Why did communism Fail?

Question

Why did communism Fail?

Answer 1

Communism in its pure form has NEVER been a political process in any country on the face of the earth.  It is only a propaganda word that political candidates and parties have used to scare the living daylights out of American voters to try to steal their votes.

Socialism has been practiced successfully in many countries and is what you are really asking about.  It is not a failure if used properly and not for the benefit of one particular person or group.

And don't confuse the word "democracy" with anti-socialism.  Most socialist nations have a very democratic system of choosing elected officials.

Answer 2

The Austro-German Socialist theoretician Karl Kautsky (1854-1938) wrote in 1919 after he had got the first news of how the Bolsheviks ruled in Russia: "Dictatorship of the proletariat can only be dictatorship of a PARTY of the proletariat.This can only be dictatorship of the LEADERSHIP of the party - which finally leads to the dictatorship of THE LEADER of that party,of one man." History has proven this in all countries which called themselves "communist": There was no country in which the freedom of the individual was guaranteed, on the contrary: it was abolished.

HySt2812

Answer 3

Comes from the word"commune" They never work.

Answer 4

Well, because it really isn't socialism first of all.

It's just another authoritarian system and we all know that government just can't handle being in absolute power without caving in.

Just look at China... whenever the people realize how bad their government is s******g them, I think they might realize that it really isn't "The People's Republic" and just another bunch of a******s with a different label, telling them what to do and how to think.

Answer 5

In theory, communism sounds like a good ideal.  "Communism is the idea of a free society with no division or alienation, where humanity is free from oppression and scarcity."  However, in practice, it never works.

I grabbed the following from another sight and included some other links which I read and found great:

"First of all, let me tell you that this is a great question. I think the answer to this question is a matter of personal perspective, but much more, it is a matter of facts, historical facts.

The USSR (and the Warsaw Pact) was the leading socialistic body in the eastern block for about 69 years, being an “efficient” rival to the United States and NATO. Much of the Soviet people were proud communists who had full belief in the system (some of the Russian citizens still are). If so, why did the communistic system failed in the Soviet Union?

Some of the reasons for the downfall of the USSR (and the Warsaw Pact) were mentioned here by earlier repliers, but there were reasons which were not mentioned. I believe these were the main reasons for the downfall of the Soviet Union:

1. During the years 1964-1982, Leonid Brezhnev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. During his time as a ruler, he became responsible for the economic troubles of the USSR, basically because he (and his “government”) ignored many economic fundamental problems. After his death, the leaders who came to power had to struggle with the so called “economic legacy of Brezhnev”.

2. In 1985, a completely new type of leader came to power: Mikhail Gorbachev. During his years as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and later as the President of the Soviet Union, he did his best to pull the USSR out of the “communistic middle ages state” into a state a super power should look like at the end of the 20th century. He tried to perform reforms (such as the well known “Glasnost” and “Perestroika” reforms) which were suppose to make the Soviet economy grow again (after the economic crisis of Brezhnev) and the political system to be more democratic. Gorbachev did not agree with the soviet one-party system, and in 1990 he was elected by the newly elected Congress of People's Deputies as the first (and only) President of the Soviet Union. It is important to know this, in order to understand the power of a change in a system, that had been burned in the minds of the soviet people by Lenin and Stalin, long before Gorbachev was even born.

3. After such enormous changes in a country who knew only totalitarian regimes, much unexpected has occurred. People of the socialistic states within the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union itself, saw it as a weakness in the system and began rioting against the USSR. The rulers before Gorbachev had a way of dealing with such “internal affairs” - sending in the tanks. But Gorbachev did no such thing, at least not until it was far to late. The people of the different states of the Warsaw Pact and the USSR knew only too well the sting of the iron fist of the so called “old type communists”, and they were afraid Gorbachev will soon fall from power and be replaced by some Stalin-like figure (as was attempted by some Red-Army communistic militants). They knew they had to act quickly in order to avoid some very unwanted consequences including Red-Army tanks and numerous deaths; And so the riots went on. After the coup attempt of 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed completely. The states that formed the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR) were suddenly free from the direct rule of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev, as the president of the Soviet Union was no longer relevant, as he no longer had a country to run.

I think it is very important to see the things through the eyes of history in order to understand why and how things happened. The communistic system in the Soviet Union was build upon the dead bodies of the nations people. Gorbachev once said, “I thought I could improve the system, but I came to realize that systems such as this, which was built by the force of Lenin and Stalin, a system that survived only thanks to the strength of the Red-Army and the fear from it, will not be able to survive as a democracy - because of that same fear” (it is not an exact quote!).

The people of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact knew only pain and fear of what was suppose to bring them the exact opposite. They did not debate over the economic systems, over the affects of communism against the capitalism and the free market. They wanted out of a terror regime, and “communism” was just a name for it. The communism failed before and continues to fail today, because no one (accept maybe for Gorbachev) ever tried to make it a system FOR THE PEOPLE, as it is suppose to be."

Answer 6

Communism assumes people are good, hard working, and giving.

Capitalism assumes people are lazy, selfish, and greedy.

History has proven the latter to be true.

Answer 7

While communism can be considered a good idea in theory, the people who are put into power either become or simply are already corrupted. They end up with all the power and money while they s***w everyone else over.

Answer 8

Because it crushes the human spirit and desire to achieve to be more than you are. Life is all about risk and reward. Without that there is nothing but stagnation. Who wants to live like that? I am truly dismayed that there are so many people making excuses for the failure of communism! Is it because they don't believe the 'right' people tried it, or just an out right denial of the facts?

Answer 9

People are too morally corrupt to make it work.

Answer 10

the ruling elite enriched themselves, starved the others and spent far too much on the "defense" industry. sound familiar?

they did the same thing that the roman empire did and the british empire, later. gee, does that sound familiar. they mucking ran out of money and the house of cards collapsed. you can label the ruling elite with any name but "a rose by any other name is still a rose."

please note: stalin was no idealist, he was a communist in name only. fidel castro is, at least, idealistic and somewhat of a modern day don quixote.

Answer 11

Because of a lack of altruism, of which few men are capable.  Self-serving leaders abusing their power.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Answer 12

Where? Different regimes had different downfalls. Be more specific.

Answer 13

There is no way to stimulate excess economy besides the absolute needs.  Besides, too little freedom of speech.  Ever watched Dr. Zhivago?

Answer 14

It only failed in Russia. It's still around in places like China, Vietnam, and N Korea.

Answer 15

Communism works on the philosophy of society giving people in proportion to what they need and taking from them in accordance to what they can give.  This typically leads to people not wanting to be productive because society will take what they produce and give to those who dont.  When everyone works this way, society as a whole is very non productive and that's what finished it off in the Soviet Union and East European countries because the people found their living standards much worse than in the West where people were rewarded according to their accomplishments.

Many socialist governments in Europe - France, Germany are examples also lost to parties wanting a more capitalistic system because they recognized the same problem with socialism - high unemployment because people live off the generous welfare rathern than work.

Unfortunately the people in the US dont seem to be recognizing this for the forthcoming election and think dumping capitalism will solve all their problems.

Answer 16

What called itself "communism" and "socialism" in Eastern Europe of the 20.th century was nothing of the kind. It was a state capitalism based on a system of plans which did not work because they were inflexible and did not allow for a free market. Due to the economic failure the workers had to be kept in their place by a refined system of suppression and spying on one another, just as Hitler had done in Germany.

Communism has not been tried since the first commune in Paris in 1848.

Look at China today -  they still call themselves "communist"!