Let’s talk Communism. Before we get into
connotation, let’s look at it according to Merriam-Webster: “A way of organizing a society in which the government owns
the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil,
factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property.” In my
opinion, that sounds like a pretty great deal. I’ve always embraced the ideals
of people coming together to work together for the common good, where you work
to eat, and you can actually support a family. But I know what’s running
through your head as I say this:
Connotation
is a bitch. From the Capitalist perspective of American eyes, we see Cuba,
Russia, China, North Korea, Chile – all of these countries that look horrid on
first glance. Let’s really look into that though: do we hate Communism, or the
people who run and determine their apparently despicable societies? I’d argue
the latter, because when you talk to a great number of people, you’ll get the
common, petty answer of, “Well, yeah, Communism looks great on paper, but not
so much in practice,” and then the conversation switches topics. If Communism
looks great on paper, then why can it not succeed in practice? For this I have
three reasons:
1) Capitalists
of America and other Westernized countries have not allowed for Communism to
succeed. I’d like to recall Chile, 1970: Salvador Allende became the first
democratically elected Socialist president of Chile. Nixon and all his other
bastard brethren we’re so vehemently against the idea of a nation based on
freedom and justice for all that they decided to send in the CIA to overthrow
the new Chilean government. Yeah, and they succeeded. America would rather have
a fascist, bloodthirsty society, where innocent people are killed for stating
their point of view, rather than have to suffer from the “horrors” of Communism.
2) Some Communist countries have shitty leaders: Mao
Zedong, Kim Jong-il, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Vladimir Putin, and Fidel
Castro (but this last one is debatable). Greed from politicians – corruption –
I argue that that is the basis of our hatred, that we despise these men who
rise to power, claiming absolute equality, while in reality practicing the
polar opposite. What the world needs is another great Socialist or Communist leader;
another Che Guevara, or Salvador Allende.
3) Maybe it’s time that we change the approach.
Communism may not be supposed to work on a large scale. Ironically, and all
places, unofficial Communism was highly successful for Northern Native
Americans, as well as the first European settlers in Jamestown. It was John
Smith who himself declared, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat,” thereby
eliminating the arrogance and laziness of the aristocratic assholes who decided
to make the trip.
If I have a target on my back now because of what I’ve
said, so be it. It’s better to tell the truth and admit my country’s downfalls
than to remain idle and ignorant.
