Does anyone on this site know of any countries that have/had a democratic style of communism??? Russia and China and stuff all had Stalinism etc, i wanna know if theres any democratic communisms and if so, have they been succesful?
Every example of democratic communism/socialism/third world liberalism has been destroyed by the US usually through CIA covert operations (Funding proxy wars, etc). This includes the democratically elected Marxist, Allende, in Chile. Here's a decent summary: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html Also the site, thirdworldtraveler.com is a great site for researching why there are no good examples. William Blum wrote a comprehensive book on the subject that used to have a good summary at third world traveler. (Couldn't find it today...? Wonder what happened to it...?) Also after the repressive monarchy was overthrown in Russia in 1917. The already weakened Russians were attacked by 11 countries including the US. If they had gone "democratic" they would have suffered the same fate as the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, the Chileans, etc. The most recent wonderful example is the highly liberal and democractically elected Hugo Chavez in Venezeula. A good documentary came out about the attempted coup there that was probably as usual backed by the CIA. It was called "The revolution will not be televised." (But the corporations probably won't be bringing it to a theater near you any time this century, much the same as Disney is refusing to show Moore's new film.) But maybe you can buy it here: http://chavezthefilm.com/index_ex.htm Also after the highly repressive right wing military dictatorship in Cuba was overthrown that the US for some strange reason had no problem with, they suddenly started attempting to assasinate Castro on a monthly basis. Ending in a CIA attempt to invade which of course led to the Bay of Pigs and almost WWIII. If Castro had dared go democratic he'd be long dead like Allende and Lumumba, etc, etc. Actually the most recent example is probably the US led kidnapping/coup of Aristide in Haiti. You may not have heard much about it, as the corporate media basically censored it much the media in Stalinist Russia would have done. But democracynow.org had extremely good coverage. So to answer your question, No, there are no good examples and there never will be.
man that blows, its the only system of government that doesnt seem to stink, and its never gonna happen oh well, thanks for answering the question, and that site about the cia is pretty good and sorta scary
Alain, the Soviet Union had elections. "It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." - Stalin Stokes, a Menshevik once defined Bolshevism as "the theory that Bolsheviks should gain and retain power." By that assessment, Communism's been quite successful. Well, not so much now, but it had a decent run.
Star just pointed out what I was about to respond with. The United States itself is a democratic communism. It is just a form that allows the people to believe that they are in control, when they are really not. So no, there are no good examples of a democratic communism. However, China is just one ESPN channel and a Playboy Channel away from becoming a good one. So maybe in the next 75 years, you might be able to give your grand kids an affirmative answer. P.S. I'll be glad to take on any comers who feel that the United States is not a democratic-communism
It's so much easier to control people who think they have democracy then those who know they do not. That is the refinement that has been made in the US as opposed to the old "communist" regimes of China or Russia.
Drum, that's not what I was trying to say at all. I'll grant there are huge problems with democracy in the United States, with the Florida debacle being a prime example, and the likelihood of Diebold voting machines, but remember ... the electorate is by and large apathetic and ignorant. Hence, they produce politicians of an equally embarassing stature. Furthermore, there's absolutely no way you can label the United States communist, given that Bush's enviromental regulations largely consist of allowing the industries to "self-regulate."
