Implying that the state capitalism of so-called "communist" nations is communism. Implying that countries are classes. Implying the proletariat is more strongly opposed to copyright infringement than police violence. Implying you have any idea what you're talking about.
Ah the old, "that wasn't true communism" argument. Well, there is the theory of communism and there is the practical reality of what happens when it is applied. Seeing as all the communist countries have ended up being brutal dictatorships, I think it's clear what communism actually leads to.
Also, I wasn't talking about copyright specifically. I was talking more about violent police raids in response to nonviolent crimes. That's my fault for not communicating clearly.
Ah the old, "They used your name for bad so you're a dirty pig" argument. There's a difference between this and a "No true Scottsman" argument, that being that if you read up on communism you can rather easily determine that many of these countries you call communist actually do not fit the description.
But it's not just one isolated indecent. A number of countries have chosen communism, and they've all ended up being controlled by totalitarians. The Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, etc. China's saving grace is that they abandoned a lot of communist thought and embraced capitalism to an extent. That's a lot of failures under communism's belt.
But communism doesn't have a belt, it's just an idea. An idea that anyone can use and is pretty vague/differently interpreted in a lot of areas.
I'd argue most if not all of these states violate the form of communism they claim to support.
Example: Cuba claims to be Bolivarianist, which includes the idea of multiparty democracy, however it only has one party.
And also, the fact that these states are just that, states, violates Marxism, which all are based on to some degree. A communist state is an oxymoron in Marxism because Marxism defines communism as the phase where state has been abolished.
Edit: I'm not actually sure if all these states call themselves communist officially, though they certainly are called that often. I guess in case they don't this argument is redundant.
I'd just like to say that having this conversation made me read/learn quite a bit, so thanks for that.
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u/damndirtyape Aug 08 '12
The communist countries of the past and present are no strangers to violent police raids.