Democracy or Communism?

[Soulforged]

Ideally Communism is a better government if run correctly which it could never be done it is impossible because of mans greed so in the real world Democracy is better that Communism.

Communism is an economic teory. Democracy is a teory on government. Communism not different from Democracy . In fact one of the ways to achieve democracy is through communism.

[Aenlic]

Part of the problem, Soulforged, is years of propaganda in the U.S. focused on the pliant minds of children. Children in the U.S. are taught that democracy and communism are mutually exclusive; because they are taught that communism is the word for Stalinism and totalitarianism. The excuse usually given for such a ridiculous leap of logic, is that the Stalinists call themselves communists; so, therefore, Stalinism is communism. Those who promote such illogical silliness quite obviously forget that mainland China calls itself a republic, too; and, so following their own logic, republics must be communist. But, they conveniently ignore things like this.

Almost a century of anti-communism propaganda in the U.S. from things like the Red Scare in the 1920's through to McCarthyism and the Cold War and Reagan and the birth of the neocons. The anti-communism rhetoric and twisted propaganda in the U.S. directly paralleled the anti-imperialism rhetoric and anti-U.S. propaganda in the Soviet Union. Two entrenched mindsets battling for hearts and minds, and completely disregarding truth in the process.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

"A" form Austin:

Nice post.

I still think the communist/socialist approach falls apart -- I have never accepted some of the stated and implicit "givens" of the Marx Engels argument and even believe the better-argued Frankfurt School falls short of justifying this approach -- but you concisely summarize the "demonization" approach taken by the USA. Thanks for pointing out that both parties were playing the same game, too many critics forget to note that.

Seamus

[Aenlic]

Marxism and later interpretations of the Frankfurt School under Marcuse and the rest are not the only versions of communism.

You should perhaps examine the direction taken by the other, forgotten school of communism and socialist theory which was buried under the rhetoric of Marx and then Lenin and finally the abomination of Stalin. It was the approach taken by Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War.

Look for works by Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin and others who were contemporaries of Marx. Bakunin was clearly worried about the role of the state in communism. He once wrote, "If you took the most ardent revolutionary, vested him in absolute power, within a year he would be worse than the Czar himself." Prince Kropotkin was a member of the boyars, tracing his line back to Rurik himself, and was a member of the Corps of Pages in the Imperial household during the reign of Alexander II. He encountered radical socialism in travels to Switzerland and learned from the Jura Federation. His works on the melding of anarchism, democracy and communism such as The Conquest of Bread are probably the best for the time. He helped advise Kerensky in Petrograd; but became disenchanted with what was happening when Lenin and the Bolsheviks took power.

More modern authors such as Murray Bookchin and even Noam Chomsky, also have much to say on the matter.

Perhaps I should change my forum name to Denis and add a signature line of "Help! Help! I'm being Repressed!"