Is there any difference between a Communist and a Leftist?

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J_Peterson said:
Straights used the word first. It wasn’t until recently the LGBT community embraced it. It was originally a slur.
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Yep, after being attacked with it, the LGBT community used it as “Good As You” in slogans to try to escape rampant persecution. The original LGBT meaning of it is lost today, but it has also lost its negative meaning as well in exchange for the new term “f****t” (which many in the current LGBT community have tried to embrace, but it really hasn’t worked; d**e has been much more successfully embraced by the community).

As to the thread itself, it is extremely inflammatory and meaningless. I consider myself liberal on the whole: economically liberal, socially conservative, militarily/IR liberal. I am nowhere near the definition of socialism or communism (which don’t even mean the same thing).

To a previous poster: China’s communism was not really communism. Mao wanted to start what he called a “Chinese-style communism” that incorporated communal living but also involved many ridiculous policies that went into effect mostly because he silenced intellectuals half a decade before by killing or jailing them all. One example of this was his benchmark requirements on wheat and steel production that led to agricultural equipment being melted down to useless balls of steel that were then sent to the central government. This led to the above as well as exaggerated reports from communities on their wheat production (which was actually reduced due to the loss of their agricultural equipment), which led to taxation taking more wheat than the communities could handle. We now know that Mao intended for up to half the Chinese population to die in order to make the other half stronger, and he knew of many of the horrors that occurred during his time of reign and did nothing to stop them. He was able to do this through a cult of personality and a top-down system of government.
 
Cricket2 said:
I think it is erroneous to compare “Leftists” to Communists." As one poster suggested try reading up on Karl Marx. Also I suggest, as I would about any subject, look for the good and bad in both theories. Example: Is there something positive that can come out of a Communistic Society, a “Leftist Movement”, Socialism, Democracy, Monarchy or Dictatorship. There has to be good and bad in all forms of Government and that which prevails is due to the people, not the actual “Calling Card” they are ruled under.

I have taken this approach to learning about many things, and my insight has improved, not diminished. What I hold to be the most true is my Faith, not any government.
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👍 And there are still people who think Communism=USSR, Cuba, North Korea or China, when in fact those states were never Communist and are examples of State capitalism. Heck China is even more free market and capitalist then the USA ever was.
 
Avdima said:
👍 And there are still people who think Communism=USSR, Cuba, North Korea or China, when in fact those states were never Communist and are examples of State capitalism. Heck China is even more free market and capitalist then the USA ever was.
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Meh. They don’t reach the untenable version of communism that Marx sets out, but I don’t see much of a point in not referring to these countries as communist. Lenin added a great deal to the idea of communism, and communist regimes were styled more off of his ideas.

And you are very much off in stating that China is more capitalist than the US. In wha way can an economy where the largest firms are state owned be considered more capitalist?
 
AnimalSpirits said:
Missing, I think, is a definition if who is on the left.
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livingwordunity said:
Anyone who MSNBC speaks favorably about.
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AnimalSpirits said:
So… Pope Francis? They love his sound bytes.
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Sometimes leftist news pretends to like the Pope. Twisting and misrepresenting what he says isn’t being nice, it’s being manipulative. And they aren’t consistent. For example, MSNBC downplayed the Pope’s recent selection as TIME magazine’s person of the year, reminding people that Hitler was also chosen for it. Here’s the article: And the ‘Person of the Year’ is…the Pope? Perhaps I should have said anyone who MSNBC always speaks favorably about.
 
Well, I would think of a “conservative” as someone who wants to maintain the status quo, to preserve existing institutions and policies.

I would think of a “liberal” as someone who is more willing to see change in status quo, to modify or replace existing institutions and policies.

From there, I would think of a moderate as someone who is in the center of the “liberal to conservative” scale. A purely liberal thinker would be called a “leftist”, and a purely conservative thinker might be called a “rightist”.

In a Communist society, then, someone who advocate a Communist form of government would be on the right. Someone who proposed Capitalism would be on the left. On the other hand, in a Capitalistic society, someone who proposed replacing Capitalism with Communism would be on the left, while someone who supported the status quo would be on the right.

A good example of the relative nature of these perceptions, is the world view of President Obama, compared to the US view. In US politics, he is sometimes seen as being liberal. In many European countries, his platform and political agenda would be viewed as being somewhat to the right of moderate. He would be considered to be a conservative politician.
 
I don’t understand the point of this thread. The OP determined that “leftist” and “communist” are the same thing, then just railed against anyone who disagreed.
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In the Soviet Union of yore, a leftist would have been someone who espoused Capitalism, or Libertarianism. There is a certain convenience of semantics, as well. For example, one might say that someone who favors smaller government is on the right. But if you look into the issue further, you might say that someone on the right in US politics favors larger government in some areas (security, military spending, corporate welfare), while favoring smaller government in other areas, such as healthcare and education. Meanwhile, one could equally say, that a leftist favors smaller government in the areas that the rightist favors larger government… So the catch phrases of the two platforms are deceptive.

Another example. A rightist might say that they favor deficit reduction, but also favor lower taxes, but also favor larger military. The net result, historically, has always been higher deficits for conservative administrations who cut taxes, and who find it impossible to cut spending enough to offset the tax cuts. On the other hand, a leftist might increase taxes to pay the bills, and to reduce the deficit. In point of fact, President Clinton balanced the Federal budget. President Reagan increased deficits to unprecedented levels. So, who was more fiscally responsible? The labels are not always what they appear to be.
 
StSentry83 said:
I don’t understand the point of this thread. The OP determined that “leftist” and “communist” are the same thing, then just railed against anyone who disagreed.
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I’ll admit that I challenge popular assumptions and propaganda. But can you please elaborate on how I supposedly “railed against anyone who disagreed”?
 
A Capitalistic Regeim is as terrifying as Communism ever thought of being. When you start putting money and profit ahead of people the people lose.
 
There is a difference between a Communist and a leftist.

A communist is one who embraces the social and economic theories of Lenin and Marx and lives that way of life.

People like Stalin, Mao tse-tung, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Kim Jong, and Nelson Mandela were all good communists.

A leftist is nothing more than a liberal idiot.
 
christofirst said:
A tear just fell from my leftist, liberal, idiotic eye 😦
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JMJ

Christo…I am aghast! :eek:

Based on your intelligent points and expressive writing ability in our other “discussions” I assumed that you were at least a moderate (although I have problems with them also)

I am shocked to have you admit to liberalism. Please accept my condolences. If there is anything I can do …please let me know.

I will keep you in my prayers.
 
epan said:
In the Soviet Union of yore, a leftist would have been someone who espoused Capitalism, or Libertarianism. There is a certain convenience of semantics, as well. For example, one might say that someone who favors smaller government is on the right. But if you look into the issue further, you might say that someone on the right in US politics favors larger government in some areas (security, military spending, corporate welfare), while favoring smaller government in other areas, such as healthcare and education. Meanwhile, one could equally say, that a leftist favors smaller government in the areas that the rightist favors larger government… So the catch phrases of the two platforms are deceptive.

In what areas does the “leftist” favor smaller government?

Another example. A rightist might say that they favor deficit reduction, but also favor lower taxes, but also favor larger military. The net result, historically, has always been higher deficits for conservative administrations who cut taxes, and who find it impossible to cut spending enough to offset the tax cuts. On the other hand, a leftist might increase taxes to pay the bills, and to reduce the deficit. In point of fact, President Clinton balanced the Federal budget. President Reagan increased deficits to unprecedented levels. So, who was more fiscally responsible? The labels are not always what they appear to be.
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During the Reagan era, government revenue went up - due to the economic growth generated from the tax cuts. Problem was, it was not enough to offset both the domestic spending of the Tip O’neil congress and the military spending that was necessary to challenge the Soviet Union. So it wasn’t about offsetting the tax cuts as you wrongly assert, but offsetting all the spending. Regarding Clinton - he didn’t have much choice but to preside over the balanced budgets passed by the GOP majority congress ( a fact that you mysteriously omit). Clinton didn’t have a Cold War to fight, and the congress controls the purse strings, epan.

So your account of history is a bit skewed.

Ishii
 
Is there any difference between a Communist and a Leftist?

Of course there is. Communism is a specific political ideology, whereas ‘leftism’ is nothing more than a meaningless, non-specific, catch-all phrase. Communism exists, ‘leftism’ does not.
 
Of course leftism exists. Leftists favor an activist federal government, excessive regulations of business. High taxes on business. Extensive government entitlement programs and social engineering. Usually secularism - they are against the Church. They favor abortion. Perhaps one difference is that the leftist makes a pretense of believing in democracy - whereas a communist is more likely to outlaw all political parties but one.

Ishii
 
ishii said:
Of course leftism exists. Leftists favor an activist federal government, excessive regulations of business. High taxes on business. Extensive government entitlement programs and social engineering. Usually secularism - they are against the Church. They favor abortion. Perhaps one difference is that the leftist makes a pretense of believing in democracy - whereas a communist is more likely to outlaw all political parties but one.

Ishii
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Leftism doesn’t exist, other than as a definition to define those whose views, on a range of issues, are deemed to be less conservative than their own.

Can you define excessive regulations on business? Regulation on businesses is necessary. What is or what is not excessive is a matter of opinion and a continuum.

Can you define extensive government entitlement programs? Again what is or what is not extensive is a matter of opinion and a continuum.

Social engineering? What is your definition of that?

Leftists favour abortion? So does that mean that is a person doesn’t support abortion they are not a ‘leftist’?

Leftism is nothing more than a personal comparative term on specific issues, and is based on the opinion of the person making the comparison.

Communism is a specific political ideology, ‘leftism’ is not. ‘Leftism’ doesn’t exist other than as a personal opinion about the opinion of someone else. Whether something is deemed to be ‘leftist’ is based purely on a comparison of an opinion with the opinion of the person making the judgement.
 
ishii said:
[Leftists] favor abortion. Perhaps one difference is that the leftist makes a pretense of believing in democracy - whereas a communist is more likely to outlaw all political parties but one.
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Joseph Stalin outlawed both abortion and homosexuality.

We’re therefore forced to conclude that he was not a communist.
 
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