- #1
fourier jr
- 764
- 13
"As a theoretical social and economic system, communism would be a type of egalitarian society with no state, no privately owned means of production and no social classes. In communism, all property is owned by the community as a whole, and all people have equal social and economic status. Theoretically, human need or advancement is not left unsatisfied because of poverty, and is rather solved through distribution of property as needed. This is thus often the system proposed to solve the growing problem of the poverty cycle.
Perhaps the best known maxim of a communist society is "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.""
...
& re: "human nature"
"Objectivists, who see self-interested behavior as itself a moral ideal and identical to rationality, claim that communism removes incentives necessary for human productivity. They argue that communism ignores (or is wrong about) "human nature." Communists, however, take the view that self-interest is a function of the material conditions of society and if the material conditions change so that competition and greed is no longer necessary to survive, mass behavior will change accordingly.
Communists have a disdain for the concept of 'human nature' or an invariable 'human condition' which exists throughout all human beings. Communists usually take the view that it is the material conditions which surround a person, such as their environment, which shapes a persons character and the 'nature' of human beings is not determined by an underlying, constant condition which is present in all humans, but instead by the social and economic factors which surround them. And so consequently, this idea that 'human nature' is not invariable, or even that it does not exist, opens up the door to the argument that once capitalism has been destroyed, and socialism has been established, all selfish desires and greed will cease to exist. Once the economic and social conditions which make humans selfish have disappeared to be replaced by an atmosphere of mutual assistance and co-operation, then people can work not for their personal gain, or to accumulate commodities, but for the good of the collective and the community, thus making a better society for all."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
here's a real-life example of such a "commune":
"A kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ; plural: kibbutzim) is an Israeli collective community. Although other countries have had communal enterprises, in no other country have voluntary collective communities played as important a role as kibbutzim have played in Israel.
Kibbutzim have given Israel a wildly disproportionate share of its military leaders, intellectuals, and politicians. The kibbutz movement, though it never accounted for more than 7 percent of the Israeli population, did more to shape the image Israelis have of their country, and the image of foreigners have of Israel than any other Israeli institution.
Combining Socialism and Zionism, kibbutzim are a unique Israeli experiment, and part of the largest secular communal movement in history."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz
Perhaps the best known maxim of a communist society is "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.""
...
& re: "human nature"
"Objectivists, who see self-interested behavior as itself a moral ideal and identical to rationality, claim that communism removes incentives necessary for human productivity. They argue that communism ignores (or is wrong about) "human nature." Communists, however, take the view that self-interest is a function of the material conditions of society and if the material conditions change so that competition and greed is no longer necessary to survive, mass behavior will change accordingly.
Communists have a disdain for the concept of 'human nature' or an invariable 'human condition' which exists throughout all human beings. Communists usually take the view that it is the material conditions which surround a person, such as their environment, which shapes a persons character and the 'nature' of human beings is not determined by an underlying, constant condition which is present in all humans, but instead by the social and economic factors which surround them. And so consequently, this idea that 'human nature' is not invariable, or even that it does not exist, opens up the door to the argument that once capitalism has been destroyed, and socialism has been established, all selfish desires and greed will cease to exist. Once the economic and social conditions which make humans selfish have disappeared to be replaced by an atmosphere of mutual assistance and co-operation, then people can work not for their personal gain, or to accumulate commodities, but for the good of the collective and the community, thus making a better society for all."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
here's a real-life example of such a "commune":
"A kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ; plural: kibbutzim) is an Israeli collective community. Although other countries have had communal enterprises, in no other country have voluntary collective communities played as important a role as kibbutzim have played in Israel.
Kibbutzim have given Israel a wildly disproportionate share of its military leaders, intellectuals, and politicians. The kibbutz movement, though it never accounted for more than 7 percent of the Israeli population, did more to shape the image Israelis have of their country, and the image of foreigners have of Israel than any other Israeli institution.
Combining Socialism and Zionism, kibbutzim are a unique Israeli experiment, and part of the largest secular communal movement in history."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz
