By Nadeem Zafar
For all those who do not know, and for all those who are possibly not willing to find out…here is the pretty paradoxical column with content that can be useful in its uselessness…
SOCIALISM VS COMMUNISM
Dave: For what reason, did you bring me here? Me: Okay, I know what you’re gonna say – but can you please let me explain something to you? Dave: What? Did I do something wrong – DID YOU DO SOMETHING? Me: No! No, it’s none of that. It’s about, err – communism and socialism. Dave: Uh…You wanted to ask me if you can explain that to me? Would I say yes? You’d think I’d say yes? Me: I expect you to. Dave: 7.5 minutes tops. I haven’t got much time. Me: (Proceeds to dictate a 2000-word pre-written text to this poor chap)
You’ve probably heard a lot about this around, like a lot. The word “communism” has found its way to our modern day, and into the minds of the newer generations to come. It’s been there long enough to garner a reputation for being the scapegoat, and the blame-taker for every single possible issue and crisis that has ever erupted since the dawn of WW1. It has so many negative connotations, that even telling a normal person about it would either make them go;
“Oh that’s really interesting, tell me more” or,” If you do not shut up right now. I swear, you talking about something I don’t agree with will make you end up somewhere bad, okay?”.
As you can tell, communism is controversial.
And this controversy always clouds anything right, this particular side tries to promote. It always ends up being interpreted the wrong way or the other. But a crucial fact that, again, people tend to overlook – is that communism has never really been put in place. In simple terms, no country has ever instituted communism. Yes, nations like the old USSR, or Cuba do believe in communism – they never really achieve it. Now this is where people often confuse themselves.
This is where socialism slots in, because that is something many of the world’s population has lived through. Put simply,
Communism is a social belief, or system where everyone works according to their needs – and there is no state, no class nor money.
Socialism is a political, and economical system in which the government intervenes in various aspects of life, to a greater degree than normal states. It also advocates for the removal of classes, and the unity between various people.
The USSR, disregarding the atrocities they committed, were a socialist state – and not a communist state. Why? Well, because countries simply cannot shift to communism immediately. It would be the equivalent of moving from fossil fuels, to renewables in a matter of hours.
Communism takes time to develop, and embed itself, this is why it’s done in multiple steps. Slowly, little by little – countries will start adopting social welfare programs, then nationalization (Buying back of services in layman’s terms) and then soon shift to social economically based policies. Then, socialism is achieved – when the nation is in control of certain commodities, and class discrimination and prejudice of any kind due to economic disparity is nearly eradicated.
This sets the stage for the next phase, that many people tend to regard as being very hypocritical. The dictatorship of the worker. The DotW, or DotP as it is called, calls for the common folk to rule over the entire nation. Basic rights need to be violated, so that possible opposition is quenched immediately.
Yes, this may seem terrible and may even fuel more problems – but this period is swift and short. Following this, the government can effectively disband itself – until there is literally no state, no class, no money to dominate a society. Society ceases to exist. Everyone lives for themselves, and themselves only.
This may seem like the plot to Star Trek, and it actually is. Communism is merely where there is literally nothing holding society in place – a scenario where there is no government. People can sustain themselves, and they work according to their needs. Socialism is just a phase in the ascent to communism. It’s a system a government adopts to slowly better society, in terms of welfare, and equality.
So, before you go on to disregard communism for all the wrongs the USSR committed, think again about what communism really is. And is it really that bad in the first place? (That’s a whole different tangent, but it still is worth thinking about)
That’s it…
Dave: Thanks for that uninformative and useless insight into something I didn’t ask for.
Me: You're most duly welcome.
Dave: Sigh
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