The Soviet Union used the exploitation of workers under capitalism as an agitational issue to subvert Western democracies even as it practiced slave labor at home.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Communism didn't work because people weren't ready for it, it was corrupt, and because it squelched individualism.
Traditional Marxism attempted to argue against free enterprise by saying that capitalism causes poverty and that, therefore, socialism is necessary. That didn't work, because it was false.
Those of us who lived under communism for most of our lives were looking toward the Western world because of its values, emphasis on democracy, individual liberties and freedom, and economic prosperity.
Killing the private property-that was the center of the Marxist economy and Marxist ideology. That was the center of the Lenin ideology.
Communism brought out the worst in human nature and crippled people's ability or ambition to participate in a market economy.
The Soviet Union was a one-party state. In such states, enemies of the party become enemies of the state, and the state can punish with full weight of prosecution.
In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state's role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.
In the Cold War, a lot of Soviet actions could be explained as extensions of Czarist imperial ambitions, but that didn't stop us from studying Marxism in theory and Communism in practice to better understand that adversary.
Communism feeds on aggression, hatred, and the imprisonment of men's minds and souls. This shall not take root in the United States.
In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.