Lardlad95
14th June 2005, 17:33
Rarely have I seen this problem seriously addressed by Socialists, Communists, or leftists of any kind.
The obvious assumption that is made in regards to previous "attempts" at communism is that they were not in fact "communist" but rather a perverted form of socialism or in the case of the USSR state capitalist. These nations arrive at these points as a result of a new class order that simply takes the power out of the hands of the capitalists and puts it in the hands of state bureaucrats. More often than not this creates an oppressive society that puts the workers in a worse position than the one they began in.
We can all agree that the intentions of these revolutions were good, but (if you can excuse the phrase) the road to hell is paved in good intentions. As a result of the failed attempts are creating a workers republic the leftist movement as a whole has taken a considerable blow in its appeal to the masses. Granted in many underdeveloped nations leftist and Marxist ideology has large scale appeal. However in the Western world, which controls the majority of media and the power, the opinion of the people has moved more towards to the right of center. Particularly in America, a nation who's political and economic power holds a major grip on international politics.
The easy thing to do would be to simply ignore the Western world and focus on developing a class consciousness in the third world where the message would be better received. However there are two problems with this. The first being that workers in the western world are the victims of the capitalist system as well(though their position is no where near as bad as those in Latin America, Africa, and south east Asia). The second is that, as anyone who has studied history knows, leftist revolution always has to over come the road block of western intervention. So sooner or later we will need to deal with the Western "democracies" (it was hard just to type that word in reference to western governments).
Whether we are dealing with the third world or the West a problem ultimately arises in perception. It does not matter if we are talking about democratic socialism, revolutionary communism, or any other type of societal change. Each one of these leaves the impression of "bureaucratic tyranny" if not outright oppression.
No person wants to vote for a candidate, no person wants to take up arms if they believe that they will be instituting something that will be worse than the system they are toppling. To anyone who has read Marx or any other Socialist or Communist authority, there is no connection between socialism/communism and oppression. However the perception still exists.
The problem that we must overcome is two fold. The first being perception, as I discussed above, and the second being the actual prevention of a tyranny.
Obviously education is necessary to dissolve any lingering memories of Cold War propaganda, and simply staying true to the message of communism/socialism will prevent the implementation of tyranny. However I'm not here for simply answers. Instead of giving textbook responses we need to address these problems in the context of the following.
1. Western Media/power structure and it's influence on the working class
2. Numerous historical instances of corrupted officials in so called "leftist nations"
3. The real likelihood of tyranny emerging in a post revolutionary society.
It is easy to say that we wont fall into the trappings of the past, but I'm fairly sure that Stalin didn't grow up thinking he was going to become synonymous with Tyranny. Power is a tempting mistress. Obviously in life there are no guarantees...but how do we avoid it as best as possible?
So I open the floor to you, my contemporaries, to discuss and develop ideas to over come our poor historical image and how we can prevent a repeat of past failures.
The obvious assumption that is made in regards to previous "attempts" at communism is that they were not in fact "communist" but rather a perverted form of socialism or in the case of the USSR state capitalist. These nations arrive at these points as a result of a new class order that simply takes the power out of the hands of the capitalists and puts it in the hands of state bureaucrats. More often than not this creates an oppressive society that puts the workers in a worse position than the one they began in.
We can all agree that the intentions of these revolutions were good, but (if you can excuse the phrase) the road to hell is paved in good intentions. As a result of the failed attempts are creating a workers republic the leftist movement as a whole has taken a considerable blow in its appeal to the masses. Granted in many underdeveloped nations leftist and Marxist ideology has large scale appeal. However in the Western world, which controls the majority of media and the power, the opinion of the people has moved more towards to the right of center. Particularly in America, a nation who's political and economic power holds a major grip on international politics.
The easy thing to do would be to simply ignore the Western world and focus on developing a class consciousness in the third world where the message would be better received. However there are two problems with this. The first being that workers in the western world are the victims of the capitalist system as well(though their position is no where near as bad as those in Latin America, Africa, and south east Asia). The second is that, as anyone who has studied history knows, leftist revolution always has to over come the road block of western intervention. So sooner or later we will need to deal with the Western "democracies" (it was hard just to type that word in reference to western governments).
Whether we are dealing with the third world or the West a problem ultimately arises in perception. It does not matter if we are talking about democratic socialism, revolutionary communism, or any other type of societal change. Each one of these leaves the impression of "bureaucratic tyranny" if not outright oppression.
No person wants to vote for a candidate, no person wants to take up arms if they believe that they will be instituting something that will be worse than the system they are toppling. To anyone who has read Marx or any other Socialist or Communist authority, there is no connection between socialism/communism and oppression. However the perception still exists.
The problem that we must overcome is two fold. The first being perception, as I discussed above, and the second being the actual prevention of a tyranny.
Obviously education is necessary to dissolve any lingering memories of Cold War propaganda, and simply staying true to the message of communism/socialism will prevent the implementation of tyranny. However I'm not here for simply answers. Instead of giving textbook responses we need to address these problems in the context of the following.
1. Western Media/power structure and it's influence on the working class
2. Numerous historical instances of corrupted officials in so called "leftist nations"
3. The real likelihood of tyranny emerging in a post revolutionary society.
It is easy to say that we wont fall into the trappings of the past, but I'm fairly sure that Stalin didn't grow up thinking he was going to become synonymous with Tyranny. Power is a tempting mistress. Obviously in life there are no guarantees...but how do we avoid it as best as possible?
So I open the floor to you, my contemporaries, to discuss and develop ideas to over come our poor historical image and how we can prevent a repeat of past failures.