The Allure Of Communism

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe situation in the world today already shows us that unification is worthwhile. It is indeed feasible for us to connect and to care about one another. We would benefit if we organized a fair system in which every individual works according to his abilities and gets as much as he or she needs, and not more.

Actually, what can be better than that? It is a very simple and sensible formula. Even children are impressed by this idea. You should see with what joy and enthusiasm they read about it because it is like a fairy tale that they want to come true.

But here several questions arise. First, why aren’t we like that to begin with? Why did nature initially make us corrupt? Second, can we attain this using our own power? And third, why haven’t we done it until now? Didn’t we see the benefit in such a life from the beginning?

Actually, this is exactly how people used to live ages ago. A communist society was the first phase in human civilization. The first humans who climbed down from the trees were communists: They shared everything, and they all lived like one family, each working for its welfare.

However, later the world developed in the opposite direction. We can only long for the blissful, innocent days of the past. Everything was so simple then: Every tribe used to hunt some mammoth and eat it together. No one even imagined cheating anyone else and taking more than his share. People felt that they were a single whole, and this feeling was preserved until the days of ancient Babel.

What happened afterwards? Is it possible to return to the way it used to be? No one agrees to that. On the contrary, our life tends to be totally opposite: We are detached, we isolate ourselves from one another. People get divorced, everyone needs a room of his own, his own place…. And so it follows that we will not be able to return to the same naive altruism. We see that it is against evolution. We can learn this from the sad examples of the Soviet Union and the kibbutzim (collective agricultural communities in Israel).

So what can we do? The global crisis has shown us clearly that we depend on one another and are tied to one another like cogwheels. On the other hand, we hate one another, we can’t stand each another; everybody would like to be all alone in the whole world just so that the others wouldn’t disturb him. How is it possible to combine these two trends?

This is the problem the world is facing today. Discount rate manipulations will not suffice. The economy reflects the connection between us. So how can we direct it towards mutual cooperation?

We see, for example, that Germany is bailing out Greece only because at the moment it is cheaper than throwing the Greeks to the wolves. This is how the Creator plays with us, until we abandon all the old methods and find a true solution.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/2/2011, “Peace in the World”

Related Material:
Big Things Begin With Small Steps
The Question That Weighs Down The Masses
No Longer Barbarians, But Not Yet Altruists

2 Comments

  1. By my humble opinion, Comunism did`nt work cause we were lasy.

  2. By my opinion, Communism did not work because the altruistic part of us is needed to make it work does not really exist; altruism is not natural. Altruism is our self critique, but Egoism is natural. We are by nature dark. Communism aspires to train humanity and re-educate them into something they are not so that “each produces according to their ability and each acquires according to their need”, but has always and will always fail in its execution. Communistic hopefuls must think humanity’s ‘tabula rasa’ is so blank that under the right conditions, a human angelic being could be raised. This simply is not so. We are apes out of the jungle, albeit more noble in that we know what good is or ought to be, yet we that good Altruistic cord is always out of reach. Egoism is our cord, and altruism remains an esoteric critique. An angelic state of being is simply not part of our DNA in this Age.

    Therefore whenever and wherever Communism is tried, the ambitious will always attain the reigns of power, and absolute despotism will follow.

    I do not have the answer for which system is perfect. As long as man is imperfect, any system man uses will be imperfect. As such, we need a checks and balance system to minimize and slow the bad. The only way a checks and balance system can work is if there is a certain amount of attainable equality in the material world; i.e. property should be sacrosanct, and money should not be centrally controlled. To achieve more than this is to cut too much, and over correct.

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