common response to communism/socialism

[mfrc00]

the first question/remark/comment i get from people when they find out i'm a socialist is 'how will it work? people are too lazy/selfish/etc' or people with somewhat flawed views of communism saying 'it's a good theory but it will never work.' and then spit out some cliche like 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. now obviously i don't generally have the time to get into the intricacies of economic theory, but what do you guys usually say when you're faced with this kind of thing?

[Amusing Scrotum]

I'm just going to provide you with links to a few other topics on this issue, if they don't answer your questions fully I'll be happy to try and address any further queries.

about the lack of motivation argument, what do I say to it (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=41693&hl=lazy),
Lazy People/People who object to doing work (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=38319&hl=lazy),
Incentive?, A common objection (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=35314&hl=lazy) and,
Work Ethic (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=34862&hl=lazy).

You'll probably find some more threads on this in the theory section.

[Amusing Scrotum]

Just found a few related topics for you in the theory section -

Wages for Dirty Jobs, Should they be allowed (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=41058&hl=lazy),
Working in a Communist society, How does it work? (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=37426&hl=lazy),
How do you motivate workers in a socialism? (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=25106&hl=) and,
Technology and new jobs (http://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=26036&hl=). (Not really related to motivation, but still an interesting topic.)

Hope this helps.

[mfrc00]

thanks man.

[mfrc00]

also, sorry for being a stupid n00b and not searching.

[Zingu]

Communism will abolish work.


Laziness is caused by the bordem and the oppressive feature of work; which is forced labor. Abolishing work (and the society that is built around it), which means making labor free, will free us.

[Axel1917]

The nonsene about laziness and such was refuted by Marx and Engels a long time ago:


It has been objected that upon the abolition of private property, all work will cease, and universal laziness will overtake us.

According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those those of its members who work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything do not work. The whole of this objection is but another expression of the tautology: that there can no longer be any wage-labour when there is no longer any capital.

-Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels - The Communist Manifesto