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How capitalism works (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

The graph highlights that during Soviet times at least 20% of wealth is in top10% hands, the party leaders and their cronies. If it was truly communism then the top10% would own 10% of the wealth. The party leaders and their cronies owned a disproportionate amount of wealth. Everyone was equal, but some were more equal among others.

It also highlights how the erosion of social services and a lack of a federal government opposing corporate interests is to the detriment of its people.

Authoritarianism is not the way, and neither is crony capitalism in a farcical democracy.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The graph highlights that during Soviet times at least 20% of wealth is in top10% hands, the party leaders and their cronies. If it was truly communism then the top10% would own 10% of the wealth. The party leaders and their cronies owned a disproportionate amount of wealth. Everyone was equal, but some were more equal among others.

"True Communism" isn't a thing. You don't measure metrics by how purely they adhere to ideology, but by measurable improvements for the Working Class. There is Capitalism, Socialism (where the USSR stood), Lower-Stage Communism, and Upper-Stage Communism. Each of these phases takes time and looks different. Marxism has never been about equal pay, but the Proletariat taking control and working towards Communism. Communism cannot be instantly lept to, and even if it could, it has never been about equal pay.

Additionally, pay was higher for doctors, engineers, professors, and other skilled workers, as is in line with Marxism. It wasn't just Party Members.

It also highlights how the erosion of social services and a lack of a federal government opposing corporate interests is to the detriment of its people.

In what way? In the USSR, Healthcare and Education were free, housing was cheap, public transit was highly developed, and workers had more vacation days and earlier retirement than US workers.

Authoritarianism is not the way, and neither is crony capitalism in a farcical democracy.

Explain what you mean by any of that gibberish.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Top 10% owning 10% of wealth makes no sense as it means perfectly equal wealth redistribution. It is an ultimate goal, but it is not practically achievable. 20% is close enough.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It is an ultimate goal

it isn't though. Wealth distribution isn't the aim of communism, just inevitable effect of it. And as such it don't have to be exactly equal. Quoting Lenin:

The abolition of classes means placing all citizens on an equal footing with regard to the means of production belonging to society as a whole. It means giving all citizens equal opportunities of working on the publicly-owned means of production, on the publicly-owned land, at the publicly-owned factories, and so forth.

Also Marx:

In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly – only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!

As you can see total equality is neither achievable nor desirable under socialism and meaningless under communism.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

For all the communism understanders reading this thread: communists still want unequal pay for unequal jobs. The experts and hardest workers collectively owning twice as much as the average workers is acceptable to all of us and desired by some of us.

Our only demand is that you earn the money you generate, everyone earning the same is completely orthogonal and something anti-communists use to steer the conversation and misinform. It would be nice if we were more equal, but it's not what we plan to further with our economic policy. We want everyone to own the means of production, and then you actually gotta do the production to turn that into money.