The most common and simple explanation for why communism failed is that people are greedy. This is a gross simplification but does contain some truth. Communism failed to provide incentives for workers and citizens to work hard and be productive. While there are many benefits from equality, if pushed to an extreme it robs people of an incentive to make an effort. There was little if any reward for hard work or innovation and a lack of punishment for poor or inefficient work. The lack of incentives was a major reason for the poor performance of Eastern Europe economies. Why bother working hard if the reward was the same as doing the bare minimal? The lack of incentives was system … Continue reading “Why Did Communism Fail? #3 – Incentives”
Tag: Communism
Misunderstanding Hayek And The Road To Serfdom
“The Road To Serfdom” by Fredrick Hayek is a disappointing book. Conservative bloggers often race about it claiming it has great insights into modern politics. While I disagree with the Austrian school of economics I read it to here the other point of view. I found it a boring, out dated book that didn’t have anything particularly original or insightful to say. It’s mainly concerned with saying a totalitarian state where the government controls everything doesn’t work (you don’t say). The book might have been relevant when it was published, but I am at a loss to see its use today. I think to a large extent Hayek has been misunderstood. I have regularly heard people use Hayek to criticize … Continue reading “Misunderstanding Hayek And The Road To Serfdom”
Stalin, Atheism And Communism
It has been often claimed that atheism leads to death of millions of people. Some argue that we need only look at the rule of Stalin or Mao or Pol Pot to see what happens when religion is removed from society. However, this is missing the point. They killed people because they were paranoid dictators. They lack of religious beliefs is irrelevant. In fact most of the victims died because their economic policies led to famines and mass starvations. This is an indictment of Communism, not atheism. It is estimated that Stalin is responsible for the deaths of 43 million people and the Soviet Union as a whole for 63 million. If you break down these numbers, you see 8 … Continue reading “Stalin, Atheism And Communism”