What is the most communist non-communist country on Earth?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I vote for Greece. They've probably had more communist insurgent groups than there are currently insurgent groups in Iraq.

[AuH2O]

Germany or Canada. Nepal isn't communist, they just have some monkeys that run around wearing red, shooting things.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Germany or Canada. Nepal isn't communist, they just have some monkeys that run around wearing red, shooting things.

Hmm, in Germany the Left Party only got around 7% last election, and they aren't even really communist. As for Canada, the communists there haven't even broken 0.2% of the vote ever, control no ridings, and aren't going to pick any up in January.

Also, the legal commies are the second largest party in Nepal.

[AuH2O]

In Canada and Germany, they don't need communist parties. There is no such thing as communist "economics" so the issue is political freedom. Having a multiparty system is nice, but if all the parties are exactly the same... what difference does it make?

South Africa is governed by a "communist" party, but assigning them a coherent ideology is giving them way too much credit. I doubt many of their officials even know who Karl Marx was.

[Jake]

Venezuela and South Africa

[Blue Rectangle]

China, if you consider it technically non-communist, which I believe most here do.

[Gabu]

In Canada and Germany, they don't need communist parties. There is no such thing as communist "economics" so the issue is political freedom. Having a multiparty system is nice, but if all the parties are exactly the same... what difference does it make?

I don't think that many Canadians would agree that every party is exactly the same.  In fact, every time Harper says what the Conservatives will do if elected, I'm reminded why I'm not going to vote Conservative.

Also, what does political freedom have to do with communism?  A lack of political freedom does not imply communism, although the reverse is more likely to be true.

[Hatman 🍁]

India - they have tons of Communist Parties that get elected

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

To clarify, I did not include Venezuela because of Chavez, but because they have a fairly large communist party and have for quite some time. Of course they are relatively moderate and probably to the right of Chavez, although I believe they support him. I also think they may have changed their name.

In Canada and Germany, they don't need communist parties. There is no such thing as communist "economics" so the issue is political freedom. Having a multiparty system is nice, but if all the parties are exactly the same... what difference does it make?

Except the parties aren't exactly the same Yes, the FDP sure is quite similar to the Left Party.

Plus under this logic, countries such as Iran and Singapore are communist. Hell, Pinochet's Chile was communist under this retarded definition (which doesn't even apply to the countries mentioned)

[Jake]

AuH2O is fairly correct in saying the SPD and CDU are very similar. You said yourself that the Left and FDP hardly matter as neither forms government or holds much power.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That sounds similar to that fu'cking idiot Ralph Nader's utterly moronic claim that the Republicans and Democrats are identical.

You could also expand this asinine definition to argue that Utah and Massachusetts are comunist because they have one party systems. Or maybe we can use the standard definition that communism is about economics and not political freedom.

[Jake]

He was not claiming that a one party government makes you communist. Only that when all parties support socialist (communist in his eyes) ideas, the country is socialist (or for him, communist). Please learn to read and comprehend.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

He was not claiming that a one party government makes you communist. Only that when all parties support socialist (communist in his eyes) ideas, the country is socialist (or for him, communist). Please learn to read and comprehend.

Then Canada sure as hell isn't communist as the Liberals are at the furthest right they've been in decades.

[Jake]

ok...

[© tweed]

One of the Scandinavian countries with the 48% income tax rates.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

One of the Scandinavian countries with the 48% income tax rates.

No Scandinavian countries have a strong communist party. The only one that historically has is Finland, and they got less than 1% in the last election. The strongest electoral result for any communist party recently was in the last Norwegian election, where they got 1.2%.

[© tweed]

One of the Scandinavian countries with the 48% income tax rates.

No Scandinavian countries have a strong communist party. The only one that historically has is Finland, and they got less than 1% in the last election.

That doesn't mean that they aren't somewhat similar to the communists in policy.

The Swedish Social Democrats (ie hardline socialists pretty much) have governed something like 70 of the last 80 years.

A communist party isn't really necessary when there's an infalible socialist party.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

One of the Scandinavian countries with the 48% income tax rates.

No Scandinavian countries have a strong communist party. The only one that historically has is Finland, and they got less than 1% in the last election.

That doesn't mean that they aren't somewhat similar to the communists in policy.

The Swedish Social Democrats (ie hardline socialists pretty much) have governed something like 70 of the last 80 years.

A communist party isn't really necessary when there's an infalible socialist party.

Ask Bono about how well the communists and socialists get along in Portugal. They hate each other. The socialists once set up a government with the most conservative party instead of with the communists. Also in Greece the only reason the conservatives are in power now is the three left wing parties (the socialists, moderate communists and communists) refused to cooperate.

Besides, the Scandinavian countries still have free markets, just with high taxes. That's not communism.

[AuH2O]

I don't consider "communism" to be about tax rates. Once you even have money at all, you aren't communist. There is no such thing as real "communism." There never ever was on a large scale.

Communism is really a frame of mind. It is fundamentally a sort of religion, only it is one that can be proven false, unlike others which are probably false but not demonstrably so.

This frame of mind is more prevalent in some countries than in others. The key indicator is the degree of ethnic or national identity; the lower the level, the more communist thinking predominates.

For instance, if someone considers themself a citizen of "the world," they are thinking in a communistic fashion. In Canada, it is illegal to critize immigration on the grounds that you are "inciting." Such a law is the implementation of communist policy. Raising taxes 5% might be dumb, but it isn't "communism" per se.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Where is this mentioned in Marx's writings?

[© tweed]

Besides, the Scandinavian countries still have free markets, just with high taxes. That's not communism.

That's the closest we have to communism on earth today, outside of southeast Asia.  The Scandinavian countries have the least free market of any mixed economies on the globe.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That's the closest we have to communism on earth today, outside of southeast Asia.  The Scandinavian countries have the least free market of any mixed economies on the globe.

Not at all. Northern European Socialism is a world away from Communism. Most Northern countries actually have less regulation and so on than distinctly un-Socialist countries like France.

[Gabu]

In Canada, it is illegal to critize immigration on the grounds that you are "inciting."

No it's not.  You made this comment earlier and I presented ample evidence against it.  Saying it again is not going to make it more true.

[AuH2O]

Where is this mentioned in Marx's writings?

It's all over the place. It's the whole premise of his work-- a revolution that eventually would have to be world-wide, because otherwise true communism would not be possible.

In his scheme, such that it was, "communism" would replace all existing religious and national institutions.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Except that doesn't make any sense to the many groups that have promoted both comunism and nationalism. Look at ETA and various IRA splinter factions.