"dictatorship of the proletariat"

[akarunway 1]

So. Help me out here. Where does the US of A sit right now regarding this theory?

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[rasmack 0]

Huh?!? It is hardly a theory. It is rather a term used in a theory.

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[SpeedRacer 1]

Um, we're not doing that.

"The dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., the organization of the vanguard of the oppressed as the ruling class for the purpose of suppressing the oppressors, cannot result merely in an expansion of democracy. Simultaneously with an immense expansion of democracy, which for the first time becomes democracy for the poor, democracy for the people, and not democracy for the money-bags, the dictatorship of the proletariat imposes a series of restrictions on the freedom of the oppressors, the exploiters, the capitalists. We must suppress them in order to free humanity from wage slavery, their resistance must be crushed by force; it is clear that there is no freedom and no democracy where there is suppression and where there is violence." - V.I. Lenin, The State and Revolution

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In other words, Lenin says we need to kiss freedom & democracy goodbye if we're going to get serious about stopping those awful capitalists.

Thankfully, we don't seem to be doing that.

Communists seem to feel that the capitalists (property & business owners) are such a horrible threat to the working class that we must create any oppressive monster to stop them. Even if it means creating a system which is far more oppressive & destructive than even the worst capitalist could ever dream of being.

It's kind of like trying to get rid of King Kong by bringing in Godzilla.

Speed Racer
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[pirana 0]

Quote

Um, we're not doing that.

"The dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e., the organization of the vanguard of the oppressed as the ruling class for the purpose of suppressing the oppressors, cannot result merely in an expansion of democracy. Simultaneously with an immense expansion of democracy, which for the first time becomes democracy for the poor, democracy for the people, and not democracy for the money-bags, the dictatorship of the proletariat imposes a series of restrictions on the freedom of the oppressors, the exploiters, the capitalists. We must suppress them in order to free humanity from wage slavery, their resistance must be crushed by force; it is clear that there is no freedom and no democracy where there is suppression and where there is violence." - V.I. Lenin, The State and Revolution

----
In other words, Lenin says we need to kiss freedom & democracy goodbye if we're going to get serious about stopping those awful capitalists.

Thankfully, we don't seem to be doing that.

Communists seem to feel that the capitalists (property & business owners) are such a horrible threat to the working class that we must create any oppressive monster to stop them. Even if it means creating a system which is far more oppressive & destructive than even the worst capitalist could ever dream of being.

It's kind of like trying to get rid of King Kong by bringing in Godzilla.

Yep, that experiment failed. Capitalism and free markets have their flaw, but they are vastly superior to Communism and central planning. I do believe we have the best system going, and it should be noted that it is a hybrid of planning and open markets. I'm betting 99% of the population would not like a pure free-market economy. It would look a lot like Fuedalism; kick butt or get kicked; align with powerful people or eat mud pies for dinner every night.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[SpeedRacer 1]

well, you're talking about anarchism, or something close to it. That's pretty extreme. It seems to me that you can have a government in charge of upholding the law & still have a free market economy. If someone in the free market economy cheats someone or pollutes the environment or harms someone (an employee, a consumer, or anyone else) either deliberately or through negligence, they can still be made to answer to it in court.

In feudalism, you don't even have the rule of law.

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