Hi, New Here Sorta, Need Help On Some Things?!

[4_star]

hello, i am 17, a senior in highschool, and would like to consider myself a communist. BUT i only know so much about it, i have read the communist manifesto about 3 times and CHE: a revolutionary life that i stole from my U$ history teacher, he didnt need it haha i also have this book on the soviet union that tells its entire story in somewhat good detail. Also, my mom, for some reason thinks communism is evil and and she wishes castro was dead and that all those good things i tell her CHE did are just lies made up by the author of that book and then she threatens to throw my "red" books away, i think its cuz shes mexican, and she still remembers that incident where the mexican govt ordered soldiers to fire on students in mexico city, and she states they were communist and that i am going to end up like that someday. My Dad on the other hand is in the middle, like most other mexicans thinks the reason we are so "well off" is becuase he came to america and that in mexico none of this would of happened to him and so on, but he doesnt denounce communism and always tells me about the mexican revolution, but fearing confrontation with a angry mexican women, keeps quiet around her, So all of this doesnt help me and my education about communism and of the sort. Now I know someone can just preach communism to me but some help would be appreciated.

what EXACTLY does, "From each, according to his ability. To each, according to his need."

does it mean that people should get what they deserve or work for? and should only be what they need? not any luxuries or something? i know i'm prolly wrong but its better to ask i think.


Also i feel like a hypocrite every single day damnit! i drive a 2002 acura RSX Type-S, yes its nice and a capitalist luxury if you will, but damnit drive one and you will understand, i work and pay for the car myself and some people tell me, how can you be communist? then the oh too common "if you lived in a communist country you wouldnt have that car" i quickly ask what country they mean in particular and of course they say cuba or something like that, and i tell them there has never been a communist country in existence, then they ask me for a ride and since i'm nice i might give them one lol.

my question is, like most people in the U$A, we have lots of luxuries people in other countries will never have, and this is why we have them i think. Like Air conditioning, nice houses, money and so on. Would all these things still be availible in a communist society, be it based on marxist-leninism, maosim (which is sorta the same thing a marxist-leninism right?) and all other forms of it? i mean most of these commodities come from corporations, and with the abolishment of these evil corporations, how would all new products or commodities be devloped and by whom? the way they are today is by individuals looking to make a new product and get rich of it right? but in a communist society this sort of wouldnt have any return value other than personal satisfaction, but as we all know were human and we cant forget that, so i am just wondering how this would work, or would we just have to do without such things?


i know what i wrote was very long, and i thank everyone that reads that and helps, insults, yells,replys to what i said.

thanks!

[NovelGentry]

"From each, according to his ability. To each, according to his need."

Means simply that every person is provided with what they need, not necessarily so much in "return" for something, just that everyone gets what they need and the way they do that is that everyone gives according to their ability. Like if you can build a house, you help build houses, and people who need those houses would get them.


Also i feel like a hypocrite every single day damnit! i drive a 2002 acura RSX Type-S, yes its nice and a capitalist luxury if you will, but damnit drive one and you will understand, i work and pay for the car myself and some people tell me, how can you be communist? then the oh too common "if you lived in a communist country you wouldnt have that car" i quickly ask what country they mean in particular and of course they say cuba or something like that, and i tell them there has never been a communist country in existence, then they ask me for a ride and since i'm nice i might give them one lol.

I drive a Mini Cooper. I don't feel like a hypocrite, someone else here drives a hybrid, most of which are around the same price or more. It's not a matter of it being a "capitalist luxury." It's this simple... the fact is, we live in a capitalist society because it is beyond our control, we were born into it and the most we can do is try to change it, but that doesn't always work. So if you work in order to pay for your car, be happy with that. No matter where you work, if you're actually working, that is, not heading or running a company, but if you are actually a true worker, then you are one of the exploited. So why should you be ashamed of the things you can get with what little percentage you get of the wealth that company generates from your work?

Lastly, I'd like to mention that if you lived in a communist society you'd probably have a lot MORE than you do now, not necessarily the same things, but overall a lot MORE. Furthermore there would be enough public transportation that it would not be crowded and it would exist everywhere, not just in areas around or within major cities. On top of that, we'd probably STILL have cars.... and why the hell not, cars can be produced from a majority of machine labor. The fact is, and I've said this a million times, communism does not mean poverty, it does not mean loss of individuality, and it does not mean more work for less things. If anything it is the complete opposite of these things.


Would all these things still be availible in a communist society, be it based on marxist-leninism, maosim (which is sorta the same thing a marxist-leninism right?) and all other forms of it?

Money would not... money is destroyed, but money is not a luxury, it is a mans to acquire luxury. As far as "nice" houses, I suppose it depends on what you call nice. Is someone going to have a 50 room mansion if it's just them and a child? no. But the difference is that we will all have houses, and our houses will fit our needs and probably THEN some, depending on how much of our own free time we want to put into making them nice.


i mean most of these commodities come from corporations, and with the abolishment of these evil corporations, how would all new products or commodities be devloped and by whom?

This is where you're wrong. Most of these commodities do not come from corporations, they come from the working class who is hired as a wage slave to corporations. They create the product, not the "corporation," and if you understand that then you should understand that it will work exactly the same in a communist society, except it won't be a separate "class." The same people who make these commodoties now can make them under communism.


the way they are today is by individuals looking to make a new product and get rich of it right? but in a communist society this sort of wouldnt have any return value other than personal satisfaction, but as we all know were human and we cant forget that, so i am just wondering how this would work, or would we just have to do without such things?

The new product is all working class labor. Companies hire engineers who design the product, usually outsource to another company for that products raw materials or components, then they hire other workers to build it. The only person who gets rich off this is the person in control of this charade, which tend to be "high up" executives who don't do an ounce of this labor.

The return value for work in a communist society is more than personal satisfaction, it is knowing that because of what you have done the entire world is benefiting. We produce because we need... it is that simple, but we can produce a hell of a lot better things when we work together, because it's easier when we break down the skills and all contribute what we can. This way here we don't all have to be a jack of all trades. Our food can come from those who know how to produce it well, houses from those who build them well, and so on and so on. What you contribute is then based on what you enjoy doing the most. If you enjoy helping people who are sick you become a doctor, if you like building things or coming up with ideas for things to build you might become a carpenter or an engineer, if you would much rather teach people and make a difference in a younger persons life you become a teacher... etc...etc. The labor that is "unwanted" can be handled in two ways. First off, production that is unwanted can either be machine driven or simply destroyed. If it is that useless of a product I would assume it would just be destroyed. But it's not as if machines cannot be used to build the majority of modern day goods. Other things can be broken up amongst everyone in society. That is, we may all have to chip in for this kind of work, but because we're all chipping in we'd only have to do very little of it. like maybe an hour a month or something. This is something we would all understand that we do so that we can all benefit from it or because it simply NEEDS to be done.

As for your statement that we "can't forget that we're human"... I'm not sure what you're implying by this. I don't forget that we're human, but knowing that I'm human makes me know that unlike othe animals I have a very unique combination of compassion and reason, and from this I'm able to aim for such ideals and if they were eve achieved, uphold them.

[Anti-Capitalist1]

It's impossible to live in the US and live completely outside of the capitalist system, and more and more, this becoming true of the whole world.

Oh, and in regards to popular opinion of communism, ask people about it and it's leaders.
2 responses I've recieved:
When asking a che tshirt clad kid about Che, He said that he killed Communists.
when asking a whole lot of people what they believe Communism is, I've heard, "Isn't it like Fascism?" too many times to count.

[4_star]

thanks!