Selective Definitions 101:
Ah, words. Funny how we use them, abuse them, ignore or invent more convenient connotations -- even re-invent or reinforce the negative perjoratory to support an ideal, argument -- point of view. Especially in an election year where every man is a pundit, editorialist and wanna-be political scientist. Perhaps if we demanded a literacy test for every voter in this palace of democratic righteousness, we might avoid more than a few misunderstandings. Well, maybe not. We seem more interested in coveting the gun than celebrating intellect, and our actions in the world would seem to reinforce the notion that as a nation, we become bored with the finer points of conversation pretty quickly. See, the Right to Bear Arms is the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. Free Speech the 1st. Kind of says a lot right there.
Take the word: prejudice. For decades, it has been the rallying cry of the Civil Rights Movement. And in other contexts, the rights of women, the contentious arguments on immigration, education, health care, worker's rights....ad naseum. Even religious affiliation, an arena based on perhaps the most egalitarian principle on Earth: freedom of faith. All assuming a negative bias against some group, opinion, belief...even brocolli-haters and meat eaters square-off in their noisy camps of sacred intolerance. And yes, I too am guilty as charged...
I am very prejudiced against murderers, pedophiles, wife (or other), beaters, cheats, thieves, haters, and all those who believe that accountability is the other person's responsibility. In fact, I seem to have a whole collection of prejudices. And further, I am apparently proud of them. Maybe I need some serious psychiatric help...learn how to just look the other way, maybe join the angry mob...or just call it something else. Instead of being prejudice, I'll just say, "I enjoy donuts." Nobody is paying attention anyway.
This year's key word is: Socialism. (And its big brother, communism.) The pun was intentional. Comes from the root word, social. Not a bad kind of word, unless you change the last vowel to an 'o' and add some kind of pathos. Except that sociolism doesn't really work here. Kind of makes the whole statement a bit oxy-moronic. However, social does speak to a sense of community...whoops. Root word of community is 'commune.' Whoops! Commune is also the root word in communism.
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| [image: ajuell/horsetrioncs.com] |
Communists do, of course, believe in totaltarianism. So do fascists. Totaltarianism means: 'all-inclusive.' Trust me on this, the communists and the fascists invented the terminology, not me. They just didn't bother to explain that the boomerang would find its way home either around your head or right through the middle of it. But let's stick with socialism for a minute. It's probably safer.
Virtually every nation, particularly those that practice some kind of democracy, inherently give the nod to socialist programs. It is the responsibility of the state to see to the needs of its citizenry, particularly those marginalized by events not necessarily of their choosing. It is really just a wider extension of the 'family system,' and one of the tenents of a civilized society. By the same token, a citizen may also be called upon to defend the state and what the state respresents to those who comprise the whole of a nation. It is sort of fair in a roundabout way, for if a nation fails to take care of its weakest elements, the stronger ones will not defend the state, and in fact, may depose it. "Don't ask me to take up the gun when you threw my Momma into the street!" See, pretty simple overall.
Now, social progams can run amuck. So can political agendas and military adventurism. Even dogs and cats. A no-kill shelter is a combination of both. Enforcement wrapped up in socialism for animals. Yeah, it gets complicated. But social programs cast a wide loop and one that extends far beyond the grittier side of food stamps and welfare. They encompass health care, education, elementary access for the disabled, sustenance, training...the list is endless. Socialism also sees to the needs of those very warriors who stood up to defend the state -- right or wrong. And we only notice the cost -- re-evaluate our priorities -- when resources get tight. And why are they tight? Ah, the bond peddlers, derivative salesmen, the corporate wonks? They sold our social conscience on Wall Street and now we've become a little tight-assed with what money we have left. Ah, I see.
Well, we could abolish our social conscience and get in line behind Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan...join the league of the State Department's growing list of 'failed states.' For one of the chief criteriuum for joining that exclusive club is "a failure to see to the needs of a society's weakest members." And yet, for many Americans, socialism remains a dirty word. I'll tell you what. Just fall part way down the rabbit-hole and find out the many ugly truths and stark realities for yourself. We need responsible individuals to maintain a responsible society. And all sides must create the needed balance. And next time you call call someone "a damn socialist," smile and wink. People will know you invested in a dictionary -- before you formed that opinion.
Communism. Ooh. Almost Painful to the Ears!
So, how about the official definition. Root word: common. (Latin: communis): "A revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless, and stateless social order structured upon common ownership of the means of production, as well as a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order. This movement, in its Marxist-Leninist interpretations, significantly influenced the history of the 20th century, which saw intense rivalry between the "socialist world (socialist states ruled by communist parties), and the "western world" (countries with market economies), culminating in the Cold War between the Eastern Bloc and the 'Free World.'" Whew! That was a mouthful. Basically, it was a reaction to "development of the productive forces that lead[s] to a 'superabundance of material wealth' -- distribution of said wealth, the sticky-widget in class warfare. Now to be clear, socialism and communism are NOT the same animal. Socialism is merely a transitional phase, at least according to Marxist theorists, who contend that this phase is necessary in that transition from capitalism to socialism. But then, much like the American Two-Dictator Choices System, communist theory tumbles into ideological camps that fail to agree on much more than most active democracies. You have: non-Marxist libertarian communists, anarcho-communists, Maoists. Trotkyites, Hoxhaism, Titism, situationists, autonomists, even Christian communists...need I go on? The point is that no clear doctrine exists as the end product of a system meant to evolve from a sort of egalitarian socialist state to a pure communist one as, like democracy, the various factions couldn't decide what they wanted to be when they grew up. And, most importantly, the geo-political considerations of each country took precedence over a broader-based ideology. Which meant that there were some things in the doctrine that you WERE NOT going to sell to the home crowd.
Mao, Pol Pot and Stalin. Three of our Favorite Dislikes.
So, the question that should be asked by every American is: "Where did communism come from?" The idea of socialism and communism is fairly basic. It is simply a more sophisticated version of most tribal systems. It contains a commonality of purpose for the preservation of the community as a whole. In the modern age (meaning: the Industrial Revolution forward), it was designed to break the centuries-old adage that: "The rich get richer and the poor more numerous." Ah gee whiz, has a familiar ring to it lately, don't you think? Yes, it was meant to break the old fuedal and class systems that froze the average ambitions of people in a locked freezer. Or as Karl Marx, no stranger to the value found in political jibberish noted:
"Communism differs from all previous movements in that it overturns the basis of all earlier relations of production and intercourse, and for the first time conciously treats all natural premises as the creatures of hitherto existing men, strips them of their natural character and subjugates them to the power of the united individuals."
Only problem was that Marx forgot that humans are basically selfish, self-centered shits.
Russia & China:
Russia's transition to socialism was clearly founded in the wants and desires of those trapped in the system of serfdom, one that excluded them from among other things, the ownership of land. The country was primarily agrarian and very late coming to the Industrial Revolution. That lesson culminated in Russia's withdrawal from WW I, which not only pointed out the necessity of modernization as a benchmark of external security, but also the dangers inherent in an 'incomplete revolution.' The nationalists (Whites), were not by any means, defeated or subjugated and Russian political ideology was hampered by sometimes violent, factional interests. It was also a period of incredible 'internal migration,' as a new proletariat or working class was converging on the major cities as part of the new industrial Russia, or as it was now being called, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. But of course, industry was a different kind of personal investment for the individual, in that the labor of his hands no longer directly fed the mouths of his children -- not, in the manner of working the land. And no individual could be forced to love the inanimate face of the state. Oddly, it may have been the unrest in western Europe, the rise of nationalism under Hitler, the very failings of capitalism (the Depression), in the west that helped to cement Stalin's powers in the USSR. And of course, the re-definition of totaltarianism from 'all-inclusive' to 'all-inclusive or else.' The new communism's first lessons were well underway. Perhaps if Stalin had read Plato's "The Republic," he might have discovered that the adaptation of a communistic society was both costly in human life as well as emotional spirit, with the doctrine's ultimate failure, virtually pre-ordained --for it denied humanity as an element in all political systems, good, bad or indifferent. But, the manifesto never went full circle to achieve (or even attempt), the notion of "a free society with no division or alienation, where mankind [is] free from oppression and scarcity." Wonderful idea really, except that humans aren't wired that way. Yeah, we run in herds, but rarely in the same dirtection.
China was a somewhat different story, varied only by the difficulties of a social burden of seemingly monstrous proportions. And concurrently, outside interference by colonial and imperialistic powers, that if left unchecked, would have dismemebered mainland China for their own, rather self-serving needs. And China too, was a tribal state, with a long history of competing Warlords, provincial gangsters really, opposing all internal efforts at unification. And, at its most formative period of the modern age, the country was forcefully occupied by Imperial Japan. Internal revolution, external war. Yet, by some accounts, the Japanese invasion worked in the revolution's interests, for it did mange to rid the country of colonial influence in the short term. But the price paid by the Chinese people was horrendous.
The fellow on the right (Chiang kai-Sheck), was the heir-apparent to the helm of what the west preferred to think of as, "the new China." He headed the Nationalist's Army, which like Mao's forces, was divided between fighting the Japapnese and each other. Chiang was really just an over-dressed version of the Warlord model who sadly learned most of his bad habits from us -- for we (in the west), feared communism far more than corruption, assuming quite illogically that the Chinese people were too backward to appreciate the difference. Chiang was a bastard alright, but in the vernacular of the times, "He was OUR bastard."
Mao, on the other hand, had little or no economic or military help. The USSR was broke, heavily damaged from the war with Germany and owed the west more than what you'd call minor 'chump change.' And a degree of ideology seperated the two communist parties, though the Soviet leadership was deeply invested emotionally in the revolution's outcome. However, Mao spoke the language of the countryside, appreciated the needs of the people and ran a disciplined army. Chiang outgunned him pretty regularly (having access to US surplus military hardware -- tons of it.), but failed to control his troops, who often marauded the countryside, more as bandits, than soldiers. It was enough to shift the populace in Mao's favor and the rest, whether you agree with it or not, is history.
The Gang of Three:
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| Deng Xiaoping "The Adminsitrator" |
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| Zhao Enlai "The Military Strategist" |
And so the leadership of the brand new People's Republic of China was established in 1949. [or 1953, according to some.]
And virtually unrecognized by the West until Richard M. Nixon offered his outstretched hand to the world's most populous nation. Sure, you might have disliked Nixon, but he was no dummy in recognizing where China was headed and its growing influence in the international community. Fast-forward to 2012 and most of the speculation has vanished.
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| Mao Zedong "The Ideologue" |
Of course, scholarly opinion varies on China's fortunes if Chiang kai-Sheck had prevailed in what was, in effect, a civil war. My assumption has always been that millions would have died -- of starvation, disease -- infighting. In many ways, socialism was China's salvation through the many years of ostracization and isolation by the western powers. The country could not compete in world markets for resources: food, fuel, technology. A socialist agenda was the only option on the table to care for the Chinese people. And while Mao is often condemned for the many policies he instigated over the decades, the nation did survive into the 21st century.
I often wonder if he was proud of his accomplishments, or perhaps, like our own backward glance at history, a little sad and uncertain about the means to an end. Like I've said, "There's always a price for admission. You own conscience determines it."
Oh...for the record. According to any broad-based interpretation of the Communist Manifesto, China never was, and certainly is not today...communist. And no, I'm not sure what it is.
Joe McCarthy. A testimony to the adage: "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."
Before you cast the first stone, try to understand the target...please.
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