I strongly encourage ACTUALLY reading Marx and not just the facebook post equivalents that various influencers love to spout.
But, at a very high level: Marxism is largely built around communism (well, the other way around, but just roll with it). Which does have implications for governing and decision making, but is largely a socioeconomic system. So the better “opposite” would be Capitalism. Although, even that is a pretty reductive approach and is arguably wrong.
That said: Communism requires some form of centralized planning. And while there is nothing that says that can’t come from a true Democracy, it tends to favor republics which may or may not use democracy to select. The US, as the chuds so often like to exclaim, is a Democratic Republic (sort of) in that we use Democracy-ish to select our representatives.
Computers and databases with logistics didn’t exist in 1918. Walmart and Amazon have strong central planning. Chile began to do it in 1971 with Project CyberSyn, but the CIA and capitalism couldn’t have that in their backyard.
Edit: There is a failure of imagination concerning what socialism and communism could like in the future. Lenin was materially bound by his time. Actual Communism (worldwide) might look sufficiently different than what’s been done before.
Yeah, I think we have proven over and over that human nature doesn’t do communism well at large scales. Not that I don’t think at small scales it’s a perfectly good system. Capitalism isn’t really any better tho. I don’t have a solution for how to avoid the pitfalls of socialism and communism. Worker owned means of production is really the thing I want, attainable or not. No single person should own all of the gains off the backs of worker blood, sweat, and tears.
I think there are a LOT more problems than just that, but yeah.
You can more or less “break” libertarianism and many anarchies by asking about “what happens to the orphans?”. For Communism and its derivatives, the question is usually “Who gets to be a scientist, a doctor, a movie star, and the person who cleans out the sewers? And do they all get the same benefits?”
Personally? I think the bigger issue is women’s rights. If you consider sex work to be work, how do you figure out who is most suited to be a sex worker? And, regardless, how do you decide who is best suited to be a mother and how that impacts the centralized planning?
It is one of the many reasons that what we truly need are hybrid socioeconomic models.
Depends on your definition. Each of these is a definition from the web, and two of them involve dictatorship like control of the economy. Next time you decide to basically call someone stupid, make sure you know what you’re talking about first.
A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
The Marxist-Leninist doctrine advocating revolution to overthrow the capitalist system and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat that will eventually evolve into a perfectly egalitarian and communal society.
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Marx would be the opposite of democracy.
Well, you convinced me. Guess I’ll read Marx to find out why.
I strongly encourage ACTUALLY reading Marx and not just the facebook post equivalents that various influencers love to spout.
But, at a very high level: Marxism is largely built around communism (well, the other way around, but just roll with it). Which does have implications for governing and decision making, but is largely a socioeconomic system. So the better “opposite” would be Capitalism. Although, even that is a pretty reductive approach and is arguably wrong.
That said: Communism requires some form of centralized planning. And while there is nothing that says that can’t come from a true Democracy, it tends to favor republics which may or may not use democracy to select. The US, as the chuds so often like to exclaim, is a Democratic Republic (sort of) in that we use Democracy-ish to select our representatives.
The problem with communism is bcz it requires strong central planning it tends to devolve into authoritarianism quickly.
Computers and databases with logistics didn’t exist in 1918. Walmart and Amazon have strong central planning. Chile began to do it in 1971 with Project CyberSyn, but the CIA and capitalism couldn’t have that in their backyard.
Edit: There is a failure of imagination concerning what socialism and communism could like in the future. Lenin was materially bound by his time. Actual Communism (worldwide) might look sufficiently different than what’s been done before.
Yeah, because a world run like Amazon sounds like such a utopia. /s
I liked bolo’bolo
Thanks, I’ll read it.
Yeah, I think we have proven over and over that human nature doesn’t do communism well at large scales. Not that I don’t think at small scales it’s a perfectly good system. Capitalism isn’t really any better tho. I don’t have a solution for how to avoid the pitfalls of socialism and communism. Worker owned means of production is really the thing I want, attainable or not. No single person should own all of the gains off the backs of worker blood, sweat, and tears.
Anarcho-Syndicalism or Anarcho-Communism? There’s the rub. I’m still exploring that myself.
I think there are a LOT more problems than just that, but yeah.
You can more or less “break” libertarianism and many anarchies by asking about “what happens to the orphans?”. For Communism and its derivatives, the question is usually “Who gets to be a scientist, a doctor, a movie star, and the person who cleans out the sewers? And do they all get the same benefits?”
Personally? I think the bigger issue is women’s rights. If you consider sex work to be work, how do you figure out who is most suited to be a sex worker? And, regardless, how do you decide who is best suited to be a mother and how that impacts the centralized planning?
It is one of the many reasons that what we truly need are hybrid socioeconomic models.
Why would you rather have Amazon and Walmart plan your economy than a democratically elected government?
Communism doesn’t require central planning. The fact that you think it does tells me you don’t know what communism even is.
Depends on your definition. Each of these is a definition from the web, and two of them involve dictatorship like control of the economy. Next time you decide to basically call someone stupid, make sure you know what you’re talking about first.
Well, we all know now that ML wasn’t about installing a dictatorship of the Proletariat.
Turns out, maybe straight communism isn’t what humans need, but some kind of…democratic socialism.
You mean as opposed to the free and fair two party capitalist democracy where Americans have to choose between two old men they don’t like?