have been wondering recently what my blind spots are, what are beliefs I have that are unexamined or based on too little evidence for how much I believe them …
maybe there are common patterns, that people commonly believe false things and I might be challenged in my own beliefs this way
Communism isn’t predicated on selflessness, nor is capitalism predicated on selfishness. Socialism/communism are predicated on public ownership and direction of production, while capitalism is predicated on private. The superstuctural elements like ideology are not the driving factors, the underlying base is. The superstructure comes from the base, and reinforces it, but does not decide whether it works or not.
Secondly, all states are authoritarian, they are all extensions of the ruling class. The degree that authority is exerted is a direct reaction to circumstance. Nazi Germany and modern Germany are both authoritarian and both ruled by the bourgeoisie, the reason Nazi Germany is seen as more authoritarian is because the economy was in dire straits and the capitalist class needed to violently crush dissent and assert itself in order to protect the existing property relations. Modern Germany is not opposed to the same violent repression, it just lacks the current necessity to do so, outside of crushing pro-Palestinian protestors.
Finally, socialism works. Socialist economies run by communist parties have had remarkable success in achieving high rates of economic growth and uplifting the working class. The largest and most significant economy in the world today is the PRC, which is socialist. People who say “communism/socialism don’t work” are largely pointing to the dissolution of the USSR, but the Soviet Union worked remarkably well until it liberalized and undermined its own system based on centralized planning. The reintroduction of capitalism to Eastern Europe was devastating, killing 7 million people and resulting in lowered life expectancy, skyrocketing drug abuse, human trafficking, poverty, wealth disparity, and more.
I think you would do well to investigate the topic further, as you already admitted you haven’t really done so yet, so this is a great opportunity.
Not explicitly, but by virtue is human nature. I should have phrased it as a requirement for it to function without authoritarian control, which we’ll bicker about in a bit.
Again, hard disagree. You’re stating a useless tautology: if everything is authoritarian, the word has no useful meaning. If you believe we live in a universe without free will, then we exist in an authoritarian universe, and debate is pointless. There are degrees of control, and some systems have more than others. Living in a prison is different than living in Stalin’s USSR, which is different than living in Russia today, which is different than living in Sweden today. Only a fool would insist they’re equivalent.
Socialism is not communism. Socialism allows for private property and individual rewards for contributions; communism seeks complete state control over all resources and a classless society.
Not every society is authoritarian. Tribal, classless societies were not so, they had no state. A fully collectivized, ie communist system will have no class, and thus no need for one class to oppress others, ie is not authoritarian. Every existing society in between those is authoritarian, from the feudal lords to the bourgeoisie to the proletariat, each ruling class will wield the state and thus authority to resolve class contradictions. I already explained the differences in degrees of oppression, and how they depend more on circumstances than an implicit desire for control. It’s better for the proletariat to be in charge than the bourgeoisie.
Socialism is pre-communism. Socialism is a mode of production where the large firms and key industries are publicly owned and controlled, ie the PRC, Cuba, and former USSR. Communism is when all production globally has been collectivized, and thus is classless, and therefore stateless (though not without management, administration, or planning). Further, even collectivized systems allow for rewards for individual contributions, no socialist country in history has had equal pay, Marx railed against “equalitarians.” The process of sublimating all property is a gradual one, private property in socialism is something expected to vanish over time as firms grow and are folded into the collectivized system.
Finally, “human nature” has nothing to do with our conversation. I don’t see why you think communism can only work at a small scale, when the opposite is the case, communism can only be realized globally. I think you’re mixing up anarchist economics with Marxist economics.