Anti-communism: what's the rationale?

[RedZero]

I want to preface my question with this: on this forum, I've seen a couple of times from different users whom have stated that pure/true communism has never existed in a country. Is this true?

If it is true, then why is there such disdain for the idea of a country being communist (or even socialist)? If there is no true or pure example to reference, then why do so many people seem to hate these economic, social, and political ideas?

I know there are quite a few anti-communist operations that have taken place, to stop communism from spreading and to just instill fear in people that communism must be a terrible thing.

I'm fairly new to the forum and all of these different ideas, I'm still learning..so go easy on me. Layman's terms if you must. :p I used to think that socialism and communism were bad words, but I'm past that and I now see that they truly don't seem all that bad, from what little I do know.

Thanks for any replies.

[Marxaveli]

It is true, true Communism has never existed. The reasons are this. First, if we go back to the very essential theorist of Communism, Marx, you will see it is defined as a classless/stateless society. None of the countries that claimed to be Communist actually were. And second, you cannot have Communism in one country, it must exist WORLDWIDE, unless you are a Stalinist (who believed Socialism could exist in one country, which fundamentally is a revision of Marx, and therefore is not correct).

Hatred toward Communism is based on ignorance and propaganda of the actions and policies of Maoist China and the former Soviet Union. People hate what they dont understand, and when you live in a society and culture that promotes, educates, and even indoctrinates its citizens to be anti-communist, naturally the result is going to be a strong anti-communist culture. But most people do not even know what Communism is, much less what actually stands for and seeks to achieve.

[Belleraphone]

We've never obtained true communism, but we've gotten close. Societies like Anarchist Spain would've developed and gone full red if they hadn't been crushed by fascist forces. I would say we've obtained true socialism in the past though.

Qucik question: How is the Israeli kibbutz not communist? I know it isn't communist but I don't know why. Weren't they really close to it?

[Zealot]

As for Socialism in one country

K5zT0BM9XvI

[Agent Equality]

Pretty much because 2 things:

1.) being indoctrinated in an anti-communist, pro-capitalist country to hate everything having to do with communism or socialism due to the eliete wanting to keep their power.

2.) Because all the "communist" countries and their leaders and founders fucked the name of communism and socialism up, completely destroyed what the fundamental theory and purpose of communism actually is, and effectively ruined it in the eyes of those in above countries who saw past the extreme yolk of the capitalist propaganda. These include pretty much every vanguard party orientated socialist worker's paradise of the god's of socialism Lenin, Stalin, and Mao.

[tir1944]

It's pretty funny how people are so ready to immediately discard the historical achievements and victories of socialism.
Without the USSR,the second superpower at one time,we have near nothing.Unless you consider the Paris Com. as a victory of socialism.
Therefore a right-winger would be (in the "general pol. discourse" at least) right to mockingly remark that "socialism ain't possible" because that's what an average non-socialist would almost certainly conclude.

[Inner Peace]

Real Communism= Never tested
What has Marx's and Engel written wasn't never tested

[ZeroNowhere]

Generally speaking, 'anti-communism' refers to opposition to the Soviet Union in favour of the 'free West', not to having an in-depth knowledge of Marxist theory and coming in opposition to it. Still, though, socialist (aka. communist) societies have existed previously, both in primitive societies and the occasional communes, some of which Engels describes here (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/10/15.htm). It would be correct to say that a successful proletarian revolution hasn't yet been carried out, however, and hence that communism qua historical movement has not yet been carried out. It will be, though, and has its reality in the necessary movement of capitalism itself.


Therefore a right-winger would be (in the "general pol. discourse" at least) right to mockingly remark that "socialism ain't possible" because that's what an average non-socialist would almost certainly conclude.
The entire movement of history, just as its [communism’s] actual act of genesis – the birth act of its empirical existence – is, therefore, for its thinking consciousness the comprehended and known process of its becoming. Whereas the still immature communism seeks an historical proof for itself – a proof in the realm of what already exists – among disconnected historical phenomena opposed to private property, tearing single phases from the historical process and focusing attention on them as proofs of its historical pedigree (a hobby-horse ridden hard especially by Cabet, Villegardelle, etc.). By so doing it simply makes clear that by far the greater part of this process contradicts its own claim, and that, if it has ever existed, precisely its being in the past refutes its pretension to reality.

[Agent Equality]

but uh yeah also anti-communism usually takes shape like this :laugh:
ju3h7yk4Hcg

[TheRed]

The main reasons people hate communism could be the the things that happened in the soviet union, china, vietnam and north Korea but if you want to call those incidents practice of true communism your no better than they are. Perhaps it's that there is so much propaganda against it in western culture our news, schools and lessond passed from one generation to another. Even if you openly say your a communist your likely to become alienated from the rest of society." A lie told often enough becomes the truth. "
-Vladmir Lenin

[Conscript]

Modern anti-communism is kinda similar to the anti-republican backlash after the Napoleonic wars, with royalist papers talking about the horrors of robespierre et al.

But then there's other anti-communist influences, like nationalism, which is rabidly dogmatic and pseudo-religious in its logic.

There's also the liberal rationale, which always tries to paint a picture of protecting freedom & democracy from 'tyranny', a convenient buzz word. It's rather strawman-ish and, like nationalist attacks, doesn't actually attack what makes communism...communism, common ownership.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

1. Self-interest
2. Propaganda
3. A mix of the above!