Before I say anything, I would like to state the terms under which I plan to direct these topic. I'll do so as clearly and briefly as I can.
a) Even though is hard and probably pointless to discuss politics in an abstract way, I would like to refer that I am not speaking about communist governments in particular; this is not a debate about the Soviet Union, neither North Korea (even though I have reasons to doubt those were truly communist governments). So please, let's not fall under arguments such as "the Soviet Union repressed and killed the opposition", or "Cuba had multiple crisis". All of this facts are true, but can rely on subtleties such as the world financial and economic situation, the current wars of the time or any other material circumstance. So I'd like us to speak here about marxism as a political, economical and even philosophic structure and project: no Fidel Castro, no Stalin, no anybody, but the ideas, critics and theories that marxism encompasses, and which only aims were, for Marx, freedom and equality among man.
b) Marxism is a complex matter: let's not reduce it to simplifications and chatter. I say this because I've heard arguments such as 'Marx was crazy and was talking non-sense", or "he is an evil man who wanted to banish private property", AND EVEN "if there's no private property, that means that this computer and this socks you are wearing would belong to the state". None of this are true, and are silly things to say; to say this things only proves either that you've never read Marx's works or that you've never made the effort of thinking about them seriously. Marx was a clever and quite human man, who intended to describe and analyse the economic system, and to transform it into a better, more including and fair one. (And no, communism doesn't imply that the socks you wear and the computer you use would belong to the state!!)
c) The reasons why I wanted to open this topic is one of understanding, so please, no fighting! I'll explain myself better: where I am from, fascism killed and tortured thousands of people only to repress communism. Here, marxism is not necessarily a bad word, even when it has its detractors. But I have got a friend that lived in the USA and says that over there to be communist is... she told people looked at you nearly as if you were an alien, haha. Now, I don't know if that's true!! But I do notice in every forum I participate in, that communism is very hated or misunderstood. And, even when I am not saying one should be a communist (I am not a communist myself), hatred to communism is a different thing, and has to respond to something. Because one thing is to say: "I don't agree with this for such and such reason", and another is to say "bloody communists!!, stupid communists!!", "Marx was a crazy assassin!!" or anything such as that. So... why is communism a bad word over there?
d) I truly insist on the point a). Thanks.
Edited by PkSanTi, 16 January 2018 - 11:40 am.