Marxican stand-off
Potentially controversial opinion: Just like capitalism, communism also needs to be regulated so as to not get exploited by a powerful few.
Any political system requires vigilant population, which needs education, which means we’re fucked no matter the system we’re living under because most people rather tune out ‘the noise’ and live their lives being blissfully ignorant.
It’s hardly controversial. Marx envisioned that a revolution would happen when the working class (the majority of any society) becomes class conscious and usher in socialism. That in essence would be a vigilant population.
The issue with popular presentation of Marxism is that what is presented is actually Leninism. Lenin is the one who thought proletariats can’t become class conscious (or vigilant) on their own and instead require a vanguard party of revolutionaries to lead the proletariat into communism. How that worked out is evident from the USSR.
What about social democracy?
What about it makes it so special that it can exist and not get exploited without vigilant population?
Every system needs awareness from people to keep functioning.
Social democracy seems to be working better than most systems, including keeping the people interested in politics. Because the democracy works reasonably well. Scandinavian countries that have social democracy also have high election participation.
People are aware, that’s not the problem IMO.
Every system needs to adjust when people are aware, that’s why democracy works and autocracy not.
People are aware
Are they really?
They are aware something is wrong. Not what’s causing it. The powerful have learned to scream “immigrant, immigrant,trans, gay, black!” when anyone looks their way, and assure you their big pile of cash is actually helping you by getting bigger.
Not everyone ofc but there are always people who are.
Of what use, then, are the American Communists?
They serve one function extremely useful to you and to the country, so useful that, if there were no Communists, we would almost be forced to create some. They are a reliable litmus paper for detecting real sources of danger to the Republic.
Communism is so repugnant to almost all Americans, when they are getting along even tolerably well, that one may predict with certainty that any social field or group in which the Communists make real strides in gaining members or acceptance of their doctrines, any such spot is in such bad shape from real and not imaginary social ills that the rest of us should take emergency, drastic action to investigate and correct the trouble.
Unfortunately we are more prone to ignore the sick spot thus disclosed and content ourselves with calling out more cops.
—Robert A. Heinlein, Take Back Your Government
Well. He’s not wrong. Admittedly, many people in the US are opposed to socialist policies largely because of propagandizing by corporate interests, but when they get really popular anyways, that’s def. a sure sign that everything is going to shit.
“Source, “Wikipedia”: A power vacuum is a very powerful vacuum.”
Edit: fuck I didn’t mean to make this comment
People’s Front of Judea vs the Judean People’s Front
Splitters!
Ok, so Two-Tone-Beard-Man is Marx, Slightly-Darker-Beard-Man is Engels, but who are Long-Beard-Man and Auntie-Glasses-Lady? I ask because Long-Beard-Man appears to be the winner of the heated exchange at the end…
" ALEXA, define power vacuum."
Capitalism and socialism are a pendulum, acting as a response to each other and the exploitation of the flaws in the system. The real enemy is authoritarianism which defends whichever system is in power at the time.
