New Member Here - Please Help Me Clear The Doubts

[InTheMiddle]

Hello,

I am a new member here and i want to clear some of my doubts on communism.

Please answer the following questions if possible.


1) Do you believe that State (govt) should interfere in Media (radio, TV News channel, Newspapers) ?


2) Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)

3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?

4) Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.

5) Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?

6) What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past?

7) Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?



Thanks

[Fourth Internationalist]

Hello,


Hi! :)


I am a new member here and i want to clear some of my doubts on communism.

Please answer the following questions if possible.
Okay, I'll try!


1) Do you believe that State (govt) should interfere in Media (radio, TV News channel, Newspapers) ?

7) Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?

No. To quote Rosa Luxemburg, a famous communist brutally murdered by the German government in 1919 at the age of 47: Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element. Public life gradually falls asleep, a few dozen party leaders of inexhaustible energy and boundless experience direct and rule. Among them, in reality only a dozen outstanding heads do the leading and an elite of the working class is invited from time to time to meetings where they are to applaud the speeches of the leaders, and to approve proposed resolutions unanimously – at bottom, then, a clique affair – a dictatorship, to be sure, not the dictatorship of the proletariat but only the dictatorship of a handful of politicians, that is a dictatorship in the bourgeois sense


2) Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)
I know too little about them. Though, any violence they are committing is likely distorted and exaggerated by the bourgeois media, and the violence by the government against them justified by the media.


3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?

4) Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.

5) Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?Businesses and money don't exist in communism. Businesses, money, competition, wages, etc. are what make capitalism what it is, which is exactly what socialists/communists are against. States, governments, etc. don't exist in communism either. To quote Friedrich Engels, All Socialists are agreed that the political state, and with it political authority, will disappear as a result of the coming social revolution, that is, that public functions will lose their political character and will be transformed into the simple administrative functions of watching over the true interests of society.


6) What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past?Ignoring the contradiction of a "communist state", only one, the Soviet Union, was created by a proletarian revolution, which is absolutely essential to the creation of a socialist society. After the Russian Revolution, famines, civil war, imperialism, invasions from 14 other countries, and a whole host of other problems lead to the degeneration of the Russian Revolution. The proletarian dictatorship was lost by 1924, and at that point the Soviet Union was never again moving towards socialism (it never ever had a socialist system, only a proletarian dictatorship which is the transitional society between capitalism to socialism. To quote Karl Marx: Between capitalist and communist society there lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of the one into the other. Corresponding to this is also a political transition period in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.).


Thanks:)

EDIT: Proletariat means working class, so the dictatorship of the proletariat doesn't mean a dictatorship as in a small group of people ruling over society. It means the working class, the majority of people, rule over the bourgeoisie, aka the capitalists, the minority, without their consent, hence it's 'dictatorship'.

[Brutus]

3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?
Kautsky deals with this in chapter 4 of Road to Power (https://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1909/power/index.htm). Check the first post here, too. (http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=7382)

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Hello,

I am a new member here and i want to clear some of my doubts on communism.

Please answer the following questions if possible.


1) Do you believe that State (govt) should interfere in Media (radio, TV News channel, Newspapers) ?


2) Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)

3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?

4) Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.

5) Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?

6) What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past?

7) Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?



Thanks

These are interesting questions. First I would say they presuppose a different view of socialism than most socialists espouse. Narx called socialism the "self emancipation of the working class". Its not big government telling people what to, as the Tea Party stereotype would have it. Rather its breaking the rule of capital over our lives in favor of workers democratically controlling the economy and their workplaces. Human needs would be emphasized rather than the needs of a tiny group of people, less than 1% of the population, to make a profit off our labor.The direction of society would be radically different.

Everything else stems from this presupposition.

The media-TV, internet,newspapers etc

The vaunted "freedom of the press" is a myth. The US media is orporate controlled and theoirs not much room for dissent.The golden rule applies-"he who has the gold makes the rules".The corporate media is owned by the wealthy and pushes ideas that are in the interests of the wealthy.This is shown time and time again. Stories not fitting the narrative-West Coast dockworker's strikes, mass protests in Europe or Mexico, third party candidates, are ignored.Leaders like Chavez are consistently demonized as "tyrants". Stories which are covered have an obvious slant.

A traditional socialist proposal would be to democratize the media by providing grants to people of any persuasion. If a ccertain number of people are interested in a proposal they can have funding to start their own paper.

There is no reason why wealthy people like the Sulzbergers or Jeff Bezos should have a monopoly over the public discussion.

In the age of the Internet the dynamic is different but that's the general idea

Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?.

Job loss due to labor saving technology is one of the myriad contradictions of capitalism.As technology advances we should expect people to have more leisure time. Instead people are now working 50 plus hours a week just to keep their house. We have become extensions of machines instead of the other way around.Under socialism wealth and opportunities would be equalized. Labor saving tecnology would mean exactly that, labor saving technology, not a means to the further reifiction of capital.

Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)

The peasant class of the "red belt" in India is horrendously oppressed and marginalized.A 40 year old Maoisrt movement has put itself at the head of a justifiable peasant insurrection.I disagree with their tactics. Marxists believe that any revolution has to be working class based or it will fail. Guerrila warfare isrisky. Its ultimatelynot democratic and thus become liable to atrocities and human rights abuses. So I oppose this on the part of the Naxalites, as I do of Sendero Luminoso and similar outfits. Nevertheless its very important to put this into context. In India there have been a wave of suicides among desperate peasants.People see no way out other than guerrilla warfare.

Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.

I admit I am not super knowledgable about the pensions of public service workers, although I think I should be.I would seriously doubt many public service employees are making 100 k a year.If they are, well I would be very happy for them.

I would be very leery of the Koch brothers/Scott Walker propaganda offensive against public workers. "They are making outrageous salaries while we are just barely getting by and have to make cutbacks. This is based on lies and isdesigned topit one part of the working class against another part, which is also the only sector which is still unionized.

Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?

In a revolutionary situation censorship may be necessary. In the US there has been much noise about censorship in Venezuala. It isn't mentioned that the opposition media is owned by a small group of very wealthy individuals, in cooperstion with the US and they have been part of an intense campaign to destabilize and overthrow the regime.

Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?

Again communism would not be total control by a government.Reference State and Revolution by Lenin-there would be no government as this word is usually used. The system of the Paris Commune provides an example of direct worker's control of society. Under socialism people would be motivated by helping others (Cuban doctors would be an example) and being of service to society. There could be competition between small firms base on what people need,not the interests of shareholders.

(I haven't read the Kautsky book othersreferenced, its on my reading list)

What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past?

They weren't communist.The term "communist state"is an oxymoron,as Lenin pointed out. Under communism the state would cease to exist. The

Its a complicated discussion but basically the Soviet Union, the Eastern bloc et weren't democratic. They were ruled by a parasitic bureacratic layer. The working class was atomized and people had little control over their lives.

It should be mentioned though that people in those countries had far greater economic security than they do now. In Romania, which was ruled by Ceaucescu, the epitome of a repressive dictator, people now feel their live was better under him than under capitalism.

It also should be mentioned that the fSU, despite its huge drawbacks, rapidly industrialized and became a modern industrial nation within ten years, a stupendous feat and a few years later defeated the Nazis. This shows the advantages of a planned economy, even within the straiijacket of Stalinism.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

1) Do you believe that State (govt) should interfere in Media (radio, TV News channel, Newspapers) ?

Do you believe that any state, anywhere, ever, has refrained from interfering in the media? Conversely, do you believe that corporations, capitalists, and private business interests should interfere in the media?


2) Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)

Do you support the Indian state?


3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?

Do you think capitalism slows down innovation, as private business has no interest in innovation per se., resulting in widespread planned obsolescence, etc.? If no, could you explain why?

Conversely, do you feel like the capitalist state, when acting as an innovator, prioritizes innovation that is beneficial, or like, agent orange and shit?


4) Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.

Do you believe high level corporate functionaries should receive massive benefit packages for "cutting labour costs"?


5) Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?

Do you believe that technology "replaces" labour?
'Cos, if it's powered by, say electricity, somebody is still mining the coal, or building the dams, or, or, or. By and large, technology serves to move labour from certain places (usually organized, skilled sectors) to cheaper markets, etc.
Secondly, do you think capitalism does this in a way that is effective? 'Cos, like, 500 Bangladeshis sitting at decades-old sewing machines seems to imply otherwise.



6) What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past?

What do you think the biggest reason is that capitalism continues to fail? In this case, I'm looking at failure in terms of largest prison populations in world history, largest disparities of wealth and poverty, etc.


7) Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?

No. I believe in spying by private entities who sell the information among one another. :rolleyes:


Thanks

No problem. I also read "The Fountainhead" in high school.

[InTheMiddle]

@aang :

You posted in my profile public wall that what got me interested in communism?

Well simple answer is that i visited kerala last year. If you may know, kerala is one of the few communist states of india.

[The Idler]

No to all except the one about communist states, which there is no such thing.

[Sam_b]

kerala is one of the few communist states of india.

It isn't. Just because a party controls the legislature does not make it 'Communist', as Idler and others point out, because there's no such thing as a communist state. Anyways, the LDF lost the legislative election in 2011.

[Comrade Jacob]

1) Do you believe that State (govt) should interfere in Media (radio, TV News channel, Newspapers) ?

I believe it should have it's own stations but is not inherent within communism, of course we must crush the lies of the capitalists.

2) Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)

I do, some don't. Violence is necessary in revolution. Name an actually non-violent non-criminal revolution.

3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?

I takes away the profit motive but they are other motives, motives that are respectable. e.g: Samaritan-ship

4) Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.

No, that would be inequality.

5) Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?

It only replaces living labour but it doesn't do the same for dead labour.

6) What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past?

Revisions, sanctions and capitalist propaganda polluting the minds.

7) Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?

If it is the censorship of slander, anti-communist lies and child pornography then yes.

[Brotto Rühle]

Hello,

I am a new member here and i want to clear some of my doubts on communism.

Please answer the following questions if possible.


[QUOTE]1) Do you believe that State (govt) should interfere in Media (radio, TV News channel, Newspapers) ? No, because the state, at the end of the day, represents the interests of the bourgeoisie. It's not a class neutral entity.


2) Do you support the Naxal Movement? Do you support their violence? (More info please search google if you don't known already)No. I don't support THEIR violence, But I am not opposed to proletarian violence, I.e. revolution.


3) Do you think that Communism slow down innovation as Govt has no competition in a specific sector? If no, please tell me why?There is no "competition" in communism.


4) Do you believe that Retired Govt employees should get $100-$150k+ pension per year after 20 years of service? I am not asking about an employee getting a $20-$30k pension per year, i am specifically asking about employees getting $100-$150k+ pension per year.NO.


5) Do you believe that new technology which replaces/fires existing workers/employees should not be implemented in businesses?Abolish business.


6) What do you think is the biggest reason why communist states failed in the past? Communism has no state. Societies such as China, the USSR, Cuba, etc. Are/were State Capitalist.


7) Do you believe in govt censorship on TV, Internet and other things?no.

[RedHal]

When you google Naxal violence make sure you also google Operation Greenhunt and Salwa Judum? Or just go to youtube and listen to some Arundhati Roy talks on the Maoist situation in India. Roy is not a Maoist, but a famous author and a favorite of the "respectable left" but her take on the Maoist situation is spot on.

[Rafiq]

Why is it less horrifying for the servants of the market and capital, bent not on distributing information in itself but making profit to completely control the media in totality than for a proletarian state, which represents the collective interests of the proletarian class and potentially society itself, to control the media?

[Rafiq]

A state controlled by Communists is by default a Communist state. Communism as a mode of production does not exist and whatever succeeds capitalism we know little of.