Am I a communist?

[Spiderman]

I'm not an atheist but ideally I believe things should be run like a Benedictine monastery where the community owns everything and everyone is obedient to a superior. I lived at a monastery for over a year and it was bliss! The members of the community take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

They don't have much to worry about because everything is supplied and everyone puts forth their talents and skills for the good of the community. What is the definition of that form of communism?

 

[Laika]

Voted Yes. (See other post btw). Historically, Communism doesn't equal Marxism and was very diverse, so you're fine.

There's always Christian Communism if you want "the meek to inherit the earth"...

Christian communism - Wikipedia

 

[Spiderman]

Voted Yes. (See other post btw). Historically, Communism doesn't equal Marxism and was very diverse, so you're fine.

There's always Christian Communism if you want "the meek to inherit the earth"...

Christian communism - Wikipedia

How I could be a communist this long without realizing it is beyond me. I always thought communists were the enemy and here I was one all along.

Can't wait to call my Dad and let him know. He hates communism

 

[Kirran]

Yeah, if I were you I'd look further into Christian socialism, Christian anarchism and Christian communism.

 

[Spiderman]

Yeah, if I were you I'd look further into Christian socialism, Christian anarchism and Christian communism.

I have ADHD but I will

 

[David1967]

If you work every day for your income and want the opportunity to own land and home and see the fruits of your labor....probably not a communist.

 

[David1967]

I have ADHD but I will

What were we talking about?

 

[Kirran]

If you work every day for your income and want the opportunity to own land and home and see the fruits of your labor....probably not a communist.

Living in a capitalist society doesn't mean you can't be a communist. Wanting to see the fruits of your labour doesn't either.

 

[Spiderman]

What were we talking about?

 

[David1967]

Living in a capitalist society doesn't mean you can't be a communist. Wanting to see the fruits of your labour doesn't either.

If I'm under the wrong impression, please correct me, but my understanding is that in a communist country the individual cannot own land, only the govt. Is that not correct?

 

[Kirran]

If I'm under the wrong impression, please correct me, but my understanding is that in a communist country the individual cannot own land, only the govt. Is that not correct?

In authoritarian communism, yeah. In libertarian communism it's owned collectively by the community. Either way, individual ownership is out - but it's worth noting the distinction between private and personal property too.

 

[David1967]

In authoritarian communism, yeah. In libertarian communism it's owned collectively by the community. Either way, individual ownership is out - but it's worth noting the distinction between private and personal property too.

Ok. Thanks for the explanation. Personally I could never be a communist. I have land and a home that I have worked very hard to earn the money for. I would have a hard time giving it to a collective that didn't lift a finger to earn it. I respect your point of view though Kirran.

 

[Laika]

If I'm under the wrong impression, please correct me, but my understanding is that in a communist country the individual cannot own land, only the govt. Is that not correct?

They had private plots in the USSR btw.

Household plot - Wikipedia

As a rule of thumb communists support common ownership, but there are a few excentrics who think you go through stages of "state capitalism" to get there. Some would argue communism only works on a very high level of production so you have to grow the economy before it works properly. So some communists support "mixed economies" with public and private ownership.

Its why China has such a large market economy. Deng XioPeng who introduced the market reforms in the 70's and 80's said "it doesn't matter if its a black cat or a white cat, so long as it catches mice" (i.e. If using markets gets results- who cares?)

There was also the Bukharin gaffe during the new economic policy as a period of market based socialism. He was a member of the communist party in the USSR who told peasents to "enrich themselves". It was embarrased alot of party members.

I think Yugoslavia may have had some private agriculture as they had a much less centralised model for economic control.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

How I could be a communist this long without realizing it is beyond me. I always thought communists were the enemy and here I was one all along.

Can't wait to call my Dad and let him know. He hates communism

He probably doesn't understand all the variations of communism, but believes it all to be Lenin/Stalinist. And probably not interested in learning the differences. Sorry; maybe he will be willing to learn, for his son...

 

[Laika]

How I could be a communist this long without realizing it is beyond me. I always thought communists were the enemy and here I was one all along.

Can't wait to call my Dad and let him know. He hates communism

Its all part of the evil capitalist conspiracy that kept you ignorant so you didn't know!

There are ALOT of mis-understandings and prejudice surronding communism. Some have an element of truth but quite a few are bold faced lies or only make sense until you question it. Communists have done some seriously evil **** but its debatable whether its an essential part of the system and whether seeing the other side gives you things to reconsider. Unfortunately, the discussion often doesn't get further than the kind of stuff in the video below:

Watch out for your dad btw. Keep it quiet till your sure. You'll get alot of crap for it. Its why I try to be so smooth and likable- I tell myself the desire to hit people passes eventually.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

If I'm under the wrong impression, please correct me, but my understanding is that in a communist country the individual cannot own land, only the govt. Is that not correct?

depends on the system, but even in the USSR, people were allowed their own plots of land and even their own businesses--but the central dictatorial authority still made it difficulty.

A favorite joke from the Soviet era:
A group of reactionaries hijacks an Aeroflot flight from Moscow Yugoslavia, and demand to be flown to Turkey. One of the passengers overcomes the hijackers single-handed. The reporter from Pravda asks, "Yuri, how did you manage that feat?"
"Look," Yuri says, "I spend a whole season growing tomatoes to sell in the market in Yugoslavia. What else could I do? What am I going to do with 200 kilograms of tomatoes in Turkey?"

 

[Spiderman]

what's kinda cool is shortly before I realized I'm a communist, someone changed the computer screen to the color red. Sign, sign...everywhere a sign!

 

[Spiderman]

Communism doesn't work because people don't cooperate. If everyone put forth their time, energy, talent, and money into building the community and building up eachother (and not on selfish interests), communism would build the greatest societies.

It won't work because people are too corrupt, but still...

 

[Kirran]

Communism doesn't work because people don't cooperate. If everyone put forth their time, energy, talent, and money into building the community and building up eachother (and not on selfish interests), communism would build the greatest societies.

It won't work because people are too corrupt, but still...

That's why communist ideologies build systems in which these things are accounted for. It's not just about blind trust in human co-operation.

 

[allfoak]

I'm not an atheist but ideally I believe things should be run like a Benedictine monastery where the community owns everything and everyone is obedient to a superior. I lived at a monastery for over a year and it was bliss! The members of the community take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

They don't have much to worry about because everything is supplied and everyone puts forth their talents and skills for the good of the community. What is the definition of that form of communism?

You seem to be having a bit of an identity crisis.