communism - overview & analysis
TRANSCRIPT
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Communism
NJ Debate
November 2008
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Basic Concepts - Communism
Looking at some Key Features:
1 Egalitarianism
- Political doctrine that holds that all people should betreated as equals and have the same political, economic,social, and civil rights.
- It can be applied in many different ways, such aspolitically, legally as well as economically.
- This can be said of the ideologies of anarchism,communism, socialism and human rights.
- They are ideologies, after all. What about the actualapplication of these ideas? This is a region of greatdispute and we will look at them in greater detail later on.
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Basic Concepts - Communism
2 A Classless Society
- No distinctions between µupper classes¶ of society and µlower classes¶.
- People will all know that they will be lookedupon and treated equally as all others in thesociety.
- Hopes to eradicate problems of
discrimination, inter -class hatred andmisunderstanding. Also hopes to stop thenever -ending cycle of poverty.
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3 Common Ownership
- Joint or collective ownership by all
individuals in society. Common ownership of
the means of production is advocated, or
asserted, by socialism and communism.
- ³common ownership of the means of
production´
Basic Concepts - Communism
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Socialism
COMMUNISM
LIBERTARIANISM
MARKET
SOCIALISMSOME TYPES
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Socialism?
Economically, socialism denotes an
economic system of state ownership and /
or worker ownership of the means of
production and distribution.
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List of socialist countries: CURR
EN
T
People's Republic of China (since 1949); Communist Party of China
Republic of Cuba (Cuban Revolution in 1959, socialist state
declared in 1961); Communist Party of Cuba;
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (since 1948); KoreanWorkers' Party officially describes itself as a socialist republicgoverned according to the ideology of Juche, which is derived fromMarxist-Leninist theory.
Lao People's Democratic Republic (since 1975); Lao People'sRevolutionary Party
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (since 1976); Communist Party of Vietnam (ruled the Democratic Republic of Vietnam since 1954)
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Chew on these«
What do you notice about the current spread
of communist states? Continentally is there a
slight trend? Compare it with what we had
when communism began to burgeon initially.
Communism originated from which region?
Whose ideas?
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Communism VS Democr acy
Greatest difference: In terms of economic models
Communist: Community owns the major resources
and means of production To prevent income and livelihood disparities by giving
everyone in the society equal pay and ownership
In a small way, it can be seen as a ³Robin Hood´
action. Problem: Increased lower class WHY???
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Democracy: Free enterprise is encouraged
The system is an advocate of meritocracy
Problem:
Education levels and skills held are of high importance.
People can get a high paying job through education, but
may work just as hard at a lower paying job and receive
less money.
Communism VS Democr acy
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"The inherent vice of capitalism is the
unequal sharing of blessings; the inherentvirtue of socialism is the equal sharing of
miseries."
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The problem with communism«
Where is the incentive for workers to work hard???
You can work 1000 times harder than the guy sitting
next to you, and you will still receive the same pay.People are rational beings; if they know that they won¶t
benefit further from doing something additional,
chances are, they won¶t do it.
Hence you end up with a slothful, underperforming andinefficient workforce.
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A trend to note
Communism is most widely taken up by third-
world (now called developing) countries
striving towards national independence and
sudden social change. This began in the early 1900s, taking cue
from idealists like Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels
Russia, Cuba, North Korea, China
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Fear of Communism (historically)
With the exception of the Soviet Union's, China's and theItalian resistance movement's involvement in World War II, communism was seen as a rival, and a threat towestern democracies and capitalism for most of the
twentieth century. This rivalry peaked during the ColdWar , as the world's two remaining superpowers, theUnited States and the Soviet Union, polarized the worldinto two camps of nations (characterized in the West as"The Free World" vs. "Behind the Iron Curtain");
supported the spread of their economic and politicalsystems (capitalism and democracy vs. communism);strengthened their military power, developed newweapon systems and stockpiled nuclear weapons;competed with each other in space exploration; and even
fought each other through proxy client nations.
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Near the beginning of the Cold War, on February 9,
1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin
accused 205 Americans working in the State
Department of being "card-carrying Communists".
The fear of communism in the U.S. spurred
aggressive investigations and the red-baiting,
blacklisting, jailing and deportation of people
suspected of following Communist or other left-wing
ideology. Many famous actors and writers were puton a "blacklist" from 1950 to 1954, which meant they
would not be hired and would be subject to public
disdain.
Fear of Communism (historically)
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CONTR OL ± Fact or fiction?
In theory, everyone is equal in a communistgovernment, however this is not true in manyaspects. When only one person controls a communistgovernment, it¶s not far off from totalitarianism, as
that one voice is the only one that really matters. In a democracy, however, every citizen is supposed
to have an equal say in government. Suffrage rightsapply to men and women alike, regardless of race,past education, heritage, etc. Even in ancient Greece
and Rome, every citizen could vote individually at anassembly, with a vote from a farmer counting asmuch as a vote from an artist.
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Case Study on Cuba
Brief:
Fidel Castro began his political life with nationalist
critiques of Fulgencio Batista, and of United States
political and corporate influence in Cuba. He gainedan ardent, but limited, following and also drew the
attention of the authorities.[4] He eventually led the
failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, after
which he was captured, tried, incarcerated and later
released. He then traveled to Mexico[5][6] to organizeand train for the invasion of Cuba that took place in
December 1956.
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CUBA
Castro came to power as a result of the Cuban
revolution that overthrew Fulgencio Batista, and
shortly thereafter became Prime Minister of Cuba.[7]
In 1965 he became First Secretary of the Communist
Party of Cuba and led the transformation of Cuba into
a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he became
President of the Council of State as well as of the
Council of Ministers. He also held the supreme
military rank of Comandante en Jefe ("Commander inChief ") of the Cuban armed forces.
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CUBA
Human rights record Castro's human rights record remains controversial. It is
alleged that some political opponents to his regime werekilled, primarily during the first decade of his leadership.Persons found to be "counterrevolutionaries", "fascists", or "CI A operatives" were said to be imprisoned in poor
conditions without trial. Military Units to Aid Production, or UMAPs, were labor camps established in 1965 to confine"social deviants" (including homosexuals and Jehovah'sWitnesses), with the goal of working "counter -revolutionary" influences out of certain segments of thepopulation. The camps were closed in 1967.
Castro acknowledged that Cuba holds political prisoners,but argued that Cuba is justified because these prisonersare not jailed for their political beliefs, but have beenconvicted of "counter -revolutionary" crimes, includingbombings. Castro has often portrayed opposition to theCuban government as illegitimate, and has alleged thatmost such opposition is the result of an ongoingcooperation between Cuban exiles and the CI A.
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Case Study: Cuba
Developments in 2008:
Handover of power Fidel Castro Raul Castro (his brother)
Raul promised reforms but no significant
changes have been observed yet.
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Case Study on Vietnam
Communist Party of Vietnam (SInce 1976)
Vietnam War
Democratic nationwide elections mandated by the
Geneva Conference of 1954 having been thwarted byNgo Dinh Diem, the communist nationalist National
Liberation Front began a guerrilla campaign in the
late 1950s, assisted by the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam, to overthrow Diem's government, which the
NLF's official statement described as a "disguisedcolonial regime³
-Vietnamese Demilitarised Zone @ the 17th Parallel
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VIET NAM
Diem was followed by a series of military
regimes that often lasted only months before
being toppled by another. With this instability,
the communists began to gain ground. To support South Vietnam's struggle against
the communist insurgency, the US began
increasing its contribution of military advisers.
US forces became embroiled in combatoperations in 1965 and at their peak they
numbered more than 500,000
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Case Study on China
A Brief History of Communism in China
- Qing Dynasty (till 1912) Old-fashioned,
weak and unpopular
- Interim rule by capitalist party
Guomingdang(GMD)
- Infighting
- Chinese Communist Party takes theleadership. (1949-Incumbent)
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Case Study: China
Overview of Human rights problem:
Chinese authorities showed no signs of
easing stringent curbs on basic freedoms.
Their preoccupation with social stability,fueled by a rise in worker and farmer
protests, severe urban unemployment, and
separatist movements in Tibet and Xinjiang,
led to tight political control. The leadershipcontinued to see unauthorized religious
practices as potentially subversive.
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Humans R ights Issue #1: China
Beijing Olympics 2008 ±Free expression
At least 22 f oreign journalists were attacked or arrested or otherwise obstructed during the games. Two US video-bloggers, Brian Conley and Jeffrey Rae, are currently
detained in Beijing f or covering the activities of pr o-Tibetanactivists. They have been sentenced to 10 days in prison f or "disrupting public order." Reporters Without Borders calls f or their immediate release.
At least 50 Beijing-based human rights activists were placedunder house arrest, harassed or f or ced to leave the capitalduring the games.
At least 15 Chinese citizens were arrested f or requestingpermission to demonstrate. Dozens of others, including theblogger Zhou "Zola" Shuguang and the handicappedpetitioner Chen Xiujuan, were physically prevented by police
fr om travelling to the capital.
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Right to demonstrate
Designated places in Beijing for demonstrators butpermission was not given for any demonstration,although 77 applications were filed with Beijing. The
Chinese authorities accused the would-bedemonstrators of intending to commit an offence, and
punished them for this. The IOC has accused theChinese government of breaking its promises in thisrespect.
In view of the impossibility of demonstrating freely in
Beijing, several international organisations stagedunauthorised street protests or gave newsconferences in hotel rooms.
RWB clandestinely broadcast FM radio programmesin Chinese and English on 8 August in Beijing, above
all as a protest against the state¶s monopoly of broadcast news and information.
Humans R ights Issue #1: China
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Human rights issue #2: Tibet
Chinese authorities continued to suppresssuspected "splittist" activities in Tibet andexert control over religious institutions.O
fficials embarked simultaneously oncampaigns to vilify the Dalai Lama and toconvince the international community thatChinese policies in Tibet had ensuredeconomic well-being and respect for human
rights. Starting in January, authorities again blocked
broadcasts by the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet.