Communist; who out there hates 'em???

[Felix/FFDS]

Hmmm................I remember something, what was it.................Oh yes!: WWII!

As has been explained, the only "communist" country that participated in WW2 was Russia.  CHina turned communist in 1949, Although after the (1945) Korea had been partitioned.

A key point, however, that many people do not realize, is that as a result of the Soviet-Nazi " non aggression"  pact (1938/39?) a deal was concocted in that when the Germans invaded Poland from the West, the Soviets moved in from the East to gain a " buffer"  zone.  That winter, (1939/1940) the Soviets invaded Finland in the " Winter War".

In that sense, Russia was at the "start" of WW2 as an aggressor, although it came to bite them in 1941 when they were invaded.

[Hagar]

I would point out that Soviet Russia was ruled by a dictator. Josef Stalin, arguably a far worse & more ruthless tyrant than Adolf Hitler. He ruled by fear & his political opponents & anyone who disagreed with him were "eliminated". I recall on one occasion that he had all his most experienced Generals shot*.

Many non-communist states are ruled by tyrants & despots. You cannot judge a whole nation by its leaders. This is quite misguided & wrong.

[quote]Actually, "McCarthyism" is a term generated by the "left".

[Fly2e]

Posted by: Cvrt7.62Ghst
#2: What the hell Pete and whomever else that was that killed my thread earlier; you scream at me for asking if people are offended when their flag is used to promote not so pure things such as sex, money, and warped ideals, and yet this this thread fly's!?! Nice, real nice. I'm going to remember this one

First off, nobody screamed at you, You were politely told that "aggressive" political topics were not looked on too keenly here. And if you are referring to Pete who owns this place, you should speak with a bit more respect! And third, I hope you do remember this one because you can see how many of the members here converse maturely about a topic like this, not like yours which was not going in the right direction last night. I was asked by a few members to remove it and so I did!
If you act responsibly and discuss things maturely instead of being so aggressive with your opinions, a political topic will fly. See how nice this one is! Felix "put out the fire" before it started! Watch and learn, Cvrt7.62Ghst. Now you were saying

[ATI_7500]

As far as pure communism-in my opinion it is the perfect and ideal system, in theory.  Basically the idea (really simplified) is you use only what you need and the ret you share.  At it's core, its a great idea.  The problem is that people are greedy and therefore the systen doesn't work.  So, in my opinion-communism the perfect system for a perfect society, unfortunately we don't have a perfect society.

Couldn't have said it better. Well done,Richie.

Life in communism/socialism ain't as bad as most people may think...

[Smoke2much]

The important point is that the vast majority of us have never lived under a communist regime and never will.  Having grown up during the 70's and 80's I was bombarded with anti-communist propaganda from an early age.  A Russian of my age will have a similar experience from an opposite angle.  Apparently we (the western democracies) "won" the cold war and "proved" that capitalism was better.

I am not so sure now that the wall has come down and I have had the chance to speak with people from the eastern bloc.

The down side of the communist system is that it was open to vast levels of abuse and corruption by those in power.  It was also implemented in a very backward society with a strong class structure in place.  The educated rich nobility and the uneducated poor peasantry.  The nobility was simply replaced by the party and the lives of the poor changed not one bit.  Until Stalin when it all got worse...  I have read that the only way to implement perfect communism is to first have a perfect capitalist state.  Neither IMHO is possible.

The good points of communism are full employment and absolute equality.  The man that cleans the floor is paid the same as the man that designed the building.  In this system all people have equal value.

I personaly like being paid more than the man who cleans the floor.  I worked harder than he did to do what I do.

I don't hate any "ism" I simply despise fanatics.

Will

[Felix/FFDS]

I would point out that Soviet Russia was ruled by a dictator. Josef Stalin, arguably a far worse & more ruthless tyrant than Adolf Hitler. He ruled by fear & his political opponents & anyone who disagreed with him were "eliminated". I recall on one occasion that he had all his most experienced Generals shot*.

Many non-communist states are ruled by tyrants & despots. You cannot judge a whole nation by its leaders. This is quite misguided & wrong.

Unquestioned agreement here.  

My point on this thread has been to attempt to distinguish an economic theory - communism - from the totalitarian regimes that perverted the ideal.

By the use of the term "McCarthyism" I was referring to the paranoia of the time. I can clearly remember it although I was much younger & on the other side of the world. From here it seemed like a witch-hunt. I can only go on what I read & can't say if my impression was correct. As always I try to be fair & take both points of view into account. I try hard not to be influenced by left or right-wing propaganda. It's often difficult (sometimes almost impossible) to unearth the truth.

Granted and point taken.  Another term used to blanket a period/process, without proper context.  mccarthyism is used to identify the "Red-Scare" of the later '40s through the '50s, as "communism" is used to blanket a totalitarian regime.

[BFMF]

[quote]The good points of communism are full employment and absolute equality.

[Hagar]

This may sound good at first, but even though everyone gets paid the same, they don't make much money

In an ideal world they wouldn't need much as the state would look after them. Money (& the worship of it) is basically a capitalist concept. This is one basic difference between communism & capitalism. Actually not a bad idea in principle. Unfortunately it's an ideal that doesn't seem to work.