The Cellar - There are no more Communists

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There are no more Communists

80 years ago, the best and brightest minds were wondering whether Communism might be an improvement to the evils of Capitalism.

And so many countries began social experiments and harshly controlled their economies. Political leaders declared which goods would be made, which plants would be built, which crops would be sowed. The triumph of order over the disorder of markets, they announced, would "bury" the west.

It didn't work. In fact it was generally disaster wherever attempted. And we should occasionally remind ourselves of this fact, because eastern economies have learned it well. China was putting in free markets in the 80s. So one recent IotD might be labeled:

http://cellar.org/2010/marketschange.jpg

Now, today, we have the nail in the coffin: the last of the central planners threw in the towel.

North Korea lifts free market ban to prevent famine

Quote:

Bowing to reality, the North Korean government has lifted all restrictions on private markets -- a last-resort option for a leadership desperate to prevent its people from starving.

In recent weeks, according to North Korea observers and defector groups with sources in the country, Kim Jong Il's government admitted its inability to solve the current food shortage and encouraged its people to rely on private markets for the purchase of goods. Though the policy reversal will not alter daily patterns -- North Koreans have depended on such markets for more than 15 years -- the latest order from Pyongyang abandons a key pillar of a central, planned economy.

With November's currency revaluation, Kim wiped out his citizens' personal savings and struck a blow against the private food distribution system sustaining his country. The latest policy switch, though, stands as an acknowledgment that the currency move was a failure and that only capitalist-style trading can prevent widespread famine.

Too bad about the many, many millions starved and killed to try to make planned economies work.

Don't worry, we've still got lots of idiots trying to make socialism work here in America.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 664291)

Too bad about the many, many millions starved and killed to try to make planned economies work.

If you're going to make an omelet you have to break some eggs.

Communism has only failed in the past because it's not gone far enough. It's not had enough power or control to protect the rights and interests of the people.

What we really need is world wide communism. Or as O might say, universal C. :)

UC will fix everything forever.

Around here there's a beer called Utica Club, or UC for short. As kids, we made up different obscene names for UC. Never as obscene as universal communism tho.

Quote:

There are no more Communists

That's exactly what they want you to think. Sucker.

The communist party is alive and well in China. The party still is in control of the nation’s banks and through them extends loans to China’s important companies. Government bailouts are highly controversial in the US, but in China it is the norm for major businesses to receive interest free loans and in general be propped up by the party.

The Chinese government still heavily censors the amount and type of information available to the Chinese people. Look at the huge Google/Internet controversy that has gone on there. And China’s record on human rights is still dismal. Communist China continues to enforce its one child policy which has resulted in the disproportionate abortion of female children and has lead to a major imbalance in the number of elderly versus the smaller proportion of the young population.

From the Boston Globe:

Quote:

China’s Communist Party has turned the conventional wisdom on its head. Rather than economic growth undermining the regime, the party has used that expansion to strengthen its hold on political power. Instead of the Internet opening up avenues for dissidents and bringing freer flows of information to the People’s Republic, the party has harnessed the Web to reinforce nationalism and bolster its control over the information Chinese have access to. Through its success, the CCP forces Western nations to question whether democracy is truly the inevitable end state of political development - and whether the party’s model could work elsewhere.
By sparking growth, liberalization has made the urban elites, who are critical to any political movement, less interested in pushing for political change that might upset their standard of living. But even as it has opened the economy, the party has maintained enough control of economic levers - banks, key companies - that the urban elites see the party as part of the creation of wealth, rather than an impediment to it.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/id...munism/?page=2

I thought communism and socialism were two different things?

They're Communists because we call them that, not because they adhere to any of Karl Marx's writings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by squirell nutkin (Post 666528)

I thought communism and socialism were two different things?

Nuance is not useful when you need to create angry people. I am not a fan of planned economies, whether the planning comes from the State or state sponsored corporations. There needs to be a middle way that does not feed hateful reactionaries, but I'm not seeing it.

Yeah, I am always skeptical about a country that is so awesome that the government will kill anyone who tries to leave.

Quote:

Originally Posted by squirell nutkin (Post 666597)

Yeah, I am always skeptical about a country that is so awesome that the government will kill anyone who tries to leave.

North Korea?

North Korea, East Germany, Soviet Russia, Canada.

You left out New Jersey.