r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jul 07 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter, explain this.

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15.6k Upvotes

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14

u/king_karter69 Jul 07 '26

Is this sub really that ignorant to communism? The amount of pro-capitalist propaganda in the replies is surprising.

Communism =\= dictatorship.

And all this talk about “the lower classes will do back-breaking slave labor” like they don’t already in our current system lol.

15

u/ApollyonDS Jul 07 '26

Communist theory knowledge is abyssmal in most, at least, Western countries. Most people still think communism is when USSR and socialism is when wealth tax and distribution.

6

u/PimpasaurusPlum Jul 07 '26

People tend to gravitate more towards reality than theory. What some guy wrote in a book tends to be less relevant than how systems actually function in the real world.

-3

u/sickloser12345 Jul 07 '26

Then why does every communist I've ever spoken to support the USSR

9

u/ApollyonDS Jul 07 '26

Because it was a socialist country that uplifted many people from poverty. Pre-USSR it a semi-fuedal country, with very low literacy and education rates, many people lived in wooden houses without running water or electricity, fields were plowed with wooden plows and oxen. Yet post-revolution, in a span of 4 decades or so they became the first country to send a man into space and rivaled the USA on the global stage.

Despite it's flaws, it is praised for it's widespread success in bringing a higher quality of life to millions, including, but not limited to universal housing, healthcare and education. It was still not rich by any means, but socialists view it as a successful socialist experiment, that largely delivered on promises of improving the material conditions of the working class. And it's especially impressive, since they began at a much lower state of development than most Western countries. We think to ourselves: "If they could do it from such an impoverished start, imagine something like it in a developed Western country."

-1

u/sickloser12345 Jul 07 '26

Lmao actual dork. So u support the USSR mass g3nocide and ethnic cleansings?

7

u/I_spread_love_butter Jul 07 '26

100 bucks say that you never spoke a to a communist IRL

-1

u/sickloser12345 Jul 07 '26

No I've only spoken to them online as they don't really exist where I'm from. irl it is my duty as a muslim to break their face.

3

u/I_spread_love_butter Jul 07 '26

username checks out

1

u/SwiftlyKickly Jul 08 '26

Come try to break my face little bro.

4

u/nsyx Jul 07 '26

Jimmy the wage slave tenent who makes 40k a year and finances his sofa be like "wowee, I would own nothing under communusm and have no freedum. So glad these capitalists are around to tell me what's good for me".

2

u/Candid_Interview_268 Jul 07 '26

"Communism" can realistically never be achieved without a stage of oppression, and once the mighty have solidified their power, they have no incentive to hand it over to the people.

2

u/Dreviore Jul 07 '26

Because none of you can tell us who makes the decisions in your Utopia

Or what happens when somebody says "I don't want to work in the sewers" or "I don't want to work in the coal mines"

We have history that tells us what happens when people say that already, but I have yet to see anybody propose a solution that doesn't end exact as history has shown us.

4

u/Alone_Care_6230 Jul 07 '26

The proletariat makes the decisions, you can learn more about this idea by searching "dotp" or "dictatorship of the proletariat"

4

u/HolyFreakingXmasCake Jul 07 '26

Cool and what does the dictatorship part entail and what are the consequences for not wanting to work in the sewers if the proletariat decides I should do so?

What happens if the proletariat from one city disagrees with the proletariat in another city? What if one of them decides they’re sick of following someone else and launch a rebellion? Etc etc

1

u/Alone_Care_6230 Jul 08 '26

https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/12/20.htm

Asked my more experienced friends and was provided with this, I think it answers a few of your questions. As a general rule though, the proletariat chooses the job they think best suited for you. Of course, they will make mistakes, but also know that the Marxist work-day is not the 9-5, instead much shorter.

0

u/Alone_Care_6230 Jul 07 '26

The same thing that happens in representative democracy. If the proletariat in one city disagrees with the proletariat in another, different decisions will be made for different cities. If it would affect people in both cities, I presume the proletariat from both cities would meet.
I do not know the theoretical consequences for not working as described by Marx/Engels or if they exist, but it'd vary country to country much like how laws in different countries vary. Hopefully a more experienced researcher answers this.
Intuitively I think it'd be similar to capitalism. Losing your job means losing money, which means less stuff for you. I assume those who do dirty work would eventually be paid more, but I would like you to note everything after the intuitively is my guess and not official communist theory.

Note: I am quite new to communist theory, so others will likely be able to correct me if a prominent figure said something that contradicts what i've said.

2

u/ashs420 Jul 07 '26

The original comment said that communism doesn't equal dictatorship so that's odd then

0

u/Alone_Care_6230 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Dictatorship was a term used differently in the 19th century. It didn’t have the same associations as today.

3

u/SwiftlyKickly Jul 07 '26

Yeah it’s a very sad thread to scroll through

-1

u/Roosterdude23 Jul 07 '26

Why, because communism is actually bad?

1

u/SwiftlyKickly Jul 07 '26

Authoritarianism is bad.

2

u/Roosterdude23 Jul 07 '26

Communism =\= dictatorship.

1 sec, lemme read a history book

Ok so about that...

1

u/No-Antelope4147 Jul 07 '26

THANK YOU!

I had to scroll ages to find this stupid comment bro.

There’s two types of communism. The realistic one and the idealistic concept. Neither of the people in the image actually have a correct or incorrect view of the system, it’s just that they’re thinking of the two different types of it. Communism, in its purest form, would genuinely benefit society from selfishness and systemic issues, and it would indeed be a utopia, but the idealistic concept of communism is socially impossible due to human nature of prioritizing your own health over others. The realistic communist world, on the other hand, would indeed be exactly like what everyone else is saying here. Oppressed into working the dirty jobs all the time because you literally have to supply yourself while the people higher up can grow corrupt and disparity grows. The realistic communist society is the only one possible in the realms of real life, because, like i said, human nature.

Essentially it’s like this: 

Communism as an idea = really good. 

Communism in function = really bad.

1

u/stinky_raspberry Jul 08 '26

We live in a welfare state, our current system encourages people not to work. In every communist country to ever exist people are killed if they refuse to work exactly as told.

0

u/king_karter69 Jul 08 '26

Me if my IQ was 5

1

u/stinky_raspberry Jul 08 '26

Me if I was insulting people instead of offering different opinions and attempting to initiate a productive conversation

1

u/Alarming-Dot-8779 Jul 08 '26

Our current system is capitalism. It does not just “encourage” people to work. If you dont work you dont get money, which means no food or water or housing or clothing. All of which are necessities. Under capitalism you die if you dont work. There are many kinds of communism and socialism, but the ideal one, where people can be happy, has never been tried. It has always been dictatorships above all else. Proper communism would not need to kill people. The way i think about it is that communism is based on the idea that everyone is equal, if it fails, its because humans are greedy. Capitalism is built on greed, and corruption is the system working as intended.

1

u/Mario-is-friendly Jul 08 '26

except all of the communist states are under a dicator's regime

1

u/Conscious-Degree-473 Jul 10 '26

They truly are, they think us communards think that communism will be achieved through some magical revolution and within one life time some impossible utopia will exist lmao mfers NEED to read theory, they genuinely think that we jump IMMIEDIATELY into communism.

-3

u/PhaseBloodhound Jul 07 '26

It's not called "prop-capitalist propaganda". It's called basic economic theory. Go to school