Communism is the great failed system of rule. Never before has a way of life risen and collapsed so quickly and so spectacularly. Compared to the works of communist's monarchy was an improvement. Matched only with despots on the scale of ruthlessness and vileness, Communist chairmen have caused human suffering greater then Hitler and the Third Reich. Stalin, Mao, and Ho Chi Minh were all madmen who surpassed the horrific levels of the most infamous rulers of all time: Ivan, Saddam, and Caligula were all nobodies compared to the rulers of the Soviet Union. How could communism even be considered a viable choice to Democracy; they shouldn't even be on the same page.
Communism isn't the same as Communism. Defined by Marx and Engels as a form of government born from the great class struggles of the industrial revolution, Communism is the fairest to live. With a government that provides for all, controls all wealth, distributes everything, how could it not work? Thus we have the Communist Revolution in Russia, a land where the proletariat was oppressed, lived without food and water, and forced to worship an ancient and outdated monarchy. The new United Soviet Socialist Republics was formed, an entity that would eventually swallow most of Eastern Europe and spread its influence into Asia and Africa. Communism, the system of government explained by Marx is not the type of Communism that came to power in Russia. According to Marx a Communist government is one that is run by the proletariat, which was initially true, but soon this small slice of the proletariat became a ruling class by default and began to bestow upon themselves the power and riches a ruling class should have. At this point, around the death of Lenin, Communism in the Marxist sense is dead in Russia; the new Communism is born.
Stalin was at the head of this movement and entrenched it in the Soviet Union. No longer was the proletariat in charge, it was now the Communist elite's, created by Lenin and spoiled by Stalin, who were in charge. As proof of this Lenin had written a letter in 1922 criticizing Stalin's record as General Secretary and recommended his removal from the Communist party. Stalin suppressed this testament after Lenin's death that year. 17 million people died under the purges during Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union and his brand of Communism was fostered around the world with men like Castro and Mao rising with him. From Stalin on most Communist leaders have fostered the doctrine of Stalinism, a repressive and dictatorial form of Communism. Stalin said it himself, "A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."
Communism doesn't work. It is that simple. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and those running the Communist governments around the world are no more then dressed up dictators ruling by absolute authority with no longer any connection to the working man or to the original revolution. Mao led famous purges to keep his authority over the peoples of China strong. More recent rulers of China have had a similar outlook, that communism must be upheld at all costs. The real question is, if the people don't want Communism, then it fails to be a government of the people. At least call it like it is...despotism. Fidel Castro has been repressing the voice of the Cuban people since the day his revolution took control of the island nation. Each ruler of North Korea has been worse then the last in starving the population. 't communism supposed to benefit the poor, the wretched?
Communism is no longer an innocent, untested idea worthy of our attention. Communism is a tried system of rule, one that failed the test. Communist nations are never Marxist for very long, eventually they begin to lapse into Stalinism, as the local population realizes the downside of Communism and those in charge begin to feel the will of the people change. Communism has failed in Russia, but not after killing seventeen million people. In China Communism no longer describes the free market economy, politically Communist country, its become a mix of Democracy and Communism. In North Korea Communism has become despotism lead by Kim Chong-Il. N. Korea is defined by the CIA as an authoritarian socialist, one-man dictatorship. It has been proven, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, that Communism doesn't work as a government. In the countries it has been installed, Communism has ruined their economies, oppressed the indigenous people, destroyed religious and non-communist cultural achievements and turned them into a military state. To debate the merits of Communism is to debate the merits of absolute rule.