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I don't think there are real communists honestly. I don't think communism is ever really a "viable" solution unless you suppress freedoms. Also someone will always rise to the top. Communism is just one big corporation that you can not leave.
At the risk of starting another argument, I have heard it described thusly—
Suppose you have some number of apples and some number of people who want the apples.
- Capitalism is where one person owns all the apples and everyone has to work for them to get an apple.
- Socialism is where the apples are distributed evenly to all the people who want them.
- Communism is where unlimited apples fall out of the sky and everyone can have as many as they need.
Now, this quote was originally used by capitalists to mock communism, but I think it's really not a bad analogy. Think about it: Star Trek, another beloved Lemmy staple, takes place in a communist society. Everyone works whatever job they want contributing to society and in return, everyone gets whatever they need provided for by the state. It's not truly post scarcity, since human greed always outstrips any finite amount of resources. But there is no distinction of rich or poor in Star Trek. People are judged by their intelligence, skill, and merit, and rewarded proportionally. At the same time, there is no concept of money, mostly (except when the plot needs it). What good is money when all your necessities are taken care of? All but your wildest desires can be conjured up at a snap of your fingers, and all the state asks in return is that you do what you can to contribute. It is a mutually beneficial relationship that most people have learned to be content with. That, my friends, is an ideal depiction of communism.
- Capitalism is where one person owns all the copies of Tommy Wiseau's The Room
- Socialism is where the copies of Tommy Wiseau's The Room are distributed evenly to all the people who want them
- Communism is where a transgender furry breaks the DRM on the DVD and publishes a torrent of Tommy Wiseau's The Room
I think the Star Trek ideal is not viable in the least as people will always be self centered. They will either seek either to make there own lives better or to make there families lives better. Also Star Trek changes its narrative depending on the movie or series.
I don't think humans would be naturally self centered if they lived in an environment that actually encouraged sharing and cooperation instead of actively encouraging and rewarding psychopathy and selfishness.
There were likely people who thought it impossible that wolves would someday become domesticated, and eventually be our best buds, due to their 'unchangeable' nature.
We are all products of our environment.
Wolves are pack animals, and treat other members of their pack as equals. It's really not that surprising that an offshoot of their species was domesticated.
Also, dogs are actually kinda unique in how changeable they are. I don't know of any other species with such drastic variations in size, coloring, and behavior.
Humans are also inherently cooperative for survival, and it has been argued by some credible historians that our current forms of antagonistic society is an abberation from the norm.
In practice I never heard of that happening.
Catalonia during the Spanish revolution is a pretty solid example. It showed no signs of not working until they were forced to stop due to Franco winning the war. Wikipedia entry for more info.
Then you don't know what communism is. I've never met a non-socalist who knows what socialism is, or can describe how or why socialism has failed in the past.
I think a public production and distribution of goods can be handled democratically which will eventually happen organically with a strong and adaptable democracy, furthermore I agree any other form of Communism such as the CCP is just malarkey.