(April 23, 2015 at 9:43 am)Red Economist Wrote:Actually, you'll find that sentence works even if you take the "communist" word out.(April 23, 2015 at 4:56 am)pocaracas Wrote: Welcome Red!
I think all those communist regimes failed because of the human element in them.... how can you remove that from any form of government is beyond me, so we're left with this crappy liberalism/capitalism, tempered by some weak socialism that can be found throughout Western Europe... seems to get the job done, even if it consistently deteriorates the people's ability to live comfortably... Then you get a revolution and it all starts over... some lose a lot of money, others gain... most improve a bit only to then start the declining road all over again.
The "human element" in a system of government is the belief that people are inherently selfish and therefore tend towards political corruption in a communist society.
(April 23, 2015 at 9:43 am)Red Economist Wrote: At it's most basic, the idea of "human nature" is equivalent to the "soul" and therefore has deeply theological roots; the selfishness of man in liberal politics is partly derived from the idea of original sin in Christianity and the belief that the pursuit of pleasure is immoral/sinful.errmmm... yeah... sort of...
(April 23, 2015 at 9:43 am)Red Economist Wrote: mankind worst kept secret is that power is exhilarating, enjoyable and a major-turn on, so for my part I've borrowed ideas from Wilhelm Reich and Erich Fromm (both Freudo-Marxists) to look at the psychology involved as Marxism itself doesn't have a clear statement of the problem or it's solution.I don't think it's a solvable problem, so no political approach is perfect.
(April 23, 2015 at 9:43 am)Red Economist Wrote: Trying to show that the soul, and therefore it's distant intellectual cousin, 'human nature', doesn't exist is hard. It is however possible to argue that they are an illusion, in so far as it is assumed that this 'nature', the essence of man is supposed to be fixed irrespective of the time and place people live. individuals change and develop over their lifetime, and society's clearly evolve in their moral understanding. the conundrum is "revolutions" which are massive leaps in moral understanding and social development. I'm confident there is an answer, but I'm not 100% confident of what it is. Wilhelm Reich argued that Fascism was the product of the repression of healthy sexuality and it then being sublimated into sado-masochistic sexual perversions. I think the same rationale can be at work behind explaining communism's capacity for violence, irrationality and corruption. that's my best guess so far.
I think a communist style organization can work well enough at small scales... cooperatives, clubs... town hall, at most. Take it to the country level and... everyone becomes a pig.
