[bsaul]

i always find it surprising how in every conversation i had with friend from the far left, they always forget to mention that there was actually one successful attempt at living in the "communism" mindset, without turning into a totalitarian regime.

The thing is the hate israel gets today (especially from the left) prevents them from ever using this argument.

[pydry]

There are at least a few others - e.g. the paris commune and anarchist spain, not to mention the early days of the Soviet Union.

The most consistent quality they shared was a tendency to be violently attacked.

[fighterpilot]

  "early days of the Soviet Union."

The early days of the Nazi regime weren't that bad, either.

  "Paris commune"

The Paris commune only lasted for a few months. If history is any guide, it would've turned into an authoritarian hellhole eventually.

[pydry]

They did have some kooky policies like the abolition of child labor. Some people today are still against this even today on the basis that it's pro freedom and really it's better for the children in the long run:

https://www.learnliberty.org/videos/economic-freedom-does-ch...

In all likelihood had it not been brutally suppressed it probably would have ended up being somewhat like norway.

[fighterpilot]

I'm more than happy to adopt the small handful of things that they got right, while rejecting all the other stuff that inevitably leads to misery, poverty, and mass death.

[pydry]

Like what other stuff? Separation of church and state? Rent remission? Postponement of commercial debt obligations? Pensions?

Or the feminist stuff maybe?

[fighterpilot]

> Like what other stuff?

Total suppression of the free-press and banning debt and interest, for example.

It only lasted for a few months so it's hard to say how far it would've descended into nightmare, but we have a long, long history of miserable socialist states with lofty initial ideals that survived beyond their honeymoon period for the purposes of that analysis.

[llimos]

This is true, but the difference is obvious. People join kibbutzim because they want to. Voluntary communism might work; imposed communism never has.