Quote Originally Posted by Crocodile View Post
The choice the farmers faced was either to join the 'collective farming' in which all crop belonged to the state or being starved to death.
And they choose death?!

And I am NOT going to be drawn into a long debate about a topic that I have limited knowledge of (communism) and no particular passion for.

But I would say that if anyone was going to implement communism now, they'd have the benefit of being able to avoid repeating the mistakes of Russia and China, like heavy-handed collectivization.

East Germany for example, did not do this. They collectivized, but in a civilised way, and those who didn't like it had plenty of time to readjust, and farm owners where given compensation. After 1990, all the collective farm workers there became unemployed and many are now at the bottom of society, longing for the good old days when they were respected workers with job security. All the while East Germany is importing its wheat and beetroot from the USA or elsewhere in the EU.

That is another way of looking at this matter.