Reintroduce me

[Drace]

I need a recap of the ideals of communism.
I wandered off the topic for a while and now I can barely classify myself as a communist.

I wish to return back to having my thoughts filled with communist ideals.

So help me out here.

Whats wrong with capitalism? What is the goal of communism?

[Manifesto]

The problem with Capitalism is it exploits the workers. The goal of Communism is to create a state-less and class-less society.

[ArrowLance]

I feel Capitalism is bad because it exploits workers and stunts growth. It exploits workers in that it does not give them the true value of their labour, which is where most profit comes from. It stunts growth because it is often unfavourable for businesses to create new technologies or allow social traits to evolve. This is because while a technological advantage for a business will be great in the short run against its competitors, in the long run it lowers the value of the product all across the industry. Which means in order to make the same profit, they must sell more. Usually this means moving to new markets.

Communism's goal is a state-less, class-less, egalitarian society. But don't think that because something doesn't fit that description that those are not its goals. Communism removes private ownership of the means of production and gives them to the workers. This way they can be used to enhance the lives of the workers and the conditions for the society as a whole.

These are just off the top of my head descriptions and may contain some things not all Communists will agree with. If you haven't already, read the Communist Manifesto. If it's been awhile since you read it last, read it again. The Communist Manifesto is not completely up to date but is still a very inspiring book that explains many of the basics of Communism.

If you have some time, read at least the first few chapters of Capital. It a bit boring and you might have to read the same passage multiple times to understand what is being said since it is in an older vocabulary. But it will help explain exactly why we feel wage-labour is slavery and other common economic priciples held by Communists.

Finally, welcome from the forums and don't treat studying Communism as a chore. If you are like me you will be compeled to study more to help articulate better in arguments, and for the personal satisfaction of gaining a more indepth understanding of our beliefs. I'd be happy to help you out as much as I can if you'd like someone to talk with a bit more personally (just shoot me a pm or email). Or you can come by the live chat (irc) if you just want to talk or ask some questions in a more lax environment.

Glad to have you.

[Communist Theory]

I wandered off the topic for a while and now I can barely classify myself as a communist.
Revleft tends to do that to a person.

[Ohnoatard]

Capitalism is outdated, we need to move on to the next stage of history - socialism and eventually communism.