In a perfect Stonian system, everyone would willingly give everything they have to me, Sam Stone. Since the world isn’t yet perfect, I have every right to take what I want and kill anyone who tries to stop me.
Sure, today no one wants to give me their stuff, but in theory, if everyone did it would be a perfectly equitable system. So I’m just a crusader for societal perfection. A benefactor of mankind, so to speak. So give me your television set.
What happens if it becomes clear that the one party government in power are not following the true Communist path but are instead corrupt and lining their own pockets? How do you get rid of them and install a true communist government?
Afganistan? 
Hi, Pot, I’d like you to meet my friend Kettle.
Your ideas of “generosity” extend to arms sales to try to keep the USSR solvent (it didn’t work by the way) and as for your snark about the US not being “generous” when it comes to foreign aid, you are sadly mistaken. Private citizens of this country donate more money than any other nation, and if they don’t, its damn close. And please don’t bring up the “donations per GDP” argument either. Money and aid is money and aid, and I don’t care where you sit, we shell out a shit ton of it.
You got served, comrade.
What’s the difference between this and Holocaust denial?
Yep, I’ve been living and working in China for 10 years and I have to chime in here. I hate the false Western image of China as a “gulag-state evil empire” where everyone is paralyzed by fear and unwilling to speak their mind. It is so goddamn untrue. Spend a couple days with some Chinese twentysomethings and you’ll find out how opinionated and cynical they can be.
But, at the same time, I also hate the “glorious People’s Republic” image that so many foreign left-wingers desperately want to believe. Your description of the government’s role in the Chinese economy is close enough, and it is undeniable that the Chinese are freer now than they have ever been in the past, but unshackled by wants and deprivations? That’s just insane.
Damn…where do I start?
I love China with all my heart. It is my home, it is my country as much as America, the country of my birth, is. I love it dearly. I think I’m probably the single most sympathetic person to China on the Dope. Yes, for a country with such a huge population and so many developmental and ethnic challenges, China is doing a pretty damn good job. And yes, to many people in the Third World China is a “beacon of hope,” but the hyperbole you use to describe China is frightening.
Bravely shepherd all of humanity into a golden age of socialism? Sorry, I don’t see that happening.
(bolding mine)
And here is the ultimate description of communism in action. Two bullets, or however many are needed, to kill those who hold back the glorious cause, and hey, the world will be perfect.
Until, of course, you are one of the people who is holding back the glorious cause.
Obviously you believe violence is acceptable to further your cause. Right? If so, who is it acceptable to kill, and why?
Slee
You’re being ridiculous. You originally stated that the US government is an immensely generous one, and now you’re going to backtrack and claim that you meant that the US people are generous? You change your positions pretty quickly, don’t you?
And why should I not bring up the GDP argument? Because it is inconvenient to your personal beliefs? The fact that the US is far less generous than pretty much all other industrialized nations is exactly that - a fact. Your government’s own numbers show that it gives a lot less than you would prefer to imagine it does.
And you bring up military aid as an argument against the Soviet Union? Really? What form do you think the aforementioned aid to Israel and Egypt takes? Rainbows and unicorns? Your hypocrisy and willful blindness are astounding.
Gorbachev deserved to be executed? He was probably the best leader Soviet Russia ever had. For the love of sweet Beavis, this thread is depressing.
Communism is not some happy, everyone is equal and let’s all share with each other system. It’s about the violent overthrow of the middle/upper class.
Lenin was NOT a savior to Russia.
That is a serious concern - one to which I have given much thought over the years. The way I see it, the only real solution is to get it right from the beginning. When creating the ruling party, care must be taken to forge a large self-regulating entity capable of pruning itself of undesired elements.
I believe that China gets it almost right. It has a huge dynamic ruling body that regulates its own membership. Lately, in particular, it has executed several members convicted of corruption. That is the process of self-regulation that I envision.
And, frankly, this is a problem for all governments everywhere. Take the US, for example. It is functionally a one-party state, given the fact that its only two viable parties are the two sides of the same right-wing coin. It is no less vulnerable to corruption and ineptitude than any socialist government.
Yes, I believe that violence is sometimes necessary for the good of the people. It is a method of last resort and must be used extremely sparingly, but at times it must be used. Execution is a viable response in only two situations: murder and treason. Stalin was guilty of both, and Gorbachev was the poster child of the latter. Yes, I believe that both committed capital offenses and should have been dealt with accordingly. Conversely, had the party properly dealt with them before they attained power and begun committing their crimes, execution would not have been necessary, and an administrative punishment would have sufficed.
The point is, violence is an option of last resort. I do not advocate its mindless application, and I would keep it as limited as possible. Everyone has a right to life, and this right must not be withdrawn lightly. No violence may ever be employed in the absence of a full fair trial.
Which states are presently communist? China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and North Korea. None of them come close to first-world standards of living. None of them offer political freedom, or freedom of the press.
China is a one-party state that is rapidly moving toward operating on a capitalist basis, with some human rights problems, and a recent history of genocide by communists.
Cuba is a write off, with serious human rights problems.
Laos is a write off, with some human rights problems, and a recent history of genocide by communists.
Vietnam is a one-party state that is rapidly moving toward operating on a capitalist basis, with some human rights problems.
North Korea is a write off, with serious human rights problems, repeated starvation, and ongoing war-mongering.
All in all, communism has failed to live up to its own expectations. It is a social, political, and economic dead-end.
I feel strongly that although communists are a blot on the face of civilization, they should not be executed. The test of a truly free and democratic society is when everyone can express their political opinions, and anyone can run for office on any platform, without fear of punishment by the state.
That communism has a history of mass murdering citizens who do not support communism, and that such repeated atrocities have been done in the name of what is necessary for the good of the people, speaks volumes about the ethics of communism, and how very violent and morally bankrupt it truly is.
Commissar: please answer post 103.
:: post snipped ::
Who gets to decide which people get killed? Who gets to decide what is good? The ones with the most guns? The ones who are the most ideologically pure? Whomever can round up the largest group of thugs?
So, instead of murder it is pruning? Got ya. Pruning does sound so much more, ummmm, not purely evil.
The biggest problem with Communism is rather simple. Once the state is created it requires that everyone buy into the state. Those who don’t buy into the program have to be killed for the system to work. Or sent to slavelaborcamps. Those who don’t buy in during the revolution are just killed, of course.
Slee
Time for you to back up your assertion with figures setting out how many of its own people each state kills.
I’ve told this countless times, but I had a professor who spent time in a gulag after being accused of being an American spy. What lead to this? He owned a record of “Chatanoogah Choo Choo”.
The US has been very generous to Israel. 
Bertha, zionist
Still waiting for the answer about Taiwan.
The only Communist societies that have been a success are small, religious communes.
When I was born our family was dirt poor. By the time I left high school my parents had moved us up to middle class. I and my two siblings all graduated from university - me with a Bachelor’s degree, and out of the other two there is one PhD and one Master’s degree. We were the first generation of our family to go to Uni. At the time there was free education in this non-socialist, non-communist country (Australia) and free medical treatment.
I am now in a position where I can send my children to the best private school in the city.
All this in one generation. I’m sure this board is full of stories from non-socialist, non-communist countries around the world which would make mine pale into insignificance.
And I’m not going to add any fuel to the Mao/PRC fire, as other posters have already covered this, except perhaps to say +1.