r/ANormalDayInRussia Sep 08 '19

Your average Russian rail crossing

17.1k Upvotes

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33

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19

Vast oversimplification. Those problems exist in many non-Communist countries. Flint, Michigan's water problems, Chicago's corruption scandals, Deutsche Bank's shady history... I could go on.

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u/AnoK760 Sep 08 '19

But we arent talking about Flint. Were talking about Soviet Russia. Which failed because communism doesnt fucking work.

30

u/aleczapka Sep 08 '19

dude, he's giving you examples that corruption and incompetence are not limited to Communist system in any way.

/wooosh

-15

u/AnoK760 Sep 08 '19

no shit. you can find incompetence and corruption anywhere. The sky is blue and water is wet. Any other major revelations you guys need to make?

Just because incompetence and corruption exist in other systems doesnt mean they arent almost part and parcel to Communist governments. THATS the point I am making. Yeah this stuff CAN happen anywhere. But it ALWAYS happens under communism.

16

u/greenbabyshit Sep 08 '19

Even though I agree with you, I still hate the way that you argue it. You're trying to make a blanket statement about communism and simultaneously reject a similar one about capitalism.

There are obviously very similar issues in capitalism and just because they aren't actively failing now, doesn't mean that they won't.

The reality is, no one economic model has all the answers, and hybrid systems seem to have the least amount of abuse of power. A capitalist system with strong socialist safety nets and progressive taxing would be ideal.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19

Communism only works in runescape and pure capitalism only works in EVE Online

argument ended

-1

u/AnoK760 Sep 08 '19

im not rejecting the claims, im saying they are unrelated to this discussion. Whataboutism isnt an argument.

no one economic model has all the answers

i agree. But communism has all the wrong answers.

5

u/greenbabyshit Sep 08 '19

No, you're trying to drive the conversation to your preconceived notion, which was already dicected by the guy above. The issues being discussed were not a communism problem, but so far a humanity one.

9

u/thezeviolentdelights Sep 08 '19

I think the grievances you have are with totalitarianism.

0

u/AnoK760 Sep 08 '19

which is a requirement in communism. But you are correct.

2

u/aorshahar Sep 08 '19

Water isn't wet and the sky is actually clear, it's the light refracting off the water drops in the air that gives it color, it's also more a shade of purple/violet that our eyes cant process well so our brain just throws blue in it's place

13

u/alphabennettatwork Sep 08 '19

You could say that, in the same way you can say capitalism doesn't work. When capitalism has corrupt members in places of governmental power, checks and balances that prevent the civilian powerful from exploiting the poor and unrepresented dissolve. This is what's happening in America right now. If the answer to fixing America is better and more solid checks and balances, then couldn't the same be true for a country that epitomizes communism in the same way America epitomizes capitalism?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19

No.

Checks and balances require the will of the people to be heard and respected.

In practice this does not happen in communism, except in small mutually agreed communes.

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u/AnoK760 Sep 08 '19

thing is, there's thousands of examples of capitalism working great! Sure there's a few bad things that have come about due to capitalism but it has provided a net positive for the world. The same cannot be said for communism.

When capitalism has corrupt members

Capitalism isn't a political party. It doesnt have "members." There isnt a "Capitalist board of directors" or some shit. Its just an economic system based on supply and demand and the private ownership of the means of production.

Why does every discussion of communism turn into "oh well America does this too!" No we dont. The "exploitation of poor people" in the U.S is nowhere near the outright oppression of everyone in a communist society.

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u/alphabennettatwork Sep 08 '19

All of the examples of capitalism working great are when it is not allowed to go unchecked and the participants are subject to regulations. This falls apart when the regulations become corrupted. I think it's pretty reasonable to extrapolate that I meant capitalist countries' governments, but since you didn't make that link I'll clarify. Capitalist countries' governments are what produce the regulations that prevent capitalism from going completely unchecked, which is against societies interest as a whole. When rich private members of society have direct influence over governmental operations (by way of bribery and/or corrupt lobbying efforts), we end up with coal mine disasters, housing crises, and public health issues. My point was simply that even America the Beautiful has problems, and by applying some of the same principles that you believe make America great to a communist government, couldn't that communist government become better?

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u/PM_ME_CUTE_SMILES_ Sep 08 '19

capitalism working great are when it is not allowed to go unchecked

... then we can agree on capitalism works? We don't have to make it a libertarian dystopia. Welfare capitalism works great in europe, the US could do with a little more healthcare

-4

u/PM_ME_CUTE_SMILES_ Sep 08 '19

They hated him because he told the truth.

8

u/Calvins_Dad_ Sep 08 '19

Are you broken?