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Interesting, I never read Marx, I was just born in Eastern Europe and I used to hear that phrase a lot as a child. The way I understood it is that proletariat m

Interesting, I never read Marx, I was just born in Eastern Europe and I used to hear that phrase a lot as a child. The way I understood it is that proletariat must control all other classes for communism to exist. (I am not sure if I agree with "State is dictatorial" because a state is not a "person", but I certainly agree that democracy is a dictatorship of the majority.)

cisanti 9y ago
I'm was born during the soviet union in Eastern Europe and I always understood the phrase the same. I wasn't too keen on the forced Marxist studies, though.. :)
lucideer 9y ago
The view that Communism === Authoritarianism is understandably common in Eastern Europe (my s/o is also and we have had a few fun debates about this). It's a difficult one to falsify because they have historically usually coincided. One could even reasonably propose that Communism may necessarily lead to Authoritarianism in all cases but they are at least theoretically distinct. Anarcho-Communists in particular would take issue with this. > I certainly agree that democracy is a dictatorship of the majority Yes!
open_bear 9y ago
Capitalism is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie (people, who control the wealth and means of production - factories, companies, banks). They dictate their will to the proletariat (people working for wage who have no control over how business is run and how profits of their labor are sold), via press/TV/government/police-military actions/lobbying/family ties; many are directly working for the government. Socialism happens when proletariat becomes the ruling class and distributes the wealth upon all the citizens of the country, providing healthcare, education, housing, enough wage to feed everyone. As proletariat are the majority, socialism becomes a proper democracy, where people can control their own livelihood, not some fat senator who received a 100k 'lobbying gift'. Communism happens when all the signs of the capitalism vanish (no exploitation of people by other people, no money - goods are produced based on needs and distributed to everyone). It happens when people get rid of bourgeoisie thinking via education and personal experience of having society without hungry, homeless, uneducated people. This happened before (we see slave-owning societies of the past with disgust and feudal states with horror), it just took over several hundred years each time.

cisanti 9y ago

I'm was born during the soviet union in Eastern Europe and I always understood the phrase the same. I wasn't too keen on the forced Marxist studies, though.. :)

lucideer 9y ago

The view that Communism === Authoritarianism is understandably common in Eastern Europe (my s/o is also and we have had a few fun debates about this). It's a difficult one to falsify because they have historically usually coincided. One could even reasonably propose that Communism may necessarily lead to Authoritarianism in all cases but they are at least theoretically distinct. Anarcho-Communists in particular would take issue with this. > I certainly agree that democracy is a dictatorship of the majority Yes!

open_bear 9y ago

Capitalism is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie (people, who control the wealth and means of production - factories, companies, banks). They dictate their will to the proletariat (people working for wage who have no control over how business is run and how profits of their labor are sold), via press/TV/government/police-military actions/lobbying/family ties; many are directly working for the government. Socialism happens when proletariat becomes the ruling class and distributes the wealth upon all the citizens of the country, providing healthcare, education, housing, enough wage to feed everyone. As proletariat are the majority, socialism becomes a proper democracy, where people can control their own livelihood, not some fat senator who received a 100k 'lobbying gift'. Communism happens when all the signs of the capitalism vanish (no exploitation of people by other people, no money - goods are produced based on needs and distributed to everyone). It happens when people get rid of bourgeoisie thinking via education and personal experience of having society without hungry, homeless, uneducated people. This happened before (we see slave-owning societies of the past with disgust and feudal states with horror), it just took over several hundred years each time.