Toastmasters' Speech 2: Communist Democracy - A Dream

After I gave the speech today, I realized one thing - the writer in me is a lot better than the public speaker in me. I wonder if I should have chosen a lighter topic - something that did not make me refer to my notes constantly. Sigh! That's the way you learn, I guess. Nevertheless, here is the essay - 

“At 20, if you are not a communist, you don’t have a heart. At 50 if you are still one, you don’t have a brain” - so goes a saying. Let me try and present to you, the wisdom that goes behind this quote by talking about one of the most fascinating forms of government present today!

China, the fastest growing economy today, is also the largest communist nation in the world. Do you think its a coincidence? Everyone today talks about that country. It portrays itself as one of the most envious nations today - the place to be in the 21st century. I have read many articles about how the Chinese government did something proactively, because of which its economy was able to grow a lot. On almost all those occasions, I wished that the Indian government did something like that too - I wished that it would stop worrying about retaining power and start doing something to boost the economy so that I too could be proud like the Chinese seemed to be. For example, China has a one-child policy where people who have more than one child are subjected to extra tax by the government. I thought it was a brilliant policy to control population explosion and I wished that we had something similar here in India. As I realized later, I was only looking at the brighter side of such a system and ignoring the darker and murkier side of it.

For a long time, I could not really understand what Communism is all about? Finally, one simple sentence demystified it for me -  “Communism is a form of government in which all people are considered equal”. In theory, such a society strives for equal sharing of all work, according to ability, and all benefits, according to need. In fact, it is democracy in its purest form - there is no central government. All major decisions would be taken by the society as a whole.

In a communist government, the community, or, in other words, the government, owns the major “resources” and “the means of production”. The goal of such a system is to prevent any one person or group of people from becoming rich, while others are extremely poor. The system attempts to eliminate the rich-poor divide that is usually rampant in a democracy.

Isn’t it very appealing? Doesn’t it sound too good to be true? That is exactly what communism is! It is too good to be true. It is too good to be “practical”. It is a system designed for a perfect world, where everyone is an idealist. We are not in a perfect world, are we?

In communism, the power is vested in a group of people who decide the course of action. It is this group of people who decide on the activities of the public and this is where, I think,  communism fails in practise. They hold elections, but all candidates must belong to the one ruling party - thus the electorate really has no choice. Anyone who dares to speak out against them is subject to persecution, imprisonment, and/or execution. The people do not have a voice - there is no transparency in the doings of the government - entrepreneurship does not flourish - ironically, it degenerates into a form of dictatorship. The system which has its core belief in making sure that all the people are equal ends up in making all the people “equally powerless” except for those in power.

The government controlling the businesses means you cannot have a private sector at all. So it is not okay for anyone to be a shrewed business genius or a hard worker and make a lot of money. Imagine not being allowed to work over time in your office to earn some extra money and pay off your bills. Imagine having a world changing idea and having to give it up just because your government does not “want” you to change the world. Imagine the government controlling what search engine you can use on your computers and even what words you are allowed to use in your search queries.

I could not. I could not imagine living in such an environment. That was when I realized the power of democracy. That was when I realized the power of having the right to choose your own leader. That was when I realized the power of having the right to speech. If I make the same speech in a Toastmasters’ club in China, I am pretty sure that I will be put behind the bars.

I agree that democracy too has its own pitfalls. There can be no clear superior form of government. But, when it comes to choosing between living in a system that promises you the best economic figures and a system that guarantees that you will not be forced to do something against your will, I think, I will go for the latter.

Humans have come a long way in finding newer and more reliable ways of improving the quality of life over time. I hope a new system of “Communist Democracy” will arise in the future - one that combines the spirit and essence of communism and the flexibility and openness of democracy - one where my children - our children - can live happily.

Thank You.