Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2019-09-01 07:02 | Report Abuse

Part One: Why communism fails? https://beta.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/11/07/lessons-from-a-century-of-communism/?outputType=amp Concentration of POWER To make socialism work, government planners needed to have the authority to direct the production and distribution of virtually all the goods produced by the society. Attraction of UNSCRUPULOUS PEOPLE The vast power necessary to establish and maintain the powerful governing system naturally attracted unscrupulous people, including many self-seekers who prioritized their own interests over those of the cause. Negative CHARACTER BUILDING .......counterproductive ......nonproductive Even as the socialist system created opportunities for vast atrocities by the rulers, it also destroyed production incentives for ordinary people. In the absence of markets (at least legal ones), there was little incentive for workers to either be productive or to focus on making goods that might actually be useful to consumers. Many people tried to do as little work as possible at their official jobs, where possible reserving their real efforts for black market activity. As the old Soviet saying goes, workers had the attitude that “we pretend to work, and they pretend to pay.” Imminent leadership failure (SELF-DEFEATING.....SELF-DECEIVING)...........THANKS TO HIS YES MEN Even when socialist planners genuinely sought to produce prosperity and meet consumer demands, they often lacked the information to do so. (surrounded by more and more yes men only.....day by day) As Nobel Prize-winning economist F.A. Hayek described in a famous article, a market economy conveys vital information to producers and consumers alike through the price system. Market prices enable producers to know the relative value of different goods and services, and determine how much consumers value their products. (Not informed by yes men about this flaw) Under socialist central planning, by contrast, there is no substitute for this vital knowledge. As a result, socialist planners often had no way to know what to produce, by what methods, or in way quantities. This is one of the reasons why communists states routinely suffered from shortages of basic goods, while simultaneously producing large quantities of shoddy products for which there was little demand.(Not informed by yes men about this flaw) SPIRALING DOWN.......self fulfilling prophecy The most popular claim of this sort is that a planned economy can work well so long as it is democratic. The leaders would have had stronger incentives to make the system work for the benefit of the people. If they failed to do so, the voters could “throw the bastards out” at the next election. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that a communist state could remain democratic for long, even it started out that way. Democracy requires effective opposition parties. And in order to function, such parties need to be able to put out their message and mobilize voters, which in turn requires extensive resources. In an economic system in which all or nearly all valuable resources are controlled by the state, the incumbent government can easily strangle opposition by denying them access to those resources. Under socialism, the opposition cannot function if they are not allowed to spread their message on state-owned media, or use state-owned property for their rallies and meetings. It is no accident that virtually every communist regime suppressed opposition parties soon after coming to power. Even if a state could somehow remain democratic over the long run, it is hard to see how it could solve the twin problems of knowledge and incentives. Whether democratic or not, a socialist economy would still require enormous concentration of power, and extensive coercion. And democratic socialist planners would run into much the same information problems as their authoritarian counterparts. In addition, in a society where the government controls all or most of the economy, it would be virtually impossible for voters to acquire enough knowledge to monitor the state’s many activities. This would greatly exacerbate the already severe problem of voter ignorance that plagues modern democracy. SUMMARY and LESSONS Overall, the atrocities and failures (to pay civil servant salaries.......and repay debt to federal governemnt) were the natural outcomes of an effort to establish a such an economy in which all or nearly all production is controlled by the state. If not always completely unavoidable, the resulting oppression was at least highly likely. It highlights the dangers of allowing the state to seize control of all or most of the economy, and of eliminating private property. Moreover, the knowledge and incentive problems that arise under socialism also bedevil efforts at large-scale economic planning that fall short of complete government control of production. Sadly, these lessons remain relevant today, in an era where socialism has again begun to attrac