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I don’t want to give a false impression. I don’t advocate this mindset. But from a historical perspective it isn’t that hard to understand. The history of ma

I don’t want to give a false impression. I don’t advocate this mindset. But from a historical perspective it isn’t that hard to understand. The history of mankind has always been a process of vacillating between societies motivated by self-profit and societies that attempt to live communally. Right now the world has shifted more towards self-profit because we’re still living in the shadow of the Soviet Union’s collapse (the largest communal society ever attempted). But that doesn’t mean the idea of communal living has gone away completely. What the USSR proved more than anything is a society needs self-profit motivation in order to get people to put in the effort to excel. There were no startups in the USSR because no one was willing to put a large amount of effort into something that would eventually be owned by the government. But in that context artistic expression takes on a different bent because it is something most artists feel compelled to put effort into even without a profit motivation. So the question becomes “if something costs almost nothing to produce and the creator is compelled to create it without a profit motivation should it then be communal?”

NSMeta 15y ago
| There were no startups in the USSR because no one was willing to put a large amount of effort into something that would eventually be owned by the government. While this is correct, people were prohibited to start their own enterprises in the first place. Hence it's not the lack of profits that stopped the people - it's the fear of getting punished by the government. In my humble opinion, Soviet Union did not prove that society needs self-profit motivation, not in terms of accumulating wealth. What it did prove is that the State will sooner or later collapse(because of the class war) when it threatens, oppresses and all the power is situated in the hands of a few people at the top.
wazoox 15y ago
I've read an interesting paper on the pioneers of Soviet Computing. These guys were as passionate and hard at work as anyone in the Silicon Valley, and even did skunkworks on stuff they weren't allowed to work on... I'd say self-profit isn't the main motivation for creators, most of the time. Here's the book BTW: http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2011/05/08/pioneers-of-soviet-computing/ http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2011/05/08/pioneers-of-soviet-c...
lutorm 15y ago
The Soviet Union was not a communal society. It was a dictatorship paying lip service to being a communal society. I'd venture to say that those running the USSR were quite motivated by self-profit.
- TheAmazingIdiot 15y ago
  I would agree with that statement. The goal of communism, as Marx states, is a society in which everyone is equal. It would also infer pure democracy, as people would have the right to modify the commune. There would also be no leaders, as nobody is above another. Where I find general distaste is how Marx decides how to craft a country under that system. His commentary generally include removal of children from families for education, elimination of religion and faith, and massive intermediary civil war to a socialist dictatorship that will _eventually_ lead to a utopian commune. Most get stuck on the socialist dictatorship and like the power and resources taken for their benefit.

NSMeta 15y ago

| There were no startups in the USSR because no one was willing to put a large amount of effort into something that would eventually be owned by the government. While this is correct, people were prohibited to start their own enterprises in the first place. Hence it's not the lack of profits that stopped the people - it's the fear of getting punished by the government. In my humble opinion, Soviet Union did not prove that society needs self-profit motivation, not in terms of accumulating wealth. What it did prove is that the State will sooner or later collapse(because of the class war) when it threatens, oppresses and all the power is situated in the hands of a few people at the top.

wazoox 15y ago

I've read an interesting paper on the pioneers of Soviet Computing. These guys were as passionate and hard at work as anyone in the Silicon Valley, and even did skunkworks on stuff they weren't allowed to work on... I'd say self-profit isn't the main motivation for creators, most of the time. Here's the book BTW: http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2011/05/08/pioneers-of-soviet-computing/ http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2011/05/08/pioneers-of-soviet-c...

lutorm 15y ago

The Soviet Union was not a communal society. It was a dictatorship paying lip service to being a communal society. I'd venture to say that those running the USSR were quite motivated by self-profit.

TheAmazingIdiot 15y ago
I would agree with that statement. The goal of communism, as Marx states, is a society in which everyone is equal. It would also infer pure democracy, as people would have the right to modify the commune. There would also be no leaders, as nobody is above another. Where I find general distaste is how Marx decides how to craft a country under that system. His commentary generally include removal of children from families for education, elimination of religion and faith, and massive intermediary civil war to a socialist dictatorship that will _eventually_ lead to a utopian commune. Most get stuck on the socialist dictatorship and like the power and resources taken for their benefit.