If you werent communist, what would you be?

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

if you weren't what you where now, what party would you align your self with?
(e.g.) if i weren't communist i would have to choose to be republican because i believe in an American standpoint that they have a better idealism then our democrats, but you can choose whatever party you want, and please say what country your in.
any party goes



Sorry about that, could the mods change thread title to "if you weren't what you are now, what would you be?"

[La Comédie Noire]

Probably the Democrats because my dad is an old Democrat union man himself. Or some awful libertarian shit I picked up in college, that's what seems to be in the air right now.

[hatzel]

What's with this 'if' I weren't a communist...? :unsure:

[Thirsty Crow]

Socialdemocrat voting + cynical pessimist/misanthrope and probably elitist to a point, very passively accepting the communist programme (but thinking it is utopian).

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

oh i am sorry, ill change in a second

[Ocean Seal]

Anarcho-collectivist, and possibly a primitivist.

[RGacky3]

Hedge Fund manager.

[Manic Impressive]

a Stalinist

[Omsk]

There is no such thing as a Stalinist.;)

I would be a social-democrat.

[Ismail]

a StalinistHar-de-har.

Anyway I'd probably just be a generic "socialist" left-wing guy.

[Per Levy]

anarchist, since i have a alot respect for anarcho-syndicalism.

[Rooster]

French.

[Comrade J]

Ludicrous question tbh. I didn't get up one day and think "hey, I'm gonna be a communist", it is just that my political/economic views coincide with what is called "Marxism". It seems that some people propogate communism because they like the title.

If I was going to be something else, then I would have to have a whole different set of views, and that is so theoretical that it is impossible to even guess what they would be...

[tachosomoza]

I'd probably be a token black Republican petty-bourgeois puppet sitting on Wall Street trading bonds and living in some gentrified Bowery apartment. Since I can't, in all sanity, imagine myself being that way and contributing to the oppression of others, here I am.

[Rss]

Crazy survivalist guy making zombie traps in nearby woods and suburbs.

[Kamos]

If I weren't a communist, I'd be a fascist. Or a conservative. Or a liberal. Or a social democrat. Who cares? Stupid question.

[Agent Ducky]

Anarcho-syndicalist because that's prolly closest to what I believe without including the word "communist" in it. Lolol.

Or maybe go back to being generic "socialist" who is more extreme then them liberals/social democrats but not quite all revolutionary/communist because it's too "utopian"

[dernier combat]

Who says I'm a communist now?

[Olentzero]

Gamer nerd.

[#FF0000]

if you weren't what you where now, what party would you align your self with?
(e.g.) if i weren't communist i would have to choose to be republican because i believe in an American standpoint that they have a better idealism then our democrats, but you can choose whatever party you want, and please say what country your in.
any party goes



Sorry about that, could the mods change thread title to "if you weren't what you are now, what would you be?"

"Yeah I'm a communist but I have a soft spot for the American Republican Party"

What?

[Zav]

In the U.S., I would be a part of the Green Party. In my country, we don't have political parties.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

If I was a communist and I didn't want to be a communist, I'd be anarcho-syndicalist.

....:rolleyes: lulz, anyway.
If I werent a socialist/communist/anarchist in general, I guess politics would suck. I would play video games more, and when I needed some day-light, I'd be a social-democrat active in the Green Party (again). But like I said, politics would be stupid and I'd be bickering over petty issues (again).

[Impulse97]

In the U.S., I would be a part of the Green Party. In my country, we don't have political parties.

Eh?

Not that it really matters though, they don't make much of difference. If you went green you'd probably never get into office 'cause not even the largest third parties stand a chance of getting into even state governments.

Me? I'd probably go be a conspiracy theorist. It seems to offer the most bang for my political buck. You'd always have something interesting to do, from building bomb shelters to exposing the shooter on the grassy knoll. It would never get old, there'd always be something new to fear. Plus I could still hate the US Gov.! Watch out guys, there's a new dale gribble in town! :lol:

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

Ludicrous question tbh. I didn't get up one day and think "hey, I'm gonna be a communist", it is just that my political/economic views coincide with what is called "Marxism". It seems that some people propogate communism because they like the title.

Yes and i am one of the people. seriously i dont think you want to hear my lifes story. i just happend to stumble upon this site and said "hey, this will be a good conversation starter. Marxism is the theory, socialism is the class system, and communism is the government system that wraps it all up


"Yeah I'm a communist but I have a soft spot for the American Republican Party"

What?
what are you whating?
i do have a soft spot because i severely dislike American democrats (i dont really care if this offends you, but sorry) but i was raised republican, so until there is a communist that runs for president, i will be voting republican



Do i make myself clear?



And this is supposed to be serious, French is not a political party

[L.A.P.]

Misanthropic liberal progressive who lost hope in humanity, which is what I was before being a Communist.

[Impulse97]

Yes and i am one of the people. seriously i dont think you want to hear my lifes story. i just happend to stumble upon this site and said "hey, this will be a good conversation starter. Marxism is the theory, socialism is the class system, and communism is the government system that wraps it all up


what are you whating?
i do have a soft spot because i severely dislike American democrats (i dont really care if this offends you, but sorry) but i was raised republican, so until there is a communist that runs for president, i will be voting republican



Do i make myself clear?



And this is supposed to be serious, French is not a political party


No offense dude or dudette, but it seems to me that you don't really understand Leftist politics. Sure you can hate the Dems., but voting Republican is as diametrically opposite to Socialism and the like.

Please read the following link, it's a great start.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm

For more info check out the link below.

http://www.marxists.org/index.htm

Start reading Gramma, Liberation News, The Militant etc. etc.

[Revolutionair]

Bourgeois elitist 'capitalism works' kind of guy, or a labor-aristocrat social democrat.

[ColonelCossack]

they have a better idealism then our democrats,

IDEALISM?!?!?!?!?! idealism is bad. BAD.

[ColonelCossack]

I'm a communist now so i'd probably be an anarchist

[Thirsty Crow]

what are you whating?
i do have a soft spot because i severely dislike American democrats (i dont really care if this offends you, but sorry) but i was raised republican, so until there is a communist that runs for president, i will be voting republican

Social conservatism and "communism" for the win.

You're nuts, that's for sure.

[Terminator X]

Worst thread ever.

I've now seen it all on RevLeft. A self-proclaimed "Stalinist" who votes for Republicans in all elections because he hates Democrats (or, until a Stalinist runs for election. Because, you know, that's likely to happen). SMGDMFH.

[Chris]

Hmm. Most likely either the Worker's Party (Social Democrats) or the Centre Party (agrarianist protectionists, ie the farmer's party). I can't stand Socialist Left (democratic socialist party), and I could never see myself supporting the rightwing parties (with the possible exception of Left, which advocates some kind of idealised petty-bourgeois free market with social services).

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Dear Revleft,
you give me lulz.
Thank you.



PS: Hope Glenn Beck finds this thread. "MARXISTS AMONG OUR REPUBLICAN RANKS. PURGE 'EM!"

[Desperado]

Deluded.

[Jazzratt]

what are you whating?
i do have a soft spot because i severely dislike American democrats (i dont really care if this offends you, but sorry) but i was raised republican, so until there is a communist that runs for president, i will be voting republican I'm curious as to whether you actually know what any of the words you used there mean. I mean, yeah, no one likes democrats but what you just said is like me saying "I'm a a supporter of christian theocracy but until there is a raving cleric standing for election I'm going to vote for the Pagan & Atheist Alliance Against Theocracy party." That or saying "Cheese banna? Cold spoon mawkish jobation Tuesday up!"

[Nolan]

Probably apolitical or just generic "left wing."

If I were a trot, probably a neocon, since that's where all trots wind up eventually

[Ocean Seal]

Dear Revleft,
you give me lulz.
Thank you.



PS: Hope Glenn Beck finds this thread. "MARXISTS AMONG OUR REPUBLICAN RANKS. PURGE 'EM!"
In that case I should probably state that Glenn Beck is my greatest inspiration and that I would be a die-hard Tea Partier if I weren't a communist because those ideals are so similar. Every Tea-Partier is actually a communist secretly. Also I hear that many of my fellow Kenyans are there as well disguised as anti-immigration bigots. Its all a part of our master plan.

NWO Caliphate
Caution once you have read the above words you will be under our mind control device which turns you into a communist. I you have read these words and are a
A. Die Hard Patriot
You must give your next tele-broadcast drunk wearing a red shirt and a Stalin pin to revert back to being a die hard patriot if you do not do this you will be infected with the red plague.

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

when did i type idealism? and thanks for gang banging a newbie, you guys sure know when someone is putting themselves out into the world



Anyways to counter all the crap,

in my opinion democrats spend spend spend, republicans dont(i know its a lot deeper than that) but i really do know what i am talking about (i think)
i am deluded, i live in redneck country

and come on guys, i have been a republican all my life and about 3 months ago i started liking communist ideas, so i am trying to put my self out there, and learn if i actually like socialism.

and fyi Cold Spoon

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

Worst thread ever.

I've now seen it all on RevLeft. A self-proclaimed "Stalinist" who votes for Republicans in all elections because he hates Democrats (or, until a Stalinist runs for election. Because, you know, that's likely to happen). SMGDMFH.
en general, je vote communisme avec republicain

[SacRedMan]

A social-liberal

[Proukunin]

In the case of not knowing what real communism is, Id probably be a alex jones conspiricy libertarian nut. Which is what I was before I got into socialism.

[#FF0000]

what are you whating?
i do have a soft spot because i severely dislike American
democrats

So do we, but the Republicans are just as bad if not worse. The democrats, at their very, very best, are center-left with like one or two names in the party who could be called social democrats.

Republicans are even more opposed to literally everything we stand for, though. Overtly militarist, overtly hyper-capitalist, nationalist, and overtly anti-working class.


republican, so until there is a communist that runs for president, i will be voting republican

Do i make myself clear?Yeah but that still doesn't make sense. That's like saying "Oh well I like the green party but I'd also vote for the American Nazi Party if the greens weren't running"


in my opinion democrats spend spend spend, republicans dont(i know its a lot deeper than that) but i really do know what i am talking about (i think)Republicans also overtly fuck over working people. Democrats drop some change into social services. While neither are good it at least makes some modicum of sense to claim to be a leftist and then vote democrat, even though it's still pretty ridiculous.


and come on guys, i have been a republican all my life and about 3 months ago i started liking communist ideas, so i am trying to put my self out there, and learn if i actually like socialism.That's cool, and I definitely don't want to dissuade you. It's just bizarre to hear someone say "I'm a communist but my second choice is the republican party". They are completely diametrically opposed us.

[Rooster]

And this is supposed to be serious, French is not a political party

My post is an objection to this exceedingly bad and poorly thought out thread.

[#FF0000]

My post is an objection to this exceedingly bad and poorly thought out thread.

I think OP intended it to be more like "what ideology do you identify most closely with, aside from your own"

[Franz Fanonipants]

leftcom i mean wait

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

i know. it sounded like a good idea at the time.

and your right, i just really dont like our government because its ruled by democrats or republicans and the rich, not the people
might as well just close the thread
☭
Edit:

I think OP intended it to be more like "what do you identify most closely with, aside from your own"
that is exactly what i meant by this, thank you

[#FF0000]

i know. it sounded like a good idea at the time.

No big. The original post was just poorly worded.

[Bronco]

LOL this thread is funny, I dont see how you can just have a 2nd choice political viewpoint. I'm an Anarchist, to be anything else I'd have to not believe in Anarchism, the question doesnt really make any sense

[Impulse97]

LOL this thread is funny, I dont see how you can just have a 2nd choice political viewpoint. I'm an Anarchist, to be anything else I'd have to not believe in Anarchism, the question doesnt really make any sense


He's new, give him a break.

[SacRedMan]

I dont see how you can just have a 2nd choice political viewpoint.

I guess that's a matter of how much knowledge you have about yourself... Know yourself!

[Cleansing Conspiratorial Revolutionary Flame]

:cool: I'd be Suharto.

[Bronco]

He's new, give him a break.

The question doesnt make sense whether he's new or not, no need to patronise him and pretend otherwise

[Dunk]

Dead.

Best answer ever.


If you weren't a communist, what would you be?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHWAtfMNcIU/TcHN0yl5W1I/AAAAAAAAANQ/j1IhwwMxGr4/s1600/inconceivable.jpg

[tachosomoza]

Best answer ever.



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHWAtfMNcIU/TcHN0yl5W1I/AAAAAAAAANQ/j1IhwwMxGr4/s1600/inconceivable.jpg

I'm digging the Billy Joel lyrics in your sig, Dunk. :cool:

How is the fact that you wouldn't be a Communist inconceivable, though? You did join the military voluntarily, yes? It took the shock of witnessing the evil that this country and capitalism has brought to the world in the name of "freedom" to turn your heart. If you didn't go overseas, it's very possible that you'd be another one of the brainwashed rightist morons that plague this shithole.

[☭The Revolution☭]

dead.

EDIT: DAMMIT! I'm too late! -_-

[Dunk]

I'm digging the Billy Joel lyrics in your sig, Dunk. :cool:

How is the fact that you wouldn't be a Communist inconceivable, though? You did join the military voluntarily, yes? It took the shock of witnessing the evil that this country and capitalism has brought to the world in the name of "freedom" to turn your heart. If you didn't go overseas, it's very possible that you'd be another one of the brainwashed rightist morons that plague this shithole.

Thanks :thumbup1:. It's actually Bruce Springsteen, though. From "Born in the USA". One of my favorite songs.

I guess when you put it that way, it is conceivable I wouldn't be a communist had I not been exposed to the environments I've lived and worked in during my life. Then again, maybe I would have become a communist without those experiences. Maybe my being a communist actually has more to do with the environment I grew up in rather than my experiences in the Navy. I don't know. Sort of seems like a bit of an irrational question to me, although I know it was a question posed for the fun of it. I simply can't imagine not being a communist at this point. Also, I wanted to use that picture of Wallace Shawn because he's a good guy and he's hilarious.

Maybe it would be a much more interesting and provocative thread to ask anyone who considers themselves a self-described "former communist" what changed their mind.

[LOLseph Stalin]

I'm already not a communist, but I'll say some kind of centrist since that's what I was last time I took the political compass test.

[Summerspeaker]

As it stands now, I'll happily identify as anarchist, communist, syndicalist, socialist, and variations on these terms. If I were to switch away from communism specifically, I'd turn to Voltairine de Cleyre's anarchism without adjectives, which I already support. If I had to make a more meaningful shift in my politics, I'd might go primitivist.

[Spartacus.]

I would join the CPUSA :D

[Old Mole]

Hard question either Islamist bin Ladist fundamentalist or patriotic pro-american gun enthusiast

[LOLseph Stalin]

I would join the CPUSA :D

But they're communist? :blink:

[tachosomoza]

Thanks :thumbup1:. It's actually Bruce Springsteen, though. From "Born in the USA". One of my favorite songs

Meh. I was thinking of Allentown, one of MY favorite songs.

[#FF0000]

Hard question either Islamist bin Ladist fundamentalist or patriotic pro-american gun enthusiast

lol

[Spartacus.]

But they're communist? :blink:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


The Webb platform proposes moving beyond the Communist Parties. It says that “A party of socialism in the 21st century embraces Marxism, understood as a broad theoretical tradition that reaches beyond the communist movement.” A party that does not struggle for the interests of the working class but “fights for the interests of the entire nation.”


The Webb platform renounces the struggle against bourgeois ideology and opportunism. The party which Webb describes surrenders from the ideological struggle. He writes “A party of socialism in the 21st century doesn’t turn – liberals, advocates of identity politics, single issue movements, centrist and progressive leaders of major social organizations, social democrats, community based non-profits, NGOs, unreliable allies, and the “people” (according to some, a classless category concealing class, racial, and gender oppression) – into enemies.”



The Webb platform fosters illusions and works for the submission of the people to the government of the USA, that is to say the world’s leading imperialist power: “The point isn’t for the U.S. government to simply to crawl into a national shell, but to reinsert itself into world affairs on the basis of cooperation, peace, equality, and mutual benefits…”

At the same time he fosters illusions concerning a “ humanized” version of the monopolies: “big sections of the transnational corporate class have pulled the plug on the American people, economy, and state…the commitment of major sections of the transnational elite to a people-friendly public sector, a vibrant domestic economy and a modern society has waned…”



Webb’s article marks an overt siding with the class enemy and a complete alignment with contemporary state-level anticommunism. It calls for “an unequivocal break with Stalin” and lines up with the slanderous assault on socialist construction which offered so much to the Soviet peoples and played the decisive role in the anti-fascist victory of the peoples. In essence, these positions attempt to conceal the reality, the complex problems of the class struggle in the USSR and the tough confrontation of working class power with the bourgeois class in the countryside, the kulaks.

It adopts, in essence, every kind of slanderous simplification of complex problems, such as the sharpening of the class struggle in the USSR. The article goes a step further and joins up with Havel, Walesa and all the reactionary anticommunists of the EU who talk of “crimes against humanity”. It lines up with the tendency that attempts to criminalise the Communist Parties and the defence of socialism: “τo describe these atrocities as a mistake is a mistake – criminal”.

http://inter.kke.gr/News/news2011/2011-04-13-kke-to-cpusa

[Minima]

If life and events hadn't necessitation my being a communist I would have set out to start my own hedge fund and become a bleeding heart "liberal-communist" like bill gates or george soros.

But i don't like this question!

[Minima]

The question should be; what would you be after the revolution, should there no longer be any necessity for an economic emancipation of the working class. (mind you all countries would be dissolved!)

Say you were now at peace with the world the way it is. what new revolution would you think up?

And apart from all the obvious boring categories: Ecology, Women's rights, Education Reform, and etc, which would be included in the previous revolutionary package, what great new path would you have humanity set it's sights on? Having left behind the title of 'revolutionary,' what would you become?

[Impulse97]

Spartacus. Your post has convinced me to break all ties with CPUSA. Revisionists of the worst kind. Disgusting.

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
i almost wanted
to join. thank you for letting me see the light

[gorillafuck]

apolitical pessimist.

[Johnny Kerosene]

A lawyer.

[The Man]

Anarcho-Collectivist

[Spartacus.]

Spartacus. Your post has convinced me to break all ties with CPUSA. Revisionists of the worst kind. Disgusting.

Luckily, the KKE is always there to point to the traitors of Marxism and expose their revisionism. They also wrote a nice analisis of the Venezuelan "revolution". :)


i almost wanted
to join. thank you for letting me see the light

There is no need for thanking me. The last thing you would need is to end up in a party that seriously supports US imperial wars as "progressive"! :crying: That would be just a step from joining the Republicans. :D If I could reccomend a real revolutionary party in US, that would be Party for Socialism and Liberation. Of course, if they have a branch where you live. :)

[the Leftâ„¢]

International boxing champion Rocky Balboa

[Die Rote Fahne]

A moron.

[Magón]

apolitical pessimist.

This. If I was anything but a Commie, I'd be apolitical/pessimistic of it all.

[Revolution starts with U]

Your father

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I would have a life.

[hatzel]

If I weren't a communist, I wouldn't keep posting silly jokes on this thread :)

[Manic Impressive]

If I weren't a communist, I wouldn't keep posting silly jokes on this thread :)
but you're not a communist so does that mean you will keep posting silly jokes:confused:

[Kuppo Shakur]

I would be phone.

[Aurora]

A republican

Circa 1789

[Skooma Addict]

a non-utopian.

[the Leftâ„¢]

I would have a life.

Whatcha tryin to say? :crying::crying::laugh:

[Red Commissar]

In an Alternate World, I'd've probably ended up going down my conservatard pseudo-populist rantings that I was drunk with before I slid off the deep end. Maybe would've been part of those *chan trollers that hit the site earlier this week. Working a job selling cutlery too.

Failing that I'd just become a social-democrat and play with roses.

[Hebrew Hammer]

The Dos Equis man.

Sharks have a week dedicated to him. Has won trophies for his game face alone. His Mother has a tattoo that says Son. He once sojourned a thousand miles to Mecca, turned to the West, knelt and paid homage to himself. He is the most interesting man in the world. I don't always drink beer, but when I do, it's always Dos Equis, stay thirsty my friends.

[Red Future]

A social democrat I guess

[LegendZ]

Gordan Freeman.

[the Leftâ„¢]

Gordan Freeman.

Rise and shine Mr. Freeman

...

Rise, and shine

[cu247]

I would probably be a liberal. My family is and so are most of my friends.

[RedSunRising]

Probably a primitivist gutter punk.

[ken6346]

An Australian Greenie probably. I have considered on many occasions joining the party, because it's the only left-of-centre party that has a chance at federal government at the moment, and Australian socialist parties are mostly a joke (Socialist Alternative is thinly veiled Stalinism, and the rest are trivial) - I still may, because I'd love to see a federal government with the Greens having a significant balance of power or being in the majority (which probably won't happen in the next decade, but if they don't make a major fuck up then they'll be here for a while to come - hopefully we'll have a truly tripartisan system soon).

[The Man]

I'd be the Y U no guy:

http://gurflob.com/storage/pics/YUNO/YUNO.png

[Rusty Shackleford]

probably a stoner nihilist who would die before his 30s. still working on the making it to the 30s part :D

[hatzel]

you will Be shot

Oooh, get you...:sleep:

[GallowsBird]

If you werent communist, what would you be?

Dead.

[hatzel]

Dead.

Because the vanguard would have purged counter-revolutionary elements? :rolleyes:

[ImStalinist]

I would create my own political system, and listen to Trolololo without thinking about Communism. Than, I would run for the Democratic Party to put my system into practice.

Wait, I am planning on already(partly) :rolleyes:.

[dernier combat]

Socialist Alternative is thinly veiled Stalinism
wait what?


What do we mean by socialism?

Confusion abounds about the actual meaning of socialism. For most people, socialism evokes some notion of “equality” or redistributing society’s wealth. Many others derive their understanding of socialism from the so-called communist countries: the Soviet Union, Mao’s China, Cuba or Vietnam.

When the conservative press labels Obama a “socialist” when he talks about lowering excessive CEO salaries or about reforming health care, it adds to the confusion about socialism and bolsters another commonly held perception that socialism simply means a society with a more interventionist or “big” government, a more nationalised economy, with more public or state-run services.

To reach any clarity on this question, a number of myths must be debunked, beginning with the lie that horrible dictatorships like those of Stalin’s Russia had anything to do with socialism.

None of the countries that have called themselves socialist have actually been so. In fact, the “Marxism” of the Stalinist regimes of Russia, China, Vietnam and Cuba was as far away from socialist principles as you can get; societies in which workers had no control over any aspect of their lives, were exploited for the purpose of economic competition with the West, and were brutally repressed if they dared dissent.

These were, and remain today, capitalist societies in which the ruling class cloaked themselves in the rhetoric of socialism to enforce their rule over the vast majority of workers.

It has always been very useful for advocates of capitalism to point to these states as examples of socialism to deter people for fighting for a different society, and reinforce the status quo. Many people who identify as socialists have reinforced the lie that the Stalinist states exemplified socialism by arguing that they were some form of workers' states.

If socialism is not Stalinism, it is also much more than a nationalised economy and a few more publicly run services. When we argue that another world is possible, we mean a world free of the class divisions and inequality of capitalism; a world in which all resources are directed towards enriching and bettering society and where production is determined by what the mass of workers want and need, rather than what will make profits for a tiny minority of CEOs and bosses as it is today.

We want a world in which the workers who do all of the work necessary to run society have full control over their destinies, call all of the shots and make all the decisions about all aspects of that society: from how resources will be used to how everything will be organised.

This type of society is a far cry from capitalism, which today can’t even provide us with decent public health or an affordable, reliable public transport system. But it is precisely the type of society that Karl Marx thought it was possible for workers to build, having once struggled collectively to overthrow the old order.

Although Marx was never prescriptive about what a future socialist society would look like – stating that it would be up to workers themselves to determine it – he argued that such a society would for the first time, place real control and power in the hands of the majority, that it would be a society governed collectively by the majority and in the interests of the majority.

Towards the end of Marx’s life, the revolutionary struggle of French workers threw up an example that reinforced Marx’s ideas about what socialism could be like.

In 1871, the workers of Paris rose up and seized control of their city, replacing the rule of the government with the Commune. This body stood in stark contrast to the “representative” democracy we have under capitalism. Rather than have unaccountable politicians preside over society, workers elected delegates to the Commune who could be recalled immediately if they made decisions that went against workers’ interests. These delegates were paid no more than the average wage, in order to prevent a situation in which people stood merely to gain individual power or privilege.

In this way, the Commune represented an extension of democracy for workers, who immediately set about making Paris a more equal city. The Commune passed decrees that gave unemployed people work in abandoned factories, eliminated boring and repetitive work and shortened the working day.

Since socialist revolution is the act of the mass of workers taking control, the Commune also saw the full participation of all members of society, including women who defied the gender roles of the time to play an active role as political speakers and armed defenders of the Commune against the French state.

Although the Paris Commune was put down after a few months it stood as an inspiring example of what a society run by workers – socialism – could look like. Every revolution since has seen workers form democratic bodies like the Commune, which allowed the mass participation of workers in the running of society – from the soviets of the Russian revolution in 1917, to the shoras of the Iranian revolution in 1979.

While we can’t surmise how workers would organise every aspect of a socialist society, a few things are certain: resources would go towards improving health and education and eliminating poverty, towards feeding and housing people, curing illnesses and saving the environment from the destruction wrought upon it, instead of being squandered on barbarous wars that continue to kill millions in places like Afghanistan. A socialist society is not only desirable, but necessary.
emphasis mine

http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=4658:what-do-we-mean-by-socialism?&Itemid=403

[miltonwasfried...man]

If you weren't communist you'd be republican? Polar opposite?

[Niccolò Rossi]

A libertarian

Nic.

[GallowsBird]

Because the vanguard would have purged counter-revolutionary elements? :rolleyes:

No, but that is what they should do. :hammersickle: :p :star3:

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[GallowsBird]

it's funny The people here will Either take One stigmatised political Position and if they can't have That then they Move On to the next regardless of Whether it's total opposite?


I wouldn't. :p