Howdy Today is the 100 anniversary of the Socialist (Bolshevik, to be precise) Revolution in Russia. However, it was doomed to fail. Why? Probably because of several reasons but one of them is this - according to Marx, Communism is only possible in highly mechanized, industrialized society, kinda what we have today. Well, Russia was not. It was agrarian, illiterate country for most part. Also, Socialism was perceived only as a transition form to Communism. So, the question is: is the US ready for Communism? As industrial as it is, I would not be surprise if the answer is yes. For example, many young people no longer want to own a car, they just want to use it, the function of it. And with manufacturing jobs exported overseas, mainly China, what are they supposed to do? On the other hand, manufacturing becomes ever more effective and things are produced quicker and almost effortlessly due to advancement in technology and robotization. For example, the Samsung plant in Hungary can provide the whole EU with TVs of that brand. Remember first mobile phones? They were bricks. Now phones have ultimately more computing power and weigh 4 times less (i.e. use 4 times less natural resources). Newspapers? Many of them retired the printing press (with all consequences to workers and machine manufacturing) and are distributed online. Uber taxi? Sharing. Also, one have to keep in mind, the is Socialism, Communism, Bolshevism, Communitism, Anarchism - all different versions, good or bad, and incarnations of the, generally speaking, same idea - sharing and cooperation. Perhaps I should let someone smarter than me to explain what Socialism is. So, where is the world and the US in particular, going?
Just to make my point even more relevant... http://www.politicalforum.com/index...-long-term-implications-of-automation.517121/
Why should we adopt a freedom-stifling system that has never worked simply because some of today's young people don't want to own a car? Talk to me when the robots are ready to take over.
In asking the question, are you posing the question in a general sense, or are you asking if specific people and groups are ready for Communism in the U.S.A.? I ask because there are some people in this country, namely those of extremist Leftist political leanings who advocate Communism in this country as a solution to the racial strife, income “inequality”, social “inequality” and the like. I unfortunately ran into some people such as this when I first moved to New York, years ago. I have even met some “Muslims” or people who claim Islam, advocating Communism or what is called Socialism. As to where the U.S. and the world are heading in regard to Communism, everything that will perpetuate this dying world will be brought front and center. As for the success of it, I would not put any of my eggs in any of those baskets. The death of a world is painful and there are plenty of snake oil salesmen on the scene.
Is America ready for a system that history has proven doesn't work? Absolutely. Seems they don't like their hybrid capitalist/socialist system because America isn't great any more, so why not try to make it worse.
The later. I don't have the illusion the US can experience a Bolshevik revolution. And I don't want this.
dialectical materialism I believe has shown that Communism will not work, that Marx and Engels were correct for the Industrial era but that their system in the end could not succeed in this age and the age to come. Perhaps if Russia would have been an industrialized country it would have lasted longer. But I doubt it since even they could never get beyond the totalitarian rulership of elites that infested the USSR. . The worker is being phased out of the productivity equation. As such something else will have to be thought of. Collective ownership of the means of production means little if one man with a hundred machines can outproduce you and do it cheaper.
I wonder at those who call communism "a failure". Was Russia any greater before of after communism? What about China, which is currently becoming the dominant global power? Not that much of an industrialized nation at the time and yet today it owns part of the US. I think it is, to the contrary, neo-liberalism that is dying here, as inequities grow painfully obvious.
Inequities abound in the world. But the poor in the USA uniting to form a new type of civilization is doubtful. For that kind of revolution, even a peaceful one you would need true oppression. Our poor eat meat every day, they sleep under a roof in ac comfort. Their work days rarely extend beyond 12 hours. The dead do not litter the streets every morning to be picked up and our children tend to obesity not starvation. There is much to complain about but very little that is severe to the point of death. In the end when revolution happens it is because the average man looks around and sees his children starving, his women mistreated, and himself brutalized. In the west that situation is exceedingly rare. Unheard of no, but the average man does not go through that here. To be honest the average man has been bought off with comfort and benign neglect.
Only if Each US Independent Free State desires it. Each Free State has its own Legislative Branches. If they all want it in each Free State, then I guess The Federal Branches will have to choose if they want it also... A better way to see if The US is ready for Communism is to ask each State, with its Leaders, if they are ready for Communism. But keep in mind that the employment terms for Politicians are limited to set times. And if Communism was the set way, then there would be no more Independent Free State or Independent State Constitutions and there would be no more Political seat job opportunities..
Is America ready for Communism? I voted no, but wanted to elaborate a bit. Communism and Capitalism are two polar extremes, and like extremes in anything you want to discuss, their impact on the societies they rule are destructive. Communism has failed miserably in every country where it gained a foothold, by restricting both individual opportunity and human rights. Pure Capitalism results in economic success for the wealthiest only and economic and political depravity for everyone else. Both are bad choices for any nation. The best choice is one taking only the better points from each extreme, and combining them together under a democratic foundation. This would be what Bernie Sanders called "Democratic Socialism," and admitted he was a supporter of that choice. So am I.
