Does Communism Have A Chance?

[7189]

Well?

Personally I think we could do with it. Everything's going to hell now, especially culture. People nowadays seem to care more about shoes than politics. In the west, the new generation is shallow and moronic; it seems to be enslaved by capitalism. In my community I am the only one that talks about Marxism, about politics, about the crapness of capitalism and how it is making our culture flashy and stale. Whenever I mention that I am a communist my friends laugh. The ones that agree with me don't know shit about communism and will never bother to read anything about it either.

In this current polticial climate (or absence of any climate) in the Western World, I begin to wonder: does Communism stand a chance? Will the vision of Marx EVER be realised?

[MeTaLhEaD]

1 word
SOCIALISM

[Commie Rat]

in english we are doing a topic on the discourse of war and in the textbook there is a picture of Martin Luther King and this annoying tp yells out 'who is this loser'
arrgg the arogance of some dumbasses so then the teacher sez ' he was a racial rights activist that was assainated one of the most important figurses of our century' so she sez ' why the hell is he so important'

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:
some people are so frustrating [is she wasn't a chick the 6' 3'' black guy beside me would have peobably hurt someone]

[RedAnarchist]

Shes probably someone whose role models are actors and singers that dont actually do anything for the people or the world, instead of people like MLK who actually fought the establishment for social change.

[Irish_Bebop]

People nowadays seem to care more about shoes than politics. In the west, the new generation is shallow and moronic; it seems to be enslaved by capitalism.

I think that that statement right there goes a long way towards answering your question, people are enslaved, and worse still, they dont give a shit!

War in Iraq? Oh, well as long as we dont have to pay a dollar extra for gas then we dont even need to know where ' Iraq ' is.

People today are so self absorbed in their own jolly lives to care about the plight of the rest of the world. In the third world they're to hungry and uneducated to fight globalisation and capitalism, while the west is too fat and lazy. The amount of social apathy in the middle class communities of today is absolutly disgusting. And as long as people dont care and as long their little niches aren't being threatend things will remain that way.

Personally, i dont give a fuck about the west, they can keep their capitalism and their bourgous life-style, why not, people dont starve in the west. My concern lies with Africa and the rest of the third world, my concern lies with the downtrodden and starving, the people socialism could really help.

I think that if this is ever to come into being (and this is highly hypathetical givent the position of the world today) revolution should follow the patterns set out by Lenin, and as there is no powerful communist power to support such a revolution, then the answer lies with preading the revolution throught the continent.

[Colombia]

If all of Africa was to turn to socialism, it would not work without the aid of any industrial nations. In order for socialism to divide, we would need a major nation. Even Marx said so.

I don't know if we would actually want Marxism-Leninism though, it would most likely turn to some fascist government.

[7189]

Maybe if we start a revolution in South America, eventually turning the whole continent socialist, a revolution in Africa could work and there would be two continents completely socialist which would be able to spread the idealogy across the rest of the world. Once the whole world was made socialist we could then move forward to communism and hence, Utopia.

[T_SP]

I wouldn't be here if I thought it didn't my friend!

[RedAnarchist]

a Communist society wouldnt be a Utopia. Why would it be?

[Sabocat]

It is inevitable.

"We are going to inherit the earth . There is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie may blast and burn its own world before it finally leaves the stage of history. We Are not afraid of ruins. We who ploughed the prairies and built the cities can build again, only better next time. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute."

-Durruti

[workersunity]

to the original author of this post, never give up, keep on saying the truth

[gnat]

Whenever I mention that I am a communist my friends laugh. The ones that agree with me don't know shit about communism and will never bother to read anything about it either.

I get the same shit all the time. Just the other day, an acquaintence of mine asked me if I was a democrat, and I said no, "I'm an anarchist." He replied, "you're joking right?"

I'd like to say I stood up for what I believe in, but I cowered and said I was a socialist...

[RevolutionaryLeftist]

the society in the U.$. is becoming a bottomless pit of brainwashed people who are becoming more materialistic. all you see on t.v. is buy this or its some fucking advertisement. everything you see on t.v. is only from one point of view, and that is of course on the right side. im personally getting sick of it, and this country is goin' to shit. in some ways its good, because this shows that the capitalist system is weaking. the national debt and all that. people need to start speaking up. and i do think communism definitly has a chance. people just need to open their eyes because they've been duct taped shut by the u.s. gov't. funny how they call this a democracy. we don't even make the choices, some fucking senator does it for us. we vote for people to vote for us...thats not what this country was founded on. i don't stand for this republic, and i think sooner or later people will get extremely tired of it and when the system finally collapes, the stateless communist society will be able to form.

[Yazman]

Originally posted by [email protected] 6 2005, 01:24 AM
a Communist society wouldnt be a Utopia. Why would it be?
I agree. There is no reason it would be. People who say such things need to shut the hell up and face facts, just because something is better that doesn't make it utopia.

[workersunity]

ya im in this school full of petty bourgeois bastards, no even far left group, im trying to make one, but this one kid calls me a commie bastard,and the closest people to my beliefs are just social democratic opportunists scum

[LaVictoria]

I think eventualy the world will grow to Communism. People will not put up with exploitation, with one being much richer than the other. it's starts by teaching people about socialism, communism etc. spread the word...fuck capitalism!

[Redmau5]

Workers have less class consciousness now than they ever did. The capitalist system is showing no signs of slowing down. The propaganda that is shoved down people's throats nowadays only shows people the capitalist way, without any alternative. Workers are only worried about getting ahead of their fellow worker, rather than standing beside him in solidarity against the exploitive oppressors.

The problem is everyone thinks they can do well for themselves, when it's only a minority that actually do. As long as people keep thinking that they can earn more money, drive a better car and live in a better house then communism won't work. People need to be made to realise that not every one can be a lawyer or a doctor, and once people accept the fact they are working class then the situation will begin to change.

[comrade_mufasa]

funny how they call this a democracy. we don't even make the choices, some fucking senator does it for us. we vote for people to vote for us...thats not what this country was founded on.
Yes that is what this country was founded on. The founding fathers thought that the working class was to stupid to make real decisons for the country.

[CommunistZeal]

Guys, if we are serious about our movement and we truly wish to see socialism triumph all over the world, then we must welcome every defeat for monopoly-imperialism, no matter how small or short-lived it may be, whether it's in the war zones of occupied-Iraq or the consumer-economy at home. The bourgeoisie are growing bolder and more desperate. Just look at the lunacy in Iraq; they know that if they want to continue to rule the world and maintain their hegemony over the global capitalist-economy, they have to finish the job in Iraq and set an example by snuffing out any resistance. Just think about the context here. Not since the Nazi invasion of Europe has any modern nation-state been subjected to the humiliation of being invaded and occupied by a foreign power.

I really think we are at a critical moment right now. Consumer-capitalism may be strong right now, but its showing some cracks. Chances are very good the US will look like a Third World country in 20 years. The bourgeoisie must be nervous about a vicious trade-war, rising debts, and a sinking dollar. Now they are trying to save the monopoly-imperialist system they have controlled for nearly 60 years by launching a terrorist-war in the Middle East. The battle lines have been drawn, and they couldn't be any clearer. Forget the reformist slogans and abandon any silly liberal notions you may have about the war. Cheer on the Iraqi patriots who are fighting Amerikan fascism - they do not need to share our ideals to further our cause. A victory for them is a defeat for monopoly-imperialism. A defeat in Iraq would be disastrous for the world's ruling class. It would be another symbolic example of the oppressed masses slaying the giant of Western imperialism. The US would lose its dominance and we would more rapidly approach a multipolar world, where we have a greater chance of spreading our ideals. No more giant imperialist-bully snuffing out national liberation movements at will, since they would have other powerful nations to deal with.

[fernando]

How will you get the indoctrinated masses to agree with you? The new generation of youths is already lost, they care more about that some famous person wears than the political situation in the world.

I think first the ideas of socialism and communism need to be updated and thought through again in order to make it fit in with the 21st century thinking and not with the ideas of the 19th and early 20 centuries.

[Redmau5]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2005, 10:58 AM
I think first the ideas of socialism and communism need to be updated and thought through again in order to make it fit in with the 21st century thinking and not with the ideas of the 19th and early 20 centuries.
I disagree. What Marx said about bourgeois democracy is happening right now. The time is perfect for communism, people just need to realise it.

However, i agree we need to change the way we present socialism to people nowadays. If we could find a better way to convey the communist message to people then we'd be in with a chance. There's just such a stigma attached to communism, we need to get rid of it.

[T_34]

We are all missing something, we are dancing around it, but never actually saying it. OIL. Oil is not going to last forever, and it is oil that drives economies. Even though there are alternatives out there, America has no interest in working on them, so let them consume oil.

When oil and gas finally do run out, what would happen? It's hard to say, but I would guess that the world would go mental. Confusion, fear and panic would grip the West. America and capitalism are only going to thrive for so long, and time is running out for them, governments will fall and replacements will be needed, why not a socialist replacement?

You probably think I am nuts, but there is less than 50 years of oil left, at the rate we are guzzling it, it could be gone in less than 30 years.

The workers will be woken from their coma, and will look for a real alternatives to capitalism, so they need shown that socialism is the way forward.

[h&s]

What is needed is more direct involvement in working class struggles - we need to show our ideas to the people, show that they are realistic aims, and show them just how bad capitalism is for them. People do care, but they are not treally that bothered about people campaigning about US imperialism. We need to campaign on real issues, such as job losses, pensions, stikes, etc.
No one is going to support someone who goes on about their ideal of communist utopia in the distant future who goes on about how bad the US is - they want ideas that will help them that can be implemented now.

[Redmau5]

People care ? Where are these people ?

I'll give you an example. Water tax is going to be introduced in Northern Ireland soon. Now that is a big issue amongst ordinary people, especially the working class. The Socialist Party stand in the Belfast city centre with leaflets, posters and a petition against the water tax, yet most people walk past and ignore it, even though it directly affects them. Some people do sign it, yet the majority don't.

If people really cared then that petition would have thousands of signatures, not a few hundred.

[Redmau5]

Not discouraged, just frustrated. :angry:

[codyvo]

I think that in most parts of the world communism is very much a possibility, but the only place I think it will never exist is in the United States. Generations of people have been raised here with prejudice against communism the communist movement is so small here it really doesn't stand a chance.

[Redmau5]

Im not so sure. I think there is quite a strong communist movement in the US. They just don't get a chance to express themselves due to the prejudices of the past. Most people, even those people that communism would benefit the most, refuse to acknowledge it, even though they haven't a clue about it.

I'd put most opposition down to ignorance rather than a genuine dislike of it.

[YKTMX]

:lol: You're easily discouraged eh Comrade?

You think we've got it bad, how about 20 million Germans voting for Adolf and Uncle Jo' slaughtering every Bolshevik in sight.

[Raisa]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 12:04 AM

People nowadays seem to care more about shoes than politics. In the west, the new generation is shallow and moronic; it seems to be enslaved by capitalism.

I think that that statement right there goes a long way towards answering your question, people are enslaved, and worse still, they dont give a shit!

War in Iraq? Oh, well as long as we dont have to pay a dollar extra for gas then we dont even need to know where ' Iraq ' is.

People today are so self absorbed in their own jolly lives to care about the plight of the rest of the world. In the third world they're to hungry and uneducated to fight globalisation and capitalism, while the west is too fat and lazy. The amount of social apathy in the middle class communities of today is absolutly disgusting. And as long as people dont care and as long their little niches aren't being threatend things will remain that way.

Personally, i dont give a fuck about the west, they can keep their capitalism and their bourgous life-style, why not, people dont starve in the west. My concern lies with Africa and the rest of the third world, my concern lies with the downtrodden and starving, the people socialism could really help.

There are a real lot of people in the west that socialism can really help too, and it seems like there will be even more the way things are going.

In the United States just about every city you drive through has a ghetto, and then there besides that, are homes all over with people who struggle to live.
Most of us are not enjoying this bourgeois life style you talk about!
The fat that effects the proliteriat of my country is from us having no time or energy for excercise and only time to put fake unhealthy and processed shit into our body and go back to our jobs. So we can have poor health AND poor wages.
We are not too self absorbed to care, alot of us are not educated enough to begin to ask whats wrong and when we finally get out of work we are so thankful and too tired to care. I am surprised that you do not see this.
Maybe you are too bourgeois to see the struggles of the people in your own country or have any idea that they exist.

[Redmau5]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2005, 09:21 PM
We are not too self absorbed to care, alot of us are not educated enough to begin to ask whats wrong and when we finally get out of work we are so thankful and too tired to care. I am surprised that you do not see this.

Too tired too care ? Nothing would ever get done if everyone was "too tired to care". You obviously couldn't be that committed to socialism if you only give a damn about it when it suits you.

And you aren&#39;t educated enough ? As far as i know people get days off work, for example on Saturday and Sunday. So what&#39;s wrong with reading up on socialism and communism on those days ? Or are you too tired then as well ? <_<

True socialists should be 100% committed. To be anything otherwise leads to complacency and disloyalty within the movement.

[lostsoul]

marx believed that communism was the next natural step from capitialism. Although I don&#39;t think they has been a revoluation in a advanced capitialist country. his logic seems right. Nations can do better, and produce better results when everything is organized.

there are alot of people who believe in socialism still, just not as much in the west. I think alot of people in the expolited countries still believe it can save them. Save them..then when the Capitialist have no one to expolit they&#39;ll start exploiting themselfs(I believe that was Lennin&#39;s logic on why wars are invitable in capitialism).

[pandora]

I think much of what Marx wrote in terms of global hegemony by one monopoly is just now coming to pass. We as Communists should be very attentive to this with the rise of Bretton Woods. Now is the time, and many nations are tired of Capitalism, but Bretton Woods is forcing them at threat of military intervention or embargo to give up their GDP to the World Bank to pay debt created to create infrastructure for the fabulous 5 top companies.

Thing is though I think there is a real reluctance towards anger or violence from many nations who want a peaceful transition. We must try to find a way to help this happen with love. Perhaps the way is to look at the language of our movement and keep the same dedication without the harshness of blame. Just recognizing both sides oppressor and oppressed as being victims of the same system that arose before either was born. Only by recognizing thus perhaps can we come up with the language which will truly bring unity and understanding that unity is the way and promotes Communist ideals to create a peaceful society without the current level of bloodshed on a world wide basis.

[aztecklaw]

Many people are slaves to capitalism because their minds have been conditioned since birth.

I am a victim of this capitalist conditioning.

I have more wants than needs because the society I live in persists on telling me I want and I want more.

It&#39;s true what the poster said about people caring more about shoes than their culture.

I live amongst Mexican-Americans that have lost culture and identity and their attitudes towards other Mexicans are a signature and a testament to our lost culture. Sometimes when I think I am standing by a brother, I hear them call Mexican Nationals &#39;wetbacks&#39;. They support enforced borders and have lost connection to a motherland that has nurtured our people and have lost respect for our ancestors that made our very existence possible.

A cultural revolution would have to be put into action to counter the culture of consumption.

We would have to erase the picture of the dirty indigenous man that begs for food. We have to give them back the land they knew how to cultivate. We would have to deprogram the need for consumption and learn the respect the simple farmer had for earth and rain.

I keep hearing about civil discourse and I can&#39;t see how it would benefit.

Civil discourse are for those parties that disagree but are willing to reach a compromise. When has the U.S. or capitalist greed demonstrated and willingness to compromise with the indigenous man?

We have to have a revolution within our people and have them ask more questions about their culture and history and less about wanting the new car or the new basketball shoes that just came out.

Capitalism sells distraction and complacency. It tells us to forget about the injustices happening to the people of the Americas and be more concerned about the contestants on American Idol.

Civil discourse is for negociating and why should I, or any of our people, negociate the land that was stolen. The beneficiary needs to be shifted from the undeserving hierarchy that control the land to the cultivator that has sustained and nurtured all of us for generations since the very begining. Capitalism is unnatural and only aims to please the hierarchy.

A revolution with guns is meaningless if the people have no sense of identity. A people with a sense of identity don&#39;t need guns to have a revolution and the capitalist recognizes the dangers of a people gaining an identity and that&#39;s why the guns usually come to those that seek justice through peaceable means.

It is paramount to those that want to give the land back to the farmer and reclaim identity, that they will be met with opposition whether they ask for it or not.

More and more latinos are becoming citizens of America. I guess we don&#39;t know the power we have to change the country and change the attitude of American policy if we unite and demand to heard. Everyday complacency wins, reclaiming identity can change all that.

[lostsoul]

Originally posted by [email protected] 25 2005, 08:36 AM
I think much of what Marx wrote in terms of global hegemony by one monopoly is just now coming to pass. We as Communists should be very attentive to this with the rise of Bretton Woods. Now is the time, and many nations are tired of Capitalism, but Bretton Woods is forcing them at threat of military intervention or embargo to give up their GDP to the World Bank to pay debt created to create infrastructure for the fabulous 5 top companies.

Thing is though I think there is a real reluctance towards anger or violence from many nations who want a peaceful transition. We must try to find a way to help this happen with love. Perhaps the way is to look at the language of our movement and keep the same dedication without the harshness of blame. Just recognizing both sides oppressor and oppressed as being victims of the same system that arose before either was born. Only by recognizing thus perhaps can we come up with the language which will truly bring unity and understanding that unity is the way and promotes Communist ideals to create a peaceful society without the current level of bloodshed on a world wide basis.
Thanks, I never knew about Bretton Woods, but after googling a bit found alot of info.

Alot of times it seems if change is needed then voilence in inveitable. But it seems like it can be avoided if Communists run in elections, and not always boycott them. They would be able to start a transition, and since they were voted in they would have people support, it would be for the west to jusify an invasion.

But i guess Capitialism, like an wild animal, will simply attack when it feels threathen and perhapes jusify it after.