What's So Bad about Communism Anyway?
@mythociate (21432)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
August 29, 2020 10:39am CST
I watch a documentary series (different than the one pictured, even though it has the same name) called Hidden Agenda; and I started watching their episode on (in so-many words) 'How the Communists are taking-over America,'
but a) I don't feel like watching more of that (right now) and b) I feel like the filmmakers (historians, scholars, writers, actors) are playing on audiences' 'wanting to hear about secret conspiracies more than we want to hear the truth.'
The little-bit I did sit through did mention that (up through World War 2) America was regarded as the pinnacle of military-might--loved by our allies & even respected by our enemies--but we've been on a steady decline since then.
And the documentary then supposes that that's because of The Communist Party's two-pronged strategy of (I forget if this is exactly the way HIDDEN AGENDA put it) 1) weakening the country from within & 2) making the country's government powerless.
But I think such rumors-of-conspiracy only serve as a distraction from 'what really matters'---What really matters? We The People
Our military only exists to protect We The People. Our government (made up of officers who are-now/once-were/will-soon-be part of 'The People') only exists to maintain peace-between/protection-around We The People.
If Communism serves We The People better than Capitalism, than we & the government & the military are duty-bound to follow it; no?
https://opinionfront.com/communism-vs-capitalism#:~:text=capitalism%20debate%20is%20a%20battle%20between%20two%20extreme,clash%20polarized%20the%20world%20during%20the%20cold%20war.
2 people like this
2 responses
@porwest (92459)
• United States
4 Sep 20
There are many, many problems with communism, and they are the reasons not a single communist system has ever succeeded or worked.
For one, it stifles productivity and even creativity. Many of the things (inventions) we enjoy today would not exist had it not been for the drive for riches. Money is largely behind someone wanting to make something to sell in the first place.
It also stifles innovation. Why make something already existing better if there is nothing to gain by it? Imagine what cars we might be driving today if there was not a monetary component to making them?
Why is America largely THE place where things are invented? Why do we have the best medical technology the world over and why does medical advancement largely come from the US? Why does the US have military prowess over other nations?
It's all about capitalism. Capitalism drives the entrepreneurial spirit, drives the desire to invent things and improve things, drives productivity knowing that the harder we work the more we get and so on and so forth.
I could go on, but that could get rather lengthy. We can further the discussion of course.
1 person likes this
@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
4 Sep 20
I'm hearing-that China (or Japan or Taiwan or ... one o those places we used to racist-ly call The Orient) is actually pulling ahead in medicine, and -about people who feel like they have to 'off-shore' their medical care (mostly due to exorbitant costs ... with capitalim to-blame).
And I think the reason Communism always fails is that it's too temptingly easy for capitalism to creep in and crush the whole system under the weight of their piggybank.
So yes, Capitalism IS humanity's inescapable nature; but I suppose we need an undercurrent of "You don't work, you don't eat!" to fuel the firebox.
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@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
5 Sep 20
@porwest You get what you pay-for might "apply to anything & everything" in your head, but reality is 'different' (with the whole 'bad things happen to good- and good things happen to bad-people; just as often as 'people get what they deserve').
And as for 'capitalism creeping into communism,' I'm not necessarily talking about "the nation of Capitalism breaking in & planting its little flag" ... I'm thinking of 'how leaders at the top of the Socialist totem-pole seek to gain more capital from the people who all give to their bank-account out of some Socialist morale.'
2 people like this
@porwest (92459)
• United States
5 Sep 20
@mythociate The problem with your argument though, is that capitalism DOES NOT creep into communism. And actually when it does, suddenly things actually get better. China is an example of that with their mixture of communism and capitalism.
As for high medical costs, I get it. But without money going into the system, nothing comes out of it. It falls under the category of "you get what you pay for." If you want a really good steak, it is going to cost more than that rubber tire Denny's serves you. That applies to pretty much anything and everything.
I do like the phrase, "You don't work, you don't eat."
In the U.S. though, sometimes the phrase is more like, "You don't work, you get food stamps." lol. The funny thing about food stamps is that often times THEIR shopping carts are much fuller than those of those who work and have to pay for their own food.
1 person likes this
@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
31 Aug 20
But if they can only save one, which one will they save---country or people?
1 person likes this
@porwest (92459)
• United States
4 Sep 20
@mythociate If you can save the country, you inadvertently save the people. What OUR military essentially serves to preserve is our way of life, our freedoms, and our sovereignty. Their purpose is to protect the people from those who may try to take all of those things away from us. We protect the nation to preserve it and so that the people in the nation can continue to go about their lives in the same world they were born into.
1 person likes this
@mythociate (21432)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
4 Sep 20
@porwest Superman should've added onto his "For Truth, Justice & the American Way"-motto, 'whether people like it or not!'
