Okay, so we’ve all heard the quote “communism works in theory, not in practice.” But why doesn’t it work in practice? Using Russia's past as an example, here are eight of the main reasons why communism doesn't work.
1. You can't leave
In the USSR people weren’t allowed to leave the country. If someone left, the government would interrogate their whole family. If they returned, the person was jailed indefinitely. Yikes.
2. Western products and ideas aren't allowed
Anything considered ‘western’ was illegal. This included books, music and movies. People would smuggle these into the country. This smuggling, of course, was highly illegal. Fahrenheit 451, anyone?
3. Sharing is caring
Private property didn't exist. Any land was everyone’s land. For example, if someone owned a farm, everyone owned that farm. Whatever was grown on that farm was taken and redistributed ‘equally.’
4. Nobody gets rich
Nobody could get rich. Everyone had to work pretty much the same jobs and earned the same amount of money. Pretty fair, right? At least until someone realized that they could do the bare minimum and make as much as someone working their hardest. There weren’t any incentives to try hard either. No matter what you did, your position wasn’t going to change.
5. We don't make decisions, the government does
Nobody got to choose the job they wanted; they were essentially just assigned a job wherever they were needed. Once again, there was no incentive to work hard.
6. Crazy corruption
There was a ridiculously high amount of corruption. Bribes were required for even simple tasks to be completed. Parents could even bribe teachers to improve their kid’s grades.
7. What freedom?
8. Big Brother is always watching. Always.
