• unnecessarygoat@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    afaik, in cuba the means of production isn’t directly controlled by the workers but is controlled by the government which acts as a middle man between the workers and the means of production

    • Communist@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      32
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      That’s state capitalism, and has nothing to do with socialism.

      The workers control the means of production under socialism, not the government, this makes it in no way socialist by any commonly used definition of socialism by philosophers.

      • boyi@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        1 year ago

        You seem to know what you are talking about. Can you ELI5 the difference between communism and sosialism, in the shortest possible words?

        • Communist@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          21
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Okay, first, to lay some groundwork, there have been many modes of production throughout history

          first, there was hunter/gatherer societies, then feudalism, then capitalism

          Then we have theories as to what could come next, according to the marxist viewpoint, the next thing will be socialism, and then after that, communism.

          So, communism is a post-socialist ideology, the only requirement for it to be socialism is that instead of a bourgeois class and a worker class, they will become unified (doesn’t matter how for the purposes of explaining this, but usually through violent revolution)

          So, a socialist place would have the workers self-manage, people who work in a place would also have democratic control over that place in some way.

          After that happens, for various reasons outside of the scope of an eli5, communism comes, communism is a post-socialist society in which the workers own the means of production (hence the socialist prerequisite), currency has been abolished, the state has been abolished (but not government, these are two distinct entities in socialist thought), and there are no class divisions whatsoever.

          Part of the problems with discussions about these topics is that communist philosophers of old used terms in very different ways than the colloquial ways we use them today. I can expand upon this if you have any followup questions!

          • boyi@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            1 year ago

            In the spirit of knowledge, I’ve tried to understand them by reading some sources but I never could get around it. It’s like me, a non-physicist, trying to understand quantum theory and theory of relativity. Anyway, your explanation is good enough for me to be able to different between the two terms. Thanks.

            • Communist@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              7
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              No problem, feel free to PM or message on matrix if you want any elaboration or have any questions!

          • Communist@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            29
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            Google is extremely insufficient for this due to the insane level of propaganda on BOTH sides of the issue. The only way to get this information is to read theory from the actual philosophers, IMHO, and that’s asking a lot.

            And that’s not even getting into the terminology you have to learn just to understand the philosophers.

            For example: most people are under the impression that private property is things that normal people own… but that’s not even a little bit what marx means when he says abolish private property, you’ll note, that would be insane.

            • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              8
              ·
              1 year ago

              So what does he mean by “private property” if he’s not talking about the things normal people own?

              • Communist@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                21
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                Private property used by marxist philosophers refers to property that generates capital. An example would be a factory.

                When marx said abolish private property, what he was really saying is, make it so that factories are owned by the people who work in them, rather than by some rando who has nothing to do with working in them. He was not saying that you shouldn’t have the right to own a toothbrush.

                Your toothbrush, according to marx, would be PERSONAL property.

                • 4L3moNemo@programming.dev
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  1 year ago

                  So, folowing your theory, if … I have a coat - it’s “PERSONAL” property; I wash my coat myself - it’s still “PERSONAL”; I rent my coat - it now becomes “PRIVATE” property; I ask someone to clean my coat for money - it’s “PRIVATE” property (remember I’m still renting it); Somebody wears my coat, whilst gathers mushrooms (uses my coat in process of making value) to sell them latter - it (the coat) is “PRIVATE” property;

                  Questions:

                  1. Why should we abolish my coat? Wheres logic in that? And how, at the same time, does it magicaly can be mine PERSONAL, mine PRIVATE, and (in sugested future) a collectives property?

                  2. I mown someones lawn and they clean my coat (barter exchange) - my coat is PERSONAL or PRIVATE? How does that differ if money involved?

                  3. Now change the “coat” into the “factory” (a “garage”, a “hammer”, a “boat”), what’s the diference?

                  • Communist@lemmy.ml
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    9
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    Why should we abolish my coat? Wheres logic in that? And how, at the same time, does it magicaly can be mine PERSONAL, mine PRIVATE, and (in sugested future) a collectives property?

                    Nobody gives a fuck about your coat, do you honestly think that’s the problem marxists have with private property? that someone might… rent out their coat? that’s not the kind of thing we’re trying to solve here, it’s also something literally nobody does in the real world.

                    If you worked in a coat factory, and you make 100 coats a day, how much should you be paid for that? I believe profit is the stolen value of labor, so, the worker should make the value of 100 coats if they make 100 coats, that’s the injustice we’re trying to solve.

                    I own someones lawn and they clean my coat (barter exchange) - my coat is PERSONAL or PRIVATE? How does that differ if money involved?

                    I’d say that’s personal, if you’re paying them to clean your coat, i’d say they have a coat cleaning business and the coat cloaners should own that business… which it sounds like in this example they already do, so, nothing needs to change.

                    Now change the “coat” into the “factory” (a “garage”, a “hammer”, a “boat”), what’s the diference?

                    Whether you’re one of the workers or not changes. If it’s a coat factory, you just own the factory, and make money off the stolen labor value, while contributing nothing. In your examples, you actually are contributing, which makes you a worker, and someone who should get the full value of your labor.

                  • Moonguide@lemmy.ml
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    Not OP and not as educated in leftist theory, but the difference is nobody works inside the coat to produce that value. The purpose of that bit is to ensure one cannot profit from another’s labour by virtue of one owning the means of production, or at least that’s how I’ve always understood it.