If you believe that the USSR, China, Cuba or North Korea was ever communist you are mistaken. You have been misled. They were fascist regimes.
To clarify, the true definition of Communism as Marx intended is a movement that aims for a stateless and classless society. On the most basic level, communism is the abolition of exchange-value. In a communist society, there is no state (everything is controlled by the people directly though workers' councils), there is no money (trading is essentially done away with) and there are no classes.
Countries like the USSR, for example, had wage labour and money economies. These countries called communist also had states. They were anything but communist. Also of note, there have never been communist countries (for a long period of time). Essentially, communism can be called anarchy (which is the lack of hierarchical organization, not organization itself.)
We will delve further into topics like workers' councils, exchange-value, what it means to be stateless and the problems presented by capitalism. If you have any questions so far, please ask them, I am fairly knowledgeable about Marxism. Also, if you have any reason to doubt what I've said so far, let me know. I don't feel like there is any room for debate as of right now, but there certainly will be.
EDIT: I think I'm going to update this topic with new information every week, probably Sunday. So you can use this topic to learn, ask questions and refute my statements.
To clarify, the true definition of Communism as Marx intended is a movement that aims for a stateless and classless society. On the most basic level, communism is the abolition of exchange-value. In a communist society, there is no state (everything is controlled by the people directly though workers' councils), there is no money (trading is essentially done away with) and there are no classes.
Countries like the USSR, for example, had wage labour and money economies. These countries called communist also had states. They were anything but communist. Also of note, there have never been communist countries (for a long period of time). Essentially, communism can be called anarchy (which is the lack of hierarchical organization, not organization itself.)
We will delve further into topics like workers' councils, exchange-value, what it means to be stateless and the problems presented by capitalism. If you have any questions so far, please ask them, I am fairly knowledgeable about Marxism. Also, if you have any reason to doubt what I've said so far, let me know. I don't feel like there is any room for debate as of right now, but there certainly will be.
EDIT: I think I'm going to update this topic with new information every week, probably Sunday. So you can use this topic to learn, ask questions and refute my statements.