why oppress in communist regimes?

[commiecrusader]

from what i know about the various communist regimes there has been around the world such as in the USSR, China (in the past), North Korea etc, it seems as if oppression is very important to the leaders and is used a lot with strict controls over the contents of the media and punishment for the expression of anti communist views.

now no doubt being from england my sources are somewhat biased against these communist leaders etc but the fact remains that oppression is used and i was just wondering why? i can see why it might be necessary for the first few years (say 40) of a regime due to the relative instability of an entirely new system. but surely after a certain amount of time (say, two generations) people should have become socialised/used to the system having grown up in it and therefore surely the majority will support the regime. the benefits should be apparent, and therefore nullify the need to silence doubters who should surely be in the minority. furthermore, surely most of the people who still didn't appreciate the new system would have left the country anyway/have been imprisoned due to the initial oppression of the regime.

this therefore begs the question why should the oppression still need to be used by the leaders of the regime? it seems not only pointless but also dangerous, as it would be sure to only fuel the antagonism from capitalist and economically imperialist countries such as the USA and to a weedier extent EU countries.

[commiecrusader]

ummm can someone please answer my question and tell me why there is a need to maintain high levels of oppression all the time in a communist state?

[RedAnarchist]

China hasnt been anywhere near progressivism for decades. It is a corrupt, totalitarian and reactionary state that is more capitalist than the US at times.

North Korea is the same, but is run by a lunatic with a personality cult a la Stalin.

A Communist nation isnt possible. First it is the Socialist stage, where there is a state. By the time the state has withered away, you have Communism.

Communism is far more free and democratic than Capitalism could ever be.

[commiecrusader]

yes i know china isnt communist any more but for instance in the USSR they tried to skip the socialist stage where oppression would be necessary due to the fledgling nature of the society, and tried to go straight to communism. yet the oppression was still prevalent throughout the whole of the USSR's existence. that (as well as the inequality between peasants, workers and leaders of the communist party in russia) was what caused many of the internal problems and riots as is demonstrated by the fact that many of the older people in Russia now wish it had stayed as the USSR.

so why did they oppress when clearly it just caused resentment?

[Roses in the Hospital]

Basically, in orthdox Marxism the revolution will be defended by a transitional phase known as the 'dictatorship of the proletriat' for 'x' number of years untill such a time when power can be handed over directly to the masses and the state 'withers away'. This was developed by Leninist thinkers into a dictatorship over the proletariat by a 'vanguard' party. The theory being the vanguard would act as dictatorial government of the working classes, who would begin the process of building a totally Comunist society, ie. one where the state has withered away.
In practice what this means is that those who are in power arn't willing to give it up, either because they grow used to it or because the material conditions of their particular country are unable to sustain true communsm at that particular time. This process seems to step up a gear when the original generation of revolutionaries die out, and you have genuine Socialists such as Lenin replaced with people such as Stalin. In effect oppression ceases to be used to defend the Revolution and instead is used to keep their corrupted leaders in power. This is usually followed by countries reverting back to capatalist tendancies, China being the prime example.
The use and misuse of oppression in comunist societies is emensly complicated and you'll find many different views on what can/can't be justified.
Hope this helps...

[commiecrusader]

thanks thats kinda what i was thinkin but i wasnt sure. its crap the way power corrupts most people like that, mugabe in zimbabwe being a prime example.

[Hiero]

This process seems to step up a gear when the original generation of revolutionaries die out, and you have genuine Socialists such as Lenin replaced with people such as Stalin

There was 9 years difference between Stalin and Lenin, they would be considered the same generation of revolutionaries.