Communism?

[nirtime]

Recently I was reminded about a word called communism. I know it is the existence of a system that is opposite to capitalism. However, I know only know about communism from my studies as a student and would really like to hear some of the real world facts about it. Can anyone explain the realities about it and as to how it actually works?

It seems great in theory but I often wonder how accurate this theory may be.

 

[Shadowhunter]

In the communist country I know, there was meant to be equality in all classes. For this to be achieved, the government intended to take from the rich to give to the poor or use the rich to provide for the poor. In this particular country most people either lived in very well-off suburban areas or in very poor shanty towns. The "middle class" were a minority and to be more accurate, were more of a higher poor class than an actual middle class. These were the renters for example, large families squeezed into small apartments in crime ridden areas living paycheck to paycheck and buying minimal amounts of groceries every day because they could not afford to buy a week's groceries or a month's at one time. This "middle class" suffered the most under this government because the concerns were the rich and poor. Basically the middle class was left to struggle with the effects of all these plans.



These are some examples of how this worked:

• Wealthy people paid the electricity bill for the poor. In some cases they paid for one or two houses, in others, nearly a whole village. Refusal to pay would cut off the wealthier person's electricity.
• Poor squatters paid no tax, rent, insurance etc. though middle and high class did.
• If a wealthy person owned a car and sought to purchase another, it would be given to a poor person. One car per family was the basic idea.
• Food and grocery items were rationed and there were many shortages. Many times this was due to import/export countries and politics, but at other times it was said to achieve a balance. Items included chicken (1-2 per family), flour (1-2 small packs per family), milk and milk products (a couple small cartons per family) sugar (usually one small pack per family, toilet paper (1 big pack per family) etc. of course once anyone had contacts, rich or poor, they found ways to abuse this "system". While groceries in the wealthy areas received limited stocks, the government sent loads of vans filled with stocks to distribute to poor areas, though these were also supposed to e rationed (they were not in most cases as people were able to get countless cases of these items many times there.)
• Forcing the wealthy to provide for the poor may have assisted the poor, but no one else (including the middle class) benefitted. It was harder for most middle class to get by because of this.

 

[nirtime]

What a list! This definitely sounds like a very unfair and highly unbalanced system... I have changed my view about this system as of hearing your actual experiences.

 

[Shadowhunter]

I understand where the government was coming from and believe they had good intentions but when actually carried out it was a failure. There were constant riots, fiery protests, road blocking protests, and company shutdowns in protest and the authorities were extremely corrupt. The government often hired authorities to prevent people from voting against them and manipulated uneducated native (indigenous?) people and the poor, promising them extra rations etc in return for their votes.

 

[nirtime]

Basically the third world elements affected it's implementation and effectiveness thus skewing the results?

 

[Shadowhunter]

Yup. But also take into consideration the political elements involved. The president at the time had no political training and deep issues with the U.S. and refused to import or export with them. Seeing as how the U.S. is a big import/export leader worldwide this negatively affected the people in terms of what was made available to them on a regular basis. Gas was cheaper than water, only a few coins (a few TT dollars at most) to fill up any vehicle's tank, but good luck finding regular things taken for granted if they are manufactured by a U.S. company. Come to think of it, I can't even remember if Coke was available lol

 

[nirtime]

I understand what you mean, given the right political heads it could have been a success.

 

[Shadowhunter]

Yup. Other countries that cut them off may not have considered or realized that the people would suffer as a result. However, with politics, this is rarely considered a valid point anyway.