[x]
Forum
Forum
[x]  
~Cailst:iconCailst: May 10, 2008, 10:24:45 PM
A common response to why Communism is that it works in theory but when it has to work in real life, people are just too greedy. However, when thinking about it, don't most ideas work well in theory. Even in Autocracy, a single man working without the inefficient mechanisms of democracy can get a lot of changes done that would be good for just about everyone. For an ideal anarchy, everyone would work together in peace and no criminals would emerge.

So, are there any ideas which don't work even in theory? Any ideas that shouldn't work in theory but they do work in real life? And why does Communism keep on getting mentioned if it "doesn't work in real lie", shouldn't it have been given up on?

--
There is a good forum website called [link]

Devious Comments

love 0 0 joy 0 0 wow 0 0 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0

~Newphoenix84:iconNewphoenix84: May 10, 2008, 10:34:02 PM
How about the independent theory? Everyone creates there own energy? That should free up some freedom?

--
When life seems too much using a filter will help rid of the garbage
~Scarrl:iconScarrl: May 10, 2008, 10:45:53 PM
And why does Communism keep on getting mentioned

Because it was among the most influential concepts of the last several centuries. It's a utopian ideal, and has massive appeal as such. Think about it- it's a society of perfect equality, where everyone contributes and everyone lives happily and in perfect union.

...It also helps that it was spread across half the world (albeit often violently), and is recognized as an archetypal "evil" in US society - providing every angry teen and wannabe "revolutionary" with an alternative to the anarchist scene.

My personal favorite along these lines are the Enlightened Despots/Philosopher Kings spoken of by Voltaire and Plato. There have been a few throughout history, so we know it works great... until the monarch is succeeded by someone who isn't... enlightened.

--
/me is woot
~Scarrl:iconScarrl: May 10, 2008, 10:49:11 PM
Just their own energy?

Or do you mean complete self-sufficiency?

--
/me is woot
~Joebob777:iconJoebob777: May 10, 2008, 10:58:14 PM
It should have been given up on. The 20th century was a bloody lesson in why. All Communist revolutionaries have managed to do was kill millions who didn't need to die, set up oppressive totalitarian regimes, and force a certain level of poverty on those within their borders that they allowed to live.

Some will say, "But that's not real Communism!" And they think that we should trust them to help deconstruct a free and prosperous society on the gamble that they will make a better one - when history has shown that most revolutionaries turn out to be power-hungry lowlifes? America was very fortunate after its Revolution, getting the system of government and humble leaders that we did. Since it is far from a broken system (not perfect, but one of the best if not the best that the world has seen) then I see no reason to throw it all away.

--
Know The Truth
~scythepuppet:iconscythepuppet: May 10, 2008, 11:04:19 PM
It didn't help that most Communist leaders didn't have the basic know-how to allow their deconstructed societies to work--they'd take things apart with the idea they'd reconstruct them into an ideal Communist machine; this is the equivilent of attempting to convert a steam-engine into a four-stroke internal combustion engine using the instruction manual from a build-it-yourself pinball machine.

--
"I'm a teenager who speaks Spanish! I roll my 'r's and eyes!"
*spcefrk:iconspcefrk: May 11, 2008, 12:10:04 AM
:nod: Until we lose the ability to shuffle the deck of leaders, I see no reason to fly off the handle into revolution.

--
Religion Forum: [link] Science Forum: [link] Source Library: [link] Essential Vonnegut: [link]
=wraithbaby:iconwraithbaby: May 11, 2008, 2:11:32 AM
communism, nice concept but impossible to maintain in it's purest form, reason? Because it involves humans.

REAL communism does not and cannot exist.
~sonicbutterfly:iconsonicbutterfly: May 11, 2008, 2:20:55 AM
Oh yay.

--
#PoliticsForumChat "The proletariat be damned and somesuch whatnot." - *spcefrk

"If it's any help, I always think of Thom Yorke having an orgasm." `conorschild :eyes:
~Peacefroggie:iconPeacefroggie: May 11, 2008, 2:29:13 AM
There's no such thing as a theory totally divorced from practice, the whole point of a theory is to put it in practice, that's how you find out if it works or not.

--
:weed: :gun: :beer: "You're not fuckin' Santa Clause, Julian, and I don't need your fuckin' cherry trees." :beer: :gun: :weed:

"Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life" -Shakespeare
~Bladed-Truth:iconBladed-Truth: May 11, 2008, 2:33:11 AM
The reason something will work in theory but not in practice comes down to assumptions. Basically it's a case of 'communism will work if X is true.' And this is absolutely the case, if X were true, then communism would work in the real world, the problem is that X is untrue and therefore communism as a theory lacks predictive potency. All this because X does not line up with reality.

Even capitalism doesn't totally line up with reality, and thus you get the problems of capitalism as a product of that.

--
Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow.

Old men covered in blood, it never touches them but they're drowning in it.