Copyrighted material :)

Well...I obviously didn't save the whole thing (or I need to find more of it somewhere...) Here's the rest I've found so far:
Communism
Three main beliefs surround communism and have shaped the perceptions and biases of the world today. The first is the original theory presented by Karl Marx. A communist society was presented as a utopia in which every person was completely equal in every possible way, and the majority of the people would have a voice in the government. The next theory to arise about communism came to pass because of its theoretical implementation in various countries. This theory presented communism as having very centralized control in the hands of a few while promoting social goods. The third is communism as viewed by Western societies. Communism is the exact opposite of capitalist and democratic societies, so it is viewed as a threatening being; it is a zero-sum game.
It is these theories that get tossed around in discussions, and each person is arguing from a different perspective. It is these biases and perspectives that have kept countries from communicating properly; it is these biases and perspectives that froze the development process in order to push forth an ideology. Without recognizing that these different perspectives exist and understanding the reasons behind each idea, it is impossible for the global community to address issues pertinent to the new global society.
Karl Marx introduced the idea of communism in the 19^th century as a way to understand individual motives and behavior and how they affect the consequences for the whole of society. He also believed the overthrow of the upper classes would occur due to certain inherent flaws in the capitalist system, which would provide the masses to control the economy and government as opposed to the select few. The combination of involving individuals in a society governed by equality, and the majority would provide the basis for a new economic and government structure.
Marx argued that individuals retain their identities within society under the new communal government. In fact, he believed it was probably more likely that they could become truly individuals because of the communal society. The pressures people are under in a capitalist society to consume the “best” items cause individuals to lose their identity. However, he did understand that decisions that individuals make affect the individuals but may also change the pattern of existence for all members of that society. In this way, some individuality would be lost. For example, if a man owns a cow that provides most of the milk for his village, and he decides to sell it one day for a bicycle, he is causing the rest of his neighbors to lose their supply of milk. Even though he had the right to make that decision, Marx argues that it is necessary to look with the larger picture and community in order to make decisions. With this in mind, Marx believed that it was necessary to begin to work together more strategically for the good of society.
Another problem that Marx found within an extremely individualistic society is belief that individuals who control capital and resources within a country have the greatest claim to its product. For example, a car manufacturer may control the machinery, but numerous people have worked to put the parts together. Even prior to that, numerous people worked to make those same parts. Yet it is the person controlling the capital that receives credit. In this way, he argued that people had less of a vested interest in the quality of a good because they were given no credit for its quality anyway.
When it came to the actual implementation of communism, however, it was often implemented in a way that brought immense control to a select few. Rather than relying on communities and group decision-making, the decisions were made by a centralized government that was often far-removed from its constituency. While services were provided to all in the spirit of equality, decisions made thousands of miles away often wreaked greater havoc upon the lives of the working classes. This is the communist idea of the former Soviet Union and the way it had most frequently been implemented.
The rate of development of such countries is quite impressive. Purely from an economic theory, the forced savings rates, rapid industrialization, and extraction policies gave such countries a strong economic base. The leaders of the Soviet Union believed they would quickly surpass Great Britain in per capita income because of the impressive growth rate. Social policies were also impressively and quickly added to the agenda. Healthcare costs decreased and education was much more accessible to the average population.
Unfortunately, to solidify the necessary power to so quickly implement such policies led the suppression of free speech and action. Any person or group suspected of working against the government was harshly suppressed to such a point that the majority of educated people in the country were killed or sent to work camps whether or not they had shown anti-governmental tendencies. With the educated workforce practically eliminated, it was difficult to continue the pattern of growth.
Another difficulty in continuing the pattern of growth was the centralized decision-making. With one governmental headquarters controlling all the decision-making, it is unlikely that the government can fully aware of the needs of each community, particularly in the cases of such large countries as the Soviet Union and China. A decision that makes sense for an area with a verdant coastline would not be appropriate for mountainous areas. Without planning based on various regional needs, the rate of development could not be sustained. While Marx’s ideals were the basis for many communist societies, the implementation of these ideals too often took a form that eventually economically devastated the country.
The final theory about communism is the idea pushed from Western societies. Most of these countries are capitalist and democratic and view the ideals of communism as enemy of their ways of life. While some Western societies lean closer to communism with the belief in social welfare as an inherent right, none of these countries have tried to nationalize as many goods and services as well as promote full equality. It is believed that the inequality within these societies is what pushes forward the entrepreneurial spirit because each person strives to attain a higher level in society.
It is the individual ideal of Western societies that seems directly in conflict with communism as it has been realized. Societies built upon the belief that is hard work and individual effort that provides for success within the community are in direct conflict with societies in which community decisions provide a greater influence. Part of this conflict stems from the desire to show individual achievement. Under a capitalist society, achievements are often recognized by monetary gain, which then transforms into consumer gain. Under communism, individuals have quite similar levels of financial gain, and the government equally provides for each person. Some fear that the individual is lost in such a situation because they are just one of many.
Another part of the Western perception of communism is the lack of transparency and democracy. As stated above, most Western societies are democratically elected (or mostly democratically elected), and communist countries have not been. By the nature of the worker revolution, it is necessary for the communist party to remain in power to retain such a form of government, so opposition cannot be allowed. The system would ultimately fail if another party came to power. The idea that an undemocratically elected government could succeed threatens the very base of most Western societies.
Finally, the system of communism is often viewed as stemming from violent revolutions. While Marx can be cited as promoting both violent and non-violent revolutions (Waller: 1972, 94), the rhetoric most frequently used is that of the need for the working classes to begin an uprising against the oppressive upper classes. The instability that ensues from revolutionary activity threatens the security of nations and people’s property because of the economic uncertainty and frequent seizing of private property. From a Western perspective, the seizing of foreign nationals’ property is unjustified and threatens their well-being. For all of these reasons, this third view of communism views the system harshly and cannot accept it as an equal idea.
Cuba’s entrance upon the world scene as a communist society appears to have begun without that intention. Fidel Castro believed that the regime in power at the time under General Batista was corrupt and unjust. His original goal was to merely displace that government and bring to Cuba a more equal society with a democratically elected government.
The first steps Castro took once he solidified his power and support certainly angered the wealthy and large companies, but they were steps that worked toward his goal of providing a more equal society for the common citizen. He began by reducing rent and electricity rates. He also cancelled concessions that had previously been granted to an American telephone company and implemented a tax on the exportation of minerals. Finally, he created the Agrarian Reform Law by taking large areas of land and turning them into state farms and co-ops. All of these steps really angered the U.S. because much of these conditions took away from its interests, which began the tension in relations between the two countries.
The Agrarian Reform Law was by far the measure taken that appeared to lead right into communism. By invoking the former constitution (Constitution of 1940), Castro argued that people with such large plots of land had them illegally because of the limits the constitution had placed on the amount one plot could be. He proceeded to turn these large plots of land into state farms and co-ops in which the only difference was that state farms provided all necessary items to their members while members of the co-ops received only free land.
While often such communal farms are often cited as a flaw within the communist system because of the lack of incentives to work hard, Castro believed just the opposite. He felt that with so many different owners of land and so many different priorities, development would never be able to occur. Additional technology and the mechanization of the farming process would only occur with state-provided capital because no one else would have the financial means to do so on their own.
Looking through Castro’s own words, much of the draw towards communism and away from democracy was his belief that the democratic countries, and particularly the U.S., were aggressive and not looking for a peaceful resolution. “The U.S. government says that a socialist regime here threatens U.S. security. But what threatens the security of the North American people is the aggressive policy of the warmongers of the United States” (Kenner: 1969, 88).
The case of the United States and communism is one of fear and distrust. The history of the communist movement within the U.S. is rarely even discussed because of the sensitivity to the subject. Immediately after WWII, fear and suspicion arose within the country as well as to the outside world. It is this case that most directly affected and affects the development of communist societies as well as global security.

i promise i will read it.

Please don't judge me based on this writing. I read back trhough it, and it MUST have been an early draft. The writing is not so hot!

I shall read it when I get home from work tonight, ther is alot of it!

Have you guys read anything by Mises or Böhm-Bawerk?