I Longkumer
Dimapur
Communism makes people believe or rather hypnotizes people into believing that it is possible to have a classless society where everyone is equal. Safe to say, throughout history, many countries and societies around the world have fallen prey to this scam. What many fail to understand is that communism breeds a section of elites who in the guise of ensuring equality among people, amass all power and wealth. They then use their privilege and position to remain in power maintaining a tight grip over the people.
Communism fails to realize that every human being is special and unique. Communism kills creativity and innovation, thereby stunting society’s growth and progress and most importantly, human development. Communism is a tragedy simply because it has only increased inequalities. From Stalin to Mao to Kim-Il-Sung, communism has killed millions of people. The list is endless. No communist country in the world has ever been successful. USSR collapsed because it couldn’t carry its weight trying to outdo and outpace the USA. China is a capitalist country. Communism has long been dead in China: its leaders were wise enough to realize the shortcomings of communism. Hence, they embraced capitalism. China is good at pretending that it is a communist country. North Korea is another communist country where the Kim family has been ruling for decades and where they’re worshipped as demi-gods. There is rampant poverty there, too. Human rights are regularly violated in communist countries. There is no respect for human life.
Communism is like a drug. It gives you all sorts of illusions. Communism preaches equality and yet it does not tolerate freedom of speech, expression and religion. So, another word for communism is simply totalitarianism. Communism seeks to control all aspects of human life which is simply impossible. Communism believes that power comes through the barrel of the gun which is highly irrational for an ideology preaching equality and a classless society. It calls for proletariat revolution but it has never been the saviour of the working class.
Having said all that, there are still many who proclaim to be communists and give calls for revolution from the comfort of their AC chambers, sipping expensive wine and using high end gadgets – all made possible because of the free market economy. What an irony indeed!We must reject such false icons. Communism is a bad shot for any society. It has never succeeded and it never will. Classless and stateless society? Right. The best there is out there is democracy. It is democracy that ensures freedom of life, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of thought and freedom of religion, among many. It is the most effective way of bringing change in society. Liberal democratic countries that have embraced the free market economy are the best out there in terms of human development indicators.
There is so much that can be written against communism but I’d like to conclude with a quote:
“It’s easy being a communist in a free country. Try being free in a communist country.”
