[dpraburaj]

It's actually weird how many people in capitalist countries look at failed/failing communist states and think of them as utopias, all the while ignoring the plight of millions living there in poverty and with no clear path to a better standard of life.

They should put their money where their mouth is and spend at least a few decades in such countries before criticising others who've made a choice to leave(for various reasons).

[clavalle]

I am solidly liberal and Left-leaning and most of my friends are extremely liberal and Left-Leaning, too (though, admittedly not extreme left). I don't know a single person who sees any communist state as a utopia or anything approaching utopia. Hell, I don't know anyone who likes communism as a concept any more than a they'd like a state of anarchist primitivism -- basically a quaint idea that might be nice if humans weren't actually human that's interesting to muse about from time to time. Honestly, I think it is a character made up of very few extreme examples that make a spectacle of themselves on social media trotted out by Right-wing pundits and people who don't actually like to think about reality too hard.

[Arcaten]

So you look at the millions of poor people in the United States and think, "Yes, these people have a clear path to a better standard of living"?

Do you know how many children are living on the streets in Havana? Or how many die of starvation or exposure? Maybe they're poor, but they are alive, healthy, fed, and have a roof over their heads. That's a lot more than Americans can say about the at risk in their own country.

I am by no means suggesting that Cuba is a utopia -- my own standard of living is probably quite a lot higher than the average Cuban's. I'm lucky in that way. That's not the case for many, many others.

[frgtpsswrdlame]

How much of that is America's doing? If the embargo were lifted, do you still think Communist Cuba would be failing? Its poverty is a result of America's intolerance for different political systems, not the result of those political systems themselves.

[thwarted]

The communist Utopia requires trade with another entity in order to maintain its Utopia? Who manages the trade between the countries? Are the members of a society that claims to be Communist actually so if that society at large is part of a free-market? This sounds like not getting rid of exploitation, but rather sweeping it under the rug and outsourcing it to a free-market entity.

[frgtpsswrdlame]

>The communist Utopia requires trade with another entity in order to maintain its Utopia?

Presumably all states do.

>Who manages the trade between the countries?

Communism is about owning the means of production so presumably the people will act through their government to decide on trade.

>Are the members of a society that claims to be Communist actually so if that society at large is part of a free-market?

Presumably, unless you mean to say that no actually Communist state has ever existed! (I'll accept this of course, I'd just like you to say it.) If you'd like to know more about this conflict I'd pull up the wiki article for "socialism in one country."

>This sounds like not getting rid of exploitation, but rather sweeping it under the rug and outsourcing it to a free-market entity.

Well the end-goal would be world communism without government, democratic everything, "from those... to those..." kind of world. In the interim trade would be necessary and you're right that unfortunately that trade may come from exploitation of the working class in another country. But if we can take our country, go socialist, reduce exploitation then that's still an admirable goal. Hopefully, those elsewhere will see and follow. I wouldn't call it "outsourcing exploitation" because presumably the trade level wouldn't increase dramatically after becoming communist. It's more like fixing our exploitation while admitting we may not be able to end all exploitation.

NOTE: I'm not actually a communist and I only know a little so these are the best answers I can give. A real communist would probably school me on this.

[BadassFractal]

So, communism is great, it's just didn't work that one time because of the US?

[frgtpsswrdlame]

I think it's just as likely to work as say capitalist country if the US wasn't biased against it. But it's not just that one time, the US has repeatedly intervened in states which underwent revolucion.