1474 The Communist Cycle

Communism is the political implementation of Marxism, which is an ideology based on altruism: from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. To implement this concept, Marxism proposes that government controls economic factors and ownership of property; that way everyone would be fulfilled, and their would be no wealth inequality. Not considering whether this Utopian ideal is right for everybody, due to basic human nature, it simply can’t work. People act on avarice and greed, rather we like it or not, and ambition requires incentives. Communists are tyrannical about suppressing these negative human attributes with coercion and punishment but it hasn’t worked in past Communist incarnations. As unrealistic as Marx’s ideals might be, he was right in that he believed capitalism would eventually be replaced by socialism. He thought that prosperity would allow people to become less driven by base motives and become more altruistic. However, the actual reason socialism is attractive to a majority of people who live in an advanced capitalist society is due to one of the basest of base motives: perversity. Aspiring socialists would rather those better off than themselves be brought down, even if the process had a negative affect overall. Then after the adoption of Marxism, eventually, as has already occurred in former Communist countries like the Soviet Union, China & SE Asia, Communism fails and the society reverts back to something closer to capitalism. Then after capitalism returns, so does the resentment and Communist revolution. It’s a vicious cycle of prosperity to perversity and back.