Thread: Does Communism still have a role to play, or is it dead?

Originally Posted by Hanna

I mea, since there were actual elections in the USSR as far as I am aware.

That's interesting
Where did you find this info, Hanna?

Originally Posted by Eric C.

So, what was the empire that did care about what happened to regular people?

All of them. Any empire treated all conquered peoples as a part of it (even if second-class part) and took care as it can. It was the "white man's burden".

Originally Posted by Hanna

This is pretty interesting, I have a bit of catching up to do on this thread.

But in the meantime, can I just ask something? Did the USSR "admit" to being a "dictatorship of the proletariat" per Marx' writings, or not?
Or did it not consider itself to be a dictatorship...? I mea, since there were actual elections in the USSR as far as I am aware.

At the end, certainly not. It considered itself a real democracy. Since 1936 everyone had equal rights, including the "former".

Originally Posted by Hanna

This is pretty interesting, I have a bit of catching up to do on this thread.

But in the meantime, can I just ask something? Did the USSR "admit" to being a "dictatorship of the proletariat" per Marx' writings, or not?
Or did it not consider itself to be a dictatorship...? I mea, since there were actual elections in the USSR as far as I am aware.

Well, they claimed that perfect society should not contain exploiter class at all. All people should be "the proletariat, the peasantry and the working intelligentsia" (which form one class) and there are no place to parasite classes in our society. In the time of Lenin-Stalin they say that if there are some parasite people, they should be caught and reforged into "the proletariat etc..." in special camps or killed if they don't want to be reforged. Later it was said that reforging is mainly succeeded and now very few remaining parasites will be reforged by themselves as a natural historical process.

So it was positioned as a dictatorship of everybody, not of some class or separate persons. The same propaganda as of democracy TM but in other words.

Originally Posted by Doomer

That's interesting
Where did you find this info, Hanna?

I don't know, I just remember hearing, back in those days that there WERE elections in Eastern Europe, just some restrictions as to what people could vote for. I.e. different shades of red, probably (???) And hearing about it on the news in my childhood. I.e. "In elections in the DDR, votes have been counted and 98% voted for the Communist party and Erich Honecker, the remainder voted for Socialist workers party"
And thinking - what is the point of having elections under such circumstances?

No doubt there were many people who DID believe in communism and were quite happy to vote for it. But there must have been plenty of people who preferred to vote for something else and considered the who thing silly and insulting.

Originally Posted by Ramil

... or US can be quietly preparing for a global war



But Crodocile, dear, US really wants to control the entine world , and unfortunately Russia is not an obstacle any more.

Well I hope for a comeback by Russia. Maybe in a decade or so, if Russia can take control over some of the problems it's still dealing with.

I don't by any means idolize Russia or see it as perfect in any way. It could turn evil...
But at the moment I like it better than the USA because it is just more honest and straightforward. No BS about promoting democracy and freedom by doing the opposite, and no excessive meddling in other countries' business. Plus Russians in general don't think they are Gods gift to the world and always right about everything. And it's not hard to like practically any country better than China. So I support Russia as the underdog superpower!
But it has a lot of work to do to sort itself out!

If the EU has some kind of miracle transformation and everyone learns to work together, and the EU stops driving eveyrone crazy with bureacracy and irritating foreign policy... then I'd support the EU of course.

Not sure how it was in the DDR, but in Moscow it was only one candidate people had to vote for. The info about the candidate was publicly available, but there was no choice. Then people had performed their "civic duty" to vote for that candidate and so the elections were done. The year 1986 (if I remember correctly) was the first year there were several candidates (still from the Communist Party, of course), so people had a choice. The election was heatly debated among the old ladies who sat near the building entrance... In either case, the elections were actually to the municipal division of the Communist Party or the delegates to the next caucus of the Communist Party, so they could unanimously elect higher leaders. There was no other party and there were no other elections held for the public. Why to bother with multiple parties? The Communist Party was the people's party, so it represented the desires and wishes of the ordinary people. You got the picture.

Maybe in a decade or so, if Russia can take control over some of the problems it's still dealing with

What problems can prevent you from visiting Russia?

And thinking - what is the point of having elections under such circumstances?

All the elections are like that. You said yourself there is no much sense in elections in the UK.

But at the moment I like it better than the USA because it is just more honest and straightforward.

Russia is not better than the USA, it is probably just weaker.

Originally Posted by Marcus

What problems can prevent you from visiting Russia?

Did you read my travel blog when I was in Belarus and wanted to go to Russia but couldn't get a visa? I had a nice time in .by but it was Russia I wanted to go to! No doubt I could have got a visa if I had applied back in London..but going to Russia is not entirely uncomplicated. I never would have thought it would be such a difficult thing. It's a completely normal thing to get a visa for one foreign country while travelling in another foreign country.

All the elections are like that. You said yourself there is no much sense in elections in the UK.

Yeah, I just can't muster up a lot of enthusiasm for democracy.
I know it's usually the lesser evil... but like I said - in the UK, there are two almost identical parties. Same thing in the USA. The migration towards a spot somewhere a bit right of the middle of the scale is taking place across Europe. Enough welfare to prevent any kind of revolution or people turning radical. And it's the middle classes that are paying for the welfare state. The small group of really rich people are getting richer, while not paying any more tax, or no tax at all... And corporations are getting more influence every year, both in the USA and in Europe.

Russia is not better than the USA, it is probably just weaker.

It hasn't really started any wars recently though. And it doesn't do some of the creepy stuff that the USA has started doing since it became the only super power.

Did you read my travel blog when I was in Belarus and wanted to go to Russia but couldn't get a visa? I had a nice time in .by but it was Russia I wanted to go to! No doubt I could have got a visa if I had applied back in London..but going to Russia is not entirely uncomplicated. I never would have thought it would be such a difficult thing. It's a completely normal thing to get a visa for one foreign country while travelling in another foreign country.

You pretty much always have to be in your native country to apply for a Russian visa, with a few exceptions, that's how it is.

Long time no see Dogboy! yeah, I know I really messed up the Russian visa thing. I really had a very nice time in Belarus, but now I still haven't been to modern Russia despite dying to go! Btw, why don't you share your view on the Bradley Manning thread in this forum? I'd be interested to hear what you think based on what you've said about your background. Hoping you wouldn't just say "shoot him" but something a bit more nuanced.

Well, I must confess, I almost had a Russian visa debacle in Ukraine. I thought I had done my homework, but the laws change so often, it was a mess, anyways, I was able to get a Russian visa in Kiev even though I am a US citizen with some help from the very kind locals, but that's a story for another day.

As far as Bradley Manning, well I don't know. No, I don't think he should be shot. I don't really know enough about the subject to make any real good calls on it, other than I've heard that the Wikileaks people themselves say that he had nothing to do with it, and how such a low ranking member of the army could have so much access to classified material is beyond me.

In short... I don't know! If he is guilty, then I suppose a sentence for treason could be carried out, on the other hand, I don't know the law pertaining to publishing documents that were classified. Its really an interesting case, and as far as I know, its one of the first of its kind.