freedom as central? then why are ALL communist regimes dictatorships? Since 1917 I haven't seen a democratic communist regime.
Yes, you might object they weren't true communists, they all misunderstood the Holy Kapital by Marx. Then I ask you, doesn't the fact that all of the communisrt revolution failed to be true communist mean that communism is an impossible form of government?
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Communism does hold freedom as central, whether or not you think it is workable with that in mind is another matter. I think yes, a lot of people think no. It'll be a long time before either of us could posssibly be proved conclusively right on the issue I think.
Most of the problems with communist revolutions so far is that they have happened under adverse conditions when it wasn't actually the public revolting but instead a small group of people doing it for them. That isn't the way to go. It is one of the holes of Marx that he doesn't properly discuss the way revolution should occur but it is fairly clear that it has to happen with overwhelming consent. Lenin adds to that the conception of a party as a kernel of revolutionary activity, but I sometimes think the Bolsheviks took that idea too far even in the early stages. Its fairly clear that by 1923, or thereabouts, the party had lost any remnants of democracy but I would put that down to the fact that the revolution did not happen due specifically to historical inevitability but instead due to strong personalities. Once a socialist government had been set up it became obvious that people weren't ready for it and it had to be enforced through unsavoury means. Add to that the whole "Socialism in One Country" nonsense that Stalin started up and you get a weird ole' mix of dictatorship and totalitarianism that is completely at odds to most socialists conception of how things should really work in a communist state.
I think a communist revolution will work, just not for a while, and not until it is worldwide. So don't hold your breath for it tomorrow, but it'll definately come eventually.