Socialism/Communism/Anti-capitalism?

When you look at the systems in which societies have sustained themselves long term, only three systems have worked: feudalism, tribalism, and capitalism. You do realize that Marx talked about such transitions in length, right? He discussed the stages of history as such:

primitive communism>feudalism>capitalism>socialism>communism

And yet, you disregard Marx's work, when the man literally wrote about such topics. He didn't disregard capitalism and all the advancements that it provided. He merely gave light to the incoherencies of such a system, and that society will move from capitalism to socialism, and then socialism to communism. This is what happened before the time of capitalism as well.

Europe reigned for centuries under feudalism, as well as many Asian, Indian, and South American cultures... These are socialistic societies, in which Europe has been living in since they've existed. Human nature is accounted for in this because the authority is absolute, dissent is not allowed, and freedom, and ultimately thought, is restricted. And in most feudal societies have ended because of human nature, the want to be free and dissent! Is there any claim to back up your argument that feudalism was 'socialistic'? Socialism wishes to do away with social hierarchy, not advance it. As opposed to feudalism, where only hierarchy exists. And again, you have not defined at all what exactly 'human nature' is or isn't. You're being utterly vague. Tribalism has worked for thousands of years, and since this is surrounded by a strong sense of collectivism and family, and the entire tribe's mission is to take care of the tribe. Individualism is incredibly shunned, as it goes against the goals of the group. These are communist societies by nature of being. Again, read about Marx's theory of history. Capitalism best accounts for a society that is fiercely individualistic, and when it's not incredibly corrupted like it is right now, it provides opportunities for the average person to move around in life where they want to. Really? So what if a person isn't motivated by the accumulation of capital and is more interested in the advancement of our society or providing services? I know plenty of people who aspire to be teachers, painters, writers, contractors, and psychologists who aren't motivated by money and want to do the things they love. Capitalism only incentivizes greed and/or starvation. What about all other human emotions? What we have now is the power tipped in favor of white dudes with a shit ton of money, making our capitalist system here work in their favor rather than the people's. So you're cool with communities of color having a wealthy class and having a working class? You've just diversified the palette of exploitation, not solve it. And what's to say that capitalism doesn't feed off racism? Also, slavery did not build capitalism, slavery built the American Economy, very big distinction. Slavery helped build England and the Western world during the Industrial Revolution, so I'm pretty sure that's helping to build capitalism. Unless, of course, your definition of capitalism is not during the onset of the Industrial Revolution. What I also want to point out is that capitalism is what allowed Black Wall Street to thrive in the 1940s-1950s, because Black people were able to use their own money to build their own things without outside influence, which isn't possible in another system. You talk at length about the failures of socialism and communism, yet bring up an example of capitalism that failed. In such a society, you'd still have the wealthy class and the proletariat. So, I don't really see how advocating for black capitalism would get rid of this fundamental issue that would develop later over time. Socialism and communism work with the government being the center of deciding what we would all eat, drink, the healthcare we would receive, where we would live, and a host of other things. This one really grinds my gears. No, socialism is not more power given to the government in everything you do. I'm a libertarian socialist. I'm against all forms of authority, including capitalist authority (i.e. CEO, manager in the workplace; capitalist in my everyday life). Also, it's not factually correct. To think that only government, and not companies, can oppress people is pretty naive. I mean, I could bring you to some of my relatives in Costa Rica to talk about the United Fruit Co.. To say all that stuff can't happen under a capitalist system with no or minimal government interference, is to be pretty bias of capitalism.

/r/blackladies Thread Parent