Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderball
The closest one can get to a "communist democracy" are socialist democratic states. By definition, the two are opposites. Democracy refers to the rule of the people, while communism is the rule of a singular entity, "the state," to provide for society, which to date, has not happened, as the road to communism has always ended in socialist or fascist dictatorships.
The closest analogy to the Roman Empire that I can think of is the current system that claims its structure from the Romans, which is the Mafia. One overriding, all powerful leader that controls all the territories, with his own underlings, but each territory is controlled by its own chieftain, and their underlings, who control other people down the line. The Roman system also has a lot in common with a federal system. Communism in theory has no elites.
Its important to note, capitalist democracies have been the best system to encourage the best out of their systems, and produce the highest productivity, creativity and ingenuity... it is frankly the most egalitarian (socialist systems protect those who do not contribute, which leaves the question of whether it is fair to the hard worker who contributes) ... they shall always be so until the question of scarcity can be answered.
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FTW. I was going to pull some Hayek out and lambast the socialists, but you did a great job.
The Scandinavian socialist democracies have some great advantages in the form of small economies of scale and tight social/cultural cohesion. As well, they have also gone down the road of privatization on many sectors that haven't even been considered in North America. For example, Sweden just privatized their entire forestry sector.
But, you are seeing this breakdown with the influx of refugees and immigrants from North African countries. Scandinavians are proving very reluctant (racist?) to accept traditionally non-Scandinavians into the system as equals. The racism in places like Sweden and Denmark is so casual, it's shocking.
Capitalism is part of a grab bag of Western values. In fact, it's only a social institution formed around the biological institution of reciprocal trading. As a theoretical institution designed to fit a complex model of human behavior, it does have its flaws. The certain gap of income between the middle and upper classes for example. But it generally recognizes the progress of economic productivity, most people get a chance to produce and thrive under capitalism. The system is a lot more open to social/economic mobility than a communist system where you are placed is open only to the decisions of self-interested elites.