Confusion About Communism (illegal, compared, party, election)
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Communism and socialism are economic systems, not political ones. To communism’s founder Karl Marx, history is about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, while economics is about the middle class (bourgeoise) and nobility exploiting the working class, namely by paying the worker less for his or her labor than the actual value of goods and services the worker produced, in effect stealing part of the workers’ labors and paying them just enough to survive. Marx’s solution was to abolish all private ownership of property and have the workers own the means of production (farms, mines, forests, factories, transport lines, and any item that can produce wealth for the owner). In short, communism centers on who owns the means of production.
Laws regulating property privately is not of who owns the land. It’s a matter of regulating human behavior, more of a public policy matter than an economic one. Therefore, communism does not cover such matters. Nor does it cover taxes, what we pay in order to maintain a police force, legal system, and military in order to protect society from threats to it (invading armies and criminals). It also includes funding public goods that the private sector could never hope to accomplish well on its own, if at all (roads, bridges, dams, rural electrification, etc.).
Again, this is not a question of who owns what, at least outside the geographic range of the project (the government could always declare imminent domain over a property IF the owner is justly compensated). It is a question of our individual obligations to society (promote mutual security, mutual obligations to help fund projects which neither individuals, nor the private sector could ever develop on their own, but yet are considered vital for even minimal functioning of all members of a society).
In short, once the question shifts from outright ownership of wealth-creating properties and to our obligations to fund police, military, and mutually helping each other fund needed projects beyond the ability of the private sector to do so, it’s not about communism any more.
Huh? What now?
If Communuism and Socialism ( in their ORIGINAL meaning) are not "political," then I don't know what IS "political" then.
Let's back up a bit.
The monarchy believes in the divine rights of kings and aristocracy, and thus their god-given right to obtain the wealth and to exploit others.
This is the ultra-right beliefs on POLITICAL scale.
The ideology of bourgeois society believes that not only kings and aristocracy can exploit and have the wealth and power, but ANYONE who has ability to accumulate money/wealth. At this point God is not dismissed from the picture, he is still incorporated in ideology and the argument that the wealth is his sign of approval/blessing is very much present in ideology - at least in America.
These are still right-wing ideological beliefs, just not "ultra-right" any longer.
Now people like Karl Marx dismiss God all together to begin with, citing religion as the "opium of the people." The center piece of his ideology become the money/wealth, why/how they give an opportunity for one man to be exploited by the other, and how this can be stopped.
These are the "ultra-left" political ideas that were supported, for example, by the economy of the Soviet Union.
Overall, ideology/beliefs that dominate any given society ( i.e. politics) come primary; economy that supports these beliefs come secondary.
Are hundreds of millions of people enslaved and killed under this definition of communism too?
You are assuming that the original post is a defense of communism. I did not get that impression. I only read it as a definition of what the word means, apart from any particular political system (democracy, republic, dictatorship, etc.)
In any case, are you saying that capitalist countries have not also enslaved and killed millions?
The problem here, as I see it, is not whether people like communism or not, it's the fact that they misuse the word, usually to condemn anything they consider government overreach, or worse, anything they consider "too liberal," even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with economics.
You are assuming that the original post is a defense of communism. I did not get that impression. I only read it as a definition of what the word means, apart from any particular political system (democracy, republic, dictatorship, etc.)
In any case, are you saying that capitalist countries have not also enslaved and killed millions?
The problem here, as I see it, is not whether people like communism or not, it's the fact that they misuse the word, usually to condemn anything they consider government overreach, or worse, anything they consider "too liberal," even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with economics.
Unless you have lived under "Communism" you have no clue as to what it means and what it means to the people living under it. You can call it what you want, "Economic or Political" The Liberal Left Democratic Party is in favor of what Socialism, Fascism, And Communists stand for, and its apparent from what they support publically so there is not need for anyone to tell us what they really mean. They use ANTIFA as their Brown Shirts, to engage in violence and intimidation, they support Illegal Aliens, over Americans, because that's their new voting base being nurtured. They are not obeying Federal Laws, and tried to take over the Government of this Nation by Corrupting the Government Agencies, with Moles who worked against the Election from the inside to fix it in favor of Hillary and defeat any vote to the contrary. Its all out there to see, and you will see more coming . Communism is not where this Nation wants to go, and Communism never works, and will always be defeated in the end, by any means required.
If the government takes on the task of stopping food stamps and controlling boxed food for the poor, could this be considered a form of communism?
The "Communism" started when the Liberals took your money and expanded the freebie program for those who didn't want to work and are leeching off the system. It was a good program if policed very well and only deserving cases got it. Now the Liberals are giving the Illegal Aliens and Illegal Criminals you money. That's Communism being cultivated by Commie/Facist Democrats. .
You are right, may be I should be more specific.
To begin with - you need to look at the government itself, what it represents and what it believes in.
If it believes in the private property rights, and if "a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state," then such government can't be "communist" by default.
Thus the actions of such government can't be "a little bit communist," because technically speaking one can't be "a little bit communistic," as one can't be a little bit pregnant.
You either adhere to the communist ideology ( and support these beliefs by economic decisions, which are very different comparably to the capitalist state,) or you don't.
So when the government is NOT communist to begin with, it can still distribute foodstamps/food boxes, ( which is indeed the "left" idea - be it founded in religious beliefs or practical solutions,) but it still doesn't make such action "communistic."
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