Capitalism and Communism are not the only possible forms of human organization.
So far so good
As a matter of fact, it can be argued that Capitalism and Socialism (the only kind of Communism for which there are historical records, AFAIK) are two competing and closely related patterns that happened to be dominant in the world during the second half of the 20th century.
Socialism is not a form of Communism, but the reverse. Other forms of Socialism besides Communism are in operational existence now, as well as being well attested in the historical record.
And, while Communism's peak was in the late 20th Century, Capitalisms was in the late 19th Century; by the mid-20th Century the influence of Socialist critiques of capitalism had largely seen it replaced by either non-Communist Socialist systems or mixed systems which blended elements of capitalism with elements of socialism (Communism itself mostly took hold in places where capitalism had never firmly established itself.)
I wonder what is your opinion on the similarities between American Capitalism vs USSR State Socialism during the cold war?
I'd say that a good point was made by Marxists I've known (not of the Leninist/Stalinist persuasion!) who referred to Soviet-style Communism as "State Capitalism" and traced the failure directly back to Leninist vanguardism recreating one of the central problems of capitalism in that it produced a narrow elite class that exercised control of the means of production and ordered society for its own benefit.
I would say that in many ways, during the Cold War, the "capitalist" mixed economies of the West -- even, though less so than some if its European allies, the US -- were more substantively socialist than the USSR and its allise following the same basic structural model.
Comments
So far so good
Socialism is not a form of Communism, but the reverse. Other forms of Socialism besides Communism are in operational existence now, as well as being well attested in the historical record.
And, while Communism's peak was in the late 20th Century, Capitalisms was in the late 19th Century; by the mid-20th Century the influence of Socialist critiques of capitalism had largely seen it replaced by either non-Communist Socialist systems or mixed systems which blended elements of capitalism with elements of socialism (Communism itself mostly took hold in places where capitalism had never firmly established itself.)
Ok, I stand corrected. This is not at all what I remember from my highschool/uni_101 classes, but it was 20 years ago.
I wonder what is your opinion on the similarities between American Capitalism vs USSR State Socialism during the cold war?
I'd say that a good point was made by Marxists I've known (not of the Leninist/Stalinist persuasion!) who referred to Soviet-style Communism as "State Capitalism" and traced the failure directly back to Leninist vanguardism recreating one of the central problems of capitalism in that it produced a narrow elite class that exercised control of the means of production and ordered society for its own benefit.
I would say that in many ways, during the Cold War, the "capitalist" mixed economies of the West -- even, though less so than some if its European allies, the US -- were more substantively socialist than the USSR and its allise following the same basic structural model.