Communism Does not work

[VictoryOverWar]

OK i wont lie im largly ignorant to the left way of thinking and communism in general. I have read communist manifesto and a few other reads but outside of that i am largly ignorant to communism but i want that to change and that is why i have brought myself here. Now here is the problem. Thorugh a few political debates i have brought up communism and the first rebuttle is this.

Communism sounds good on paper but it just does not work. Why would a doctor be paid the same as a footlocker employee?? The doctor has spent more then 6 years in in school. Does this not give him a right to deserve more money?

This is the argument i hear over and over again by capitalists and honestly in my limited knowledge i can not refute them. So i come to here knowing that many on this board are more intelligent then i could hope to be. How do i refute this idea.

Thanks

[Lamanov]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11 2006, 05:56 PM
Why would a doctor be paid the same as a footlocker employee?? The doctor has spent more then 6 years in in school. Does this not give him a right to deserve more money?
Is that it? That's the reason?!

Please note that there's no money in communst society. Work is not directed by workforce market (wage labor), but by general needs of the self-governed working population.

If someone spent 6 years of his life on socially payed education that means that his/her work will probably be much more productive than a worker in an industrial sector. His productivity will cover - in example - 3 hours per day work as an equivalent to 6 hour day at the factory. And more important fact to be considered: his work is conditionally much easyer. After all, health care is a publice service and not a material production department.


administrator: move this to OI, please. :cool:

[VictoryOverWar]

this post does not belong in the OI i am asking questions about the Marxist theory i am not refuting or arguing any points for or against it. Just asking to better understand the Theory. So please leave it here. If this is how you approach all who wish to learn more about it no wonder you are having trouble gaining support.

[Eoin Dubh]

What would be your motivation for being a doctor?
$$$ or to help people?

[Connolly]

Communism sounds good on paper but it just does not work. Why would a doctor be paid the same as a footlocker employee?? The doctor has spent more then 6 years in in school. Does this not give him a right to deserve more money?

This is not an argument against communism.

Think about this.

What have the workers been doing while the doctor has been in "medschool" for those six/seven years? - have they been at home doing nothing? - is the trainee doctors work more difficult than that of many workers, a lifestyle with conditions such a, manual back breaking labour, mind numbing work, shift work, low wages, low morale, low standard of living? - Hell, the worker works harder than some medschool shit who can see his direction and thus self motivated - the worker has no security.


Not to mention, those who propose argumments such as these fail to relise that such conditions exist within the present system. Were, as Marx puts it, "those who work do not gain, and those who gain, do not work"

Something rough I have written recently which explains somewhat, exploitation. It could help you understand.

(note, accuracy gaps still need to be filled in as to the true wealth of Bill gates etc.)



What Exploitation?

Exploitation of the working class is the fundamental character of the capitalist system. When you hear of exploitation you think of child labourers in sweat shops, eastern Europeans on the minimum wage and lower, human trafficking across the continent etc. Few relate exploitation to the modern working class here in Ireland, too few workers today are conscious of the nature of their own exploitation, their own wealth being robbed day by day without an eyebrow raised by the media and supposed representative political parties.
This state and media justified exploitation of the working masses comes in the form of the workers not receiving the full value of their labour, or the “fruits of their labour”. For example, If I were to bury an apple tree seed, water it, look after the growth and ensure the trees healthy development until maturity, then remove the mature apples from the tree - Do I not deserve the value of those apples for my labour applied?…… I produced them, therefore, I deserve the value of those apples when sold on the market. However, under the present system, I would not get the value of my labour - The landowner or the employer who I may work for gets a share of what I have produced, this is profit for him. Why should the landowner or employer get a share of what I have produced? - He did not contribute to the production of this wealth, he did fuck all but sit at home with his whores scratching his arse while thinking of other ways of making money through yet the further exploitation of others. This is the true nature of exploitation, those who produce the wealth do not receive that wealth in return - the working class are blatantly being thieved by those who do not contribute to the production of commodities and wealth, be it food, electricity, ore, TV’s - everything which human kind can manipulate and make. A clear example of how those who exploit others and yet do not contribute to the creation of wealth, yet gain this wealth, is Bill Gates. A man with a personal fortune of some sixty billion. You may say, “well this man worked his way to the top, so he deserves what he gets”. Talk about pure naivety. If this man worked his way to the top, that would mean he would have had to work 24 hours per day, with no food, piss breaks, mortgage, bills, children to feed for 636,342 years. Bill Gates has now become immortal and super human is that it? The true reason for this grotesque accumulation of cash, is the robbing of wealth and labour time from those who have produced it, the workers. Those 4 billion hours of labour producing wealth based on the average Irish wage were not the produce of the superhuman Bill Gates, but the result of the work which thousands of workers have put into producing Microsoftâ products and have been stolen of that wealth for which they have created. Do not take extreme examples such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson as the only situations of worker exploitation. This exploitation exists under all circumstances under the capitalist system, from factories, orchards, supermarkets, café’s to the Irish Ferry workers. Of course, this exploitation affects some more than others. A prime example are those children and adults who work in sweatshops producing footballs and footwear. They are the ones who stitch and manufacture the product, yet they receive little or nothing for their labour - while those who produce nothing gain everything. This is no different from the exploitation presently here in Ireland of the vast majority. The workers, also known as the proletariat, are those who have nothing to sell but their labour and expertise, and have no means of subsistence or production of their own. They do not only consist of manual labourers, but mechanics, accountants, bus drivers, managers, engineers, electricians, factory operatives, shop stewards etc etc, the list is endless. As you see, the proletariat truly extends from all walks of life and makes up the overwhelming majority of people. Yet it is this majority who are exploited and robbed by the small minority for which the state protects- truly democratic eh?
This is what Marxists want an end to. This ridiculous societal structure were a class consisting of a tiny minority rule and exploit the majority. Yet the bizarre thing is, this capitalist class also known as the bourgeoisie have no purpose but to exploit and have now become obsolete, holding humanity back from its true production capacity and societal potential. Society can run without this class in existence, this class which causes misery, death and poverty to the working majority of all nations for its own avaricious benefit. Society can function without this conservative and static class, as the working class are the only contributors to production and human sustainability - we already function without them - we could do without their exploitation and problem causing talents. The bourgeoisie wont give their monopoly away freely through elections, nor will the heavens come to cast out this evil - the proletariat must use what ever means necessary at their disposal to eliminate this unnecessary burden. The method in which the working class must use to transform society is called socialist revolution, which, by its very nature must be democratic. Only when working class victory has been achieved can humanity truly live in a society were its foundation is democracy, equality and freedom for all, free from illusions and exploitation.

[angus_mor]

A capitalist with such an argument is ignoring other sides of the new social order; miniscule tasks formerly undertaken by proles will become part of the responsibility of all. There will be no janitors, and fast food workers, one will prepare their own food, and clean up after oneself. Furthermore, the doctor went to school for 7 years (the ACTUAL number of years a doctor studies) because he/she had the oppurtunity, if the janitor had the same opurtunity, don't you think he/she might've gone to college too, instead of wasting his/her own potential cleaningup in a slop-house? The purpose of communism is to unite labor forces, and bring semblance to the worker in relation to others.

[Red Leader]

Furthermore, the doctor went to school for 7 years (the ACTUAL number of years a doctor studies) because he/she had the oppurtunity, if the janitor had the same opurtunity, don't you think he/she might've gone to college too, instead of wasting his/her own potential cleaningup in a slop-house?

One could ligitimatly argue that the janitor DID have the same opurtunity as the doctor but chose not to pursue it. There is no doubt that in western society everybody has oppurtunities, but it all depends on the circumstances of course. The janitor may not be as smart, so he could'nt get the marks, etc, but the oppurtunity is still there, it is just harder for some to reach than for others. Thats why it is unfair to say that the janitor was more lazy and did not pursue this oppurtunite while a doctor spends many years in med school working hard. They both work equally hard, just for different things.


There will be no janitors, and fast food workers, one will prepare their own food, and clean up after oneself.

I dont think this is very accurate. There would still be the need for people to clean and things, not everyone would clean up after themselves or cook for themselves, some simply cant. Not everyone is a good cook or whatever, people want variety in what they do. These jobs, however, would be looked upon with equal importance as the doctors or whatever.

Think about it. The doctor, who works extremely hard no doubt, would not want to have the extra burden of keeping his facility clean on top of caring for patients, thats why we have people whos main job is to clean, or to cook, or whatever. These "lower" jobs (for lack of a better term) are just as important because without them the "higher" jobs could not exist. Both work equally as hard, therfore diserve equal treatment.

[Zero]

Look at it this way:

When you were a kid, what did you want to do? Be an Astronaut, a Fireman, a Policeman... This is called (in economic terms) human capitol (a grotesque referance once you think about it.)

Now, if education is free, and (theoreticly) anyone could rise to be anything they want within a Communistic system, everyone would have the required knowledge to do whatever they want to. Intellegence wouldn't necisarraly play a role in it, as people could take classes over as many times as needed (Okay, maybe that is a bit impractical, but those who couldn't pass a second time should evaluate whether or not they are in the right field.) Therefore the janitor WOULDN'T BE THERE! Maybe some less skilled jobs could be used as a punishment for failing classes. EVERYONE could rise to ANY position that they feel they could work at, and if they realised that they had made a mistake (since education is free) retraining would be extremely simple. Only occasional skill testing would be required.

I may be wrong, but (from my understanding) inside a system without money, education to achieve maximum human potential would be relitively easy.

[VictoryOverWar]

so it will take a complete education of the capitalist mind. Even with a revolution do you think the US(speaking of the USA only because im from the US)is ready for such a society. I for one do not think a doctor post revolution will happily give up his wages and status and be looked as an equal.


What would be your motivation for being a doctor?

Are you seriously saying all doctors are in it to help people. I can tell you right now that is not true. Many med students are in it purely for the money.

So far many good posts however i still dont think any of these arguments would work based on the fact that capitalism is bread into many many americans. I still here the same people even when presented with these posts would say " yah sounds good on paper but it would never work in the US"

[VictoryOverWar]

Now, if education is free, and (theoreticly) anyone could rise to be anything they want within a Communistic system, everyone would have the required knowledge to do whatever they want to.

Zero tell me how many people aspire to clean sewers?



Maybe some less skilled jobs could be used as a punishment for failing classes

and once again your causing divisions in the work force. How would this system that you are proposing ever really work??

Once again im not refuting these ideas i have only heard them many many times before from political debates i have been in before and want a better grasp of how communism will work. I understand why capitalism is failing that is not hard to see. I simply want to see how communism as a substitute will work under the current capitalist conciousness

[Qwerty Dvorak]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11 2006, 09:41 PM
Are you seriously saying all doctors are in it to help people. I can tell you right now that is not true. Many med students are in it purely for the money.
If they are purely in it for the money then they shouldn't be a doctor. You should never do anything motivated by greed alone.

In a society where all jobs pay the same, people would learn to look past factors such as money when choosing a profession, and so they can choose the occupation they truly want, thus making them more productive at it, and more happy.

[VictoryOverWar]

If they are purely in it for the money then they shouldn't be a doctor. You should never do anything motivated by greed alone.

well no matter how true this may be it still happens please dont be ignorant to that fact. Guess what people do things for money all the time and they do it purely for money. Lets not pretend that dosent happen.


people would learn to look past factors such as money when choosing a profession

once again how many sewer cleaners would we have. If money was not a factor how many people would want to clean your shit up??? i dont know of anyone who would be willing to do this.

[Zingu]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2006, 12:31 AM
well no matter how true this may be it still happens please dont be ignorant to that fact. Guess what people do things for money all the time and they do it purely for money. Lets not pretend that dosent happen.

once again how many sewer cleaners would we have. If money was not a factor how many people would want to clean your shit up??? i dont know of anyone who would be willing to do this.
Again, money is gone, no longer needed...Communism is the result of the total progressement of productive forces, its basically what Marx called the "end of history", the means of production and technology would be at such a level that supply and demand becomes superflous (this why capitalism is doomed to fall soon).

As for sanitation, I would imagine in some form of techology will take care of that...if not, so what? You're either going to help clean up your shit or live in it...its that simple as that.

[JKP]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11 2006, 04:31 PM

If they are purely in it for the money then they shouldn't be a doctor. You should never do anything motivated by greed alone.

well no matter how true this may be it still happens please dont be ignorant to that fact. Guess what people do things for money all the time and they do it purely for money. Lets not pretend that dosent happen.


people would learn to look past factors such as money when choosing a profession

once again how many sewer cleaners would we have. If money was not a factor how many people would want to clean your shit up??? i dont know of anyone who would be willing to do this.
Who will clean the sewers?

http://www.redstar2000papers.com/theory.ph...rt_from=&ucat=& (http://www.redstar2000papers.com/theory.php?subaction=showfull&id=1083202823&archive=&cnshow=headlines&start_from=&ucat=&)

[nickdlc]

Zero tell me how many people aspire to clean sewers?

No one does but does that mean there has to be sewers in socialist society or even in capitalist society?

Shitting in clean water is one of the most wasteful acts of todays society and i would hope in socialist society that composting is the norm for transforming human waste into rich soil.

Just one way that we can make cleaning sewers full of shit obsolete :)
We dont even need complicated technology for composting human manure!
Simple tools like hammer and nails would do, and some wood.

--edit--

very good and free ebook on the subject:
http://www.weblife.org/humanure/

[pharmer]

Originally posted by RedStar1916+Jan 11 2006, 09:58 PM--> (RedStar1916 @ Jan 11 2006, 09:58 PM)
[email protected] 11 2006, 09:41 PM
Are you seriously saying all doctors are in it to help people. I can tell you right now that is not true. Many med students are in it purely for the money.
If they are purely in it for the money then they shouldn't be a doctor. You should never do anything motivated by greed alone.

In a society where all jobs pay the same, people would learn to look past factors such as money when choosing a profession, and so they can choose the occupation they truly want, thus making them more productive at it, and more happy.[/b]
You could say that people are not directly motivated by money, but status. It is the hierarchy in society which drives us to consume and chose professions based on wages. The main obstacle, as I see it, would be how to properly motivate workers (people) to not pursue a specific profession based on the associated status. Motivation must be created such that every job, from doctor to janitor, has equal importance within society. This is no easy task. Basic economic theory claims (and some argue that human nature dictates) that if man is given a choice between altruism and to profit, he will undoubtably choose to profit. The trick is motivating people not by money/wage, but by contributing their skills to the betterment of society. How to make people see the difference?

[Commie Dic]

Is no one going to mention one big key factor... TIME. After a while when everyone is happy about the unlimited possabilities of their own future. Then time sets into the factor. Everyone is not able to get the job they want, because of the restrictionless society for education. The society of unlimited uh-oh's and boo boo's. What do you do when the employment officer says oh... that position you dreamed of is full... what will you do then. This being of course after going through 7 years of school.

Then you have the jobs nobody wants. The cleaner, cooker, and hard back breaking labor. No one wants to go home feeling like shit from their job. So why not take the easy way out and grab the job that somone dreams about. I mean you might want to be part of the civil police, but... you don't want to have to start working out and you do not want to have to start awnsering to somone, so you take the easy way out and get the job of lets the business tycoon, taxidermist, or anything else out their you would rather do.

Put this in your notes. Money is not the only key factor that brings people to some jobs. How about the idea of being better then others. I would want to be a lawyer, so that I can come to my 20 year high school reunion in my Lambroghini and rub it in peoples face. Who would not feel better about themselves knowing you do better than somone else. That their is always somone closer to the bottom of the totem pole than you.

[death88junkie]

You do not need to read about Communism to be acknoledged about it. Personally, i have read very little and almost none. i havent read the communist manifesto or anything like that. i just depend on my instincts, cuz after all.. communism is what God (and yes, eventho im a communist, i do believe in God), and well.. i believe God created instincts, and my instincts are communistic... Communism, logically, is what's supposed to be done. i mean, come on, capitalists, why get all the money while people are starving?! that's so selfish. and it's not like the workers are sitting in their homes doing nothing. but the thing is, in capitalist countries, doctors have much higher prestige, and are more educated.. but hello.. not evrything needs education. i mean, what wud a country do without its industrial workers.. it cant SURVIVE!!! after all, all the medical equipment were created by workers.. but just cuz some person owns it, it doesnt mean anything...

tell whoever tells u tht doctors should be paid more that the doctor actually needs industrial workers to make the equipment, and therefore, indirectly, the industrial worker is more important than the doctor, since without that worker the doctors will not have the equipment or medice to help people

...plus, a doctor should be a doctor for the aim of helping people.. but corruption is a key feature of capitalism, since people just want money and are blinded by it. In a Communist society, evry1 should work for the aim of helping others and self satisfaction. that is what capitalists dont understand, since all they want is money money money...

This cartoon should explain it...

[angus_mor]

I am not to imply that simply there won't be waste management, but tasks will be blended more in that sense. I do not mean to say doctors will be cleaning as well, for their task requires immediate attention. However, many of us who previously were less involved in this process will meet with the tasks at hand; students will clean their schools, workers their factories. At the school I go to, we recently added a new building to the campus, and the very first day it was oppened, the bathrooms already started smelling like the rest of the campus restrooms. I think we could safely say that if we had to pick up the slack, our bathrooms would be far more sanitary, and treated like our bathrooms at home. Furthermore, my school also has only one janitor and a student body of well over 2000, I think I can conclude that the schools would be much cleaner, and cleaned at a much faster rate. Such practices that I'm describing have been around for literally centuries in Japan. In addition, it is of these practices that make workers more skilled and valuable; workers will adopt the trades of others, and according to their tastes until they are content with their skills, instead of being filled with contempt for lack of a better job.

[Martyr]

"Communism doesnt work"

NO SHIT

[anomaly]

There are no arguments in this thread for why communism will not work.

The classic argument is the one this discussion is focused on: if the profit incentive is removed, why would anyone work? Why be a doctor if you won't get paid? And why study to be a doctor when a man who has less education than you has the same standard of living?

This ignores basic human nature. Yes, that's right, I am using human nature to refute the 'human nature' argument. Capitalists claim that the only reason we work is for profit. But they ignore the reason we want profit: survival. If we remove the profit incentive, people will still be working for the same reason!

Now we come to question of standard of living: how will people ever cope with the horrible prospect of sharing the same amount of relative material wealth? It is quite simple: again, survival. It is quite clear that society needs doctors. We also need people who know how to run machines, and people to design structures, and people to perform surgery. Such neccesary occupations will be the ones that survive the revolution. Other professions are completely unneccesary. We simply do not need a lawyer. We simply do not need garbagemen. The professions can be completely eliminated, leaving only those neccesary to society. And this society will then function, knowing that each compnent of society is equally deserving, as each one allows society to properly function.

That communism doesn't work and never will is simply something capitalism tells us. Capitalism tells us this because in doing so it allows itself to survive. And, with some of the responses on this thread, it seems that capitalism is doing quite a job at the moment, as even some so-called 'radicals' doubt the possibility of communism working.

[Quzmar]

Hello guys, just want to make a quick point: communism in not going to happen suddenly the will be process in which the society will prepare itself for the next level, it really is hard to such questions when you mind is so stuck in today! Why would doctor want to work if he is not getting paid, it sound like nonsense now! But then it’s right that he will not be paid and it’s also right that he will not be lacking anything! And living in peace, with much less pressure of life like the one even very rich people can’t cope with these days

[emokid08]

The question posed by this post proves the fact that Capitalists are motivated by what? - seurvey says! DING DING DING THAT'S RIGHT! MONEY!!! The originator of this post was concerned about $$$ But as it was correctly pointed out, money, wages, and the evils associated with greed and currency are destroyed. Communist society will transcend the very idea of currency and the exchange of it! It also obliterates competion! Communism promotes genuine cooperation and collectivism. When competition happens, two competitors are pitted against each other and whatever is left ove ris exploited to an even further degree than before.

BOTTOM LINE: In competion there are ALWAYS losers, always the weak are exploited and oppressed.

In cooperation and collectivism, as advocated by Communism, there are no losers, evrey1 wins! Everyone benefits form the contrbutions made in society.

Competion= exploitation & Losers
Cooperation= Everyone wins and benefits
plp.org

[Worker8]

In a communist society would there still be forms of entertainment, such as movies and music?

[loveme4whoiam]

There would, in fact, be a boom of all forms of entertainment. Imagine a world where you do not have to prove a film or book is financially viable in order to create it. Imagine a world where you can simply release your film, game, book, whatever, into the free market and have it viewed by people.

Entertainment would by no means dwindle - for a starters a fascinating series of novels would appear with my name on the cover :lol:

[!Injustice!]

we must notice also that the doctor that is used relies on the worker because everything is interconnected so communisum is good in that sense of working together so we can all be equal......a question that i have is atcually what will happen to rights like rights that they give us in america or they say they give us here in america????? will we still obtain them??????

[encephalon]

we must notice also that the doctor that is used relies on the worker because everything is interconnected so communisum is good in that sense of working together so we can all be equal......a question that i have is atcually what will happen to rights like rights that they give us in america or they say they give us here in america????? will we still obtain them??????

Those "rights" are mere extensions of bourgeoisie property rights. The so-called right of free speech in today's world is really the right of those who own the means of production to speak freely; in essence, it's the right for capitalists to own the means of idea production (and by the same token, expression). The same is true of all "guaranteed rights" in the United States and other imperialist countries.

Those "rights" will be severely altered without consideration given to private property. Speech will no longer be dictated by capitalists, but those who would own the means of production in a communist society: everyone. This means that "censorship" will not be the choice of a newspaper owner, but rather the whole of society--that is, if the whole of society thinks that nazi propaganda is a violation of acceptable behavior (and I hope that will be the case), then it's unlikely to get published. All rights will likely follow along the same lines.

[cbm989]

so like people would just make movies for the fun of it..? and what if a guy writes a book, and he doesnt have the means to publish it. how does that work? (sorry this got a little off topic but i had to know)

[MysticArcher]

so like people would just make movies for the fun of it..? and what if a guy writes a book, and he doesnt have the means to publish it. how does that work?

pretty much for fun and entertainment (which IMO means better movies than we have now)

that may also mean more realistic movies, since work hours would be shorter/more flexible you could have a real doctor in your movie instead of an actor who uses some pseudo-scientific jargon

if someone writes a book they'd talk to whichever group of workers runs the presses, and they'll either accept it and print/distribute it (the author himself may have to go convince places to distribute it once it's printed or shops will place some trust in the printers - sort of "gee they've supplied good books before, this one should be good too")

if it's not a good book the author will be told that, he may fix it or try to find other printers who do like his book (there's of course going to be many printing places).

If it turns out his book isn't good but he still gets published no one will read and the printers are going to be pretty emberassed.

If it's a reactionary book and he still gets published than that printer is going to have hell to pay when it's brought up, not just with them but with their suppliers (the groups giving them water, power, paper, etc. who will probably stop supplying them) and the community as a whole

It's really a self correcting process because each shop/factory is dependent on a number of suppliers.

[!Injustice!]

encephalon thanks 4 the explination but wat bout how people say that you being a person would be removed in the sense that u will no longer be an individual would that be true....because how i interpret some of this is that we work as one like the chinese saying group is more important than an idividual while america says individual is more important than a group...so will your indivuality be lost in the communist government??

[loveme4whoiam]

Added to that, the wonders of the Internet mean that even if you can't get a publisher to print your book, you can still release it over the Net. The guy who runs
this (http://xaa.proboards44.com/) website currently has a deal with a printer who prints individual copies of his books whenever they are bount online, because he would get such a crap deal from publishers that it is better for him to do it that way. I imagine something something similar might become popular.

And as for losing your individuality, I'm damn sure I don't have individuality now, as I am ignored by those in power. The only power democracy has at the moment is the power to choose which idiot sits in the hotseat (and not even that in many places) - we do not control what he does on our behalf, not by a long shot. So we would actually be gaining our individuality in the sense that we would actually have a say in what goes on in our society.

[encephalon]

encephalon thanks 4 the explination but wat bout how people say that you being a person would be removed in the sense that u will no longer be an individual would that be true....because how i interpret some of this is that we work as one like the chinese saying group is more important than an idividual while america says individual is more important than a group...so will your indivuality be lost in the communist government??


That depends on the kind of "individuality" you're referring to.

In american society, individuality isn't just plain individuality. It's more along the lines of "do anything at the expense of anyone else, and to hell with the train ride to fuck-all it puts society on." If this is what you mean by individuality, then no, I don't think it will or should be allowed.

However, if you mean simply individual expression: it would be very little different than today, with the exception that your exression isn't ruled by corporations, but society as a whole. You forget that your so-called individuality is merely a commodified reflection of the society that bears you--the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the music you listen to, the words you write: all are products of society rather than you as an individual.

If you want to have pink hair in a communist society while everyone else has blue hair, I can't possibly imagine how that would be a problem. If you want to distribute capitalist propaganda in a communist society, however, you'll find much the same difficulty as communists might find trying to publish communist material in capitalist society.

In short, the means of production - the means of expression. The notion of individuality is not a product of capitalism, but of human society. The difference is that capitalism propagates the idea of rampant individuality at the expense of others, while communism propagates individualism as long as it doesn't impede upon the individualism of others.