Originally Posted by
symbian simian
Sorry, but no, you didn't live under communism (a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocatingclass war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.). Dictatorship, probably, definitely not a democracy, maybe fascist. You show me a country where the workers owned the factory. Just because it was called the communist party didn't make it any more communist than the Democratic Party in the US is "democratic". Parents lived in Romania. I have lived in 10 other countries.
You would be the first one getting "lead poisoning", or being sent to pound rocks while getting "reeducated." And then, maybe if you were lucky, you wouldn't lose your civil rights.
See, in communism, there is no such thing as a person or individualism, so your entire argument falls on its face. It's collectivism. In communist countries, "The People" own everything, not individuals, and there's a difference. The mill next to where I grew up was indeed "owned by the People." It was run by the "workers collective." That "collective" was managed by loyal members of the Communist Party forming a Committee and the Party doctrine had to be adhered to. You were expected to work. You didn't complain. You were paid just enough to barely survive. You had NO incentive whatsoever to do better, nor could you. You would work for 30 years then you'd collect a pension. That pension would be roughly the equivalent of something between Supplemental Security Income and Social Security in this country. Great living, huh? Mind you, all of this required blind obedience.
Now, to purple hairs in this country, that sounds fantastic. The problem would arise the second you started criticizing it, or if someone questioned your blind obedience to the Party. In other words, if you said anything against the government, you'd disappear, or end up needing to get "reeducated." But get the best part, the communists would strip you of your civil rights. Think about that for a second. You're no longer a person. You cannot get an ID so you cannot work. You cannot get any benefits such as health insurance because you don't have any "papers." You cannot get a passport in order to leave the country because you no longer have civil rights as an anti-communist, or being a close relative of an anti-communist. Serves them right, right? Can't have 'misinformation' or anyone doubting the words and the wisdom of THE PEOPLE and the PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT. I could go on and on and on...
But you're onto something. Are you saying that communism briefs really well and that the implementation of it went way wrong? Gee, I wonder why that is.... How do you think people like that ever got into power? What do you think was their selling point? In any case, the human nature wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it? Naw.... definitely not.