Q&A: "What Countries Are Still Communist Today?"

Q&A: "What Countries Are Still Communist Today?"

Originally January 16, 2019

No country on Earth today can tout a true system of communism. The Soviet Union had a socialist system; its leaders claimed that before converting to pure communism, the country would have to endure a transitionary stage of government called socialism. Thus, when most people think of communism, they think of the old USSR and other governments modeled after it. Rather, real communism exists only in the writings of Marx and Engels. 

Nowadays, only a handful of sovereign states call themselves anything close to communism, be it the Soviet style or real kind. Usually, their governments actually look very different than what communism entails. This goes along with how red countries often call themselves things like a “democratic people’s republic.” Freedom has no place in these nations, ruled by tyrants...

For example, North Korea--formally named the Democratic People's Republic of Korea--claims to embrace communism, and yet the government there looks more like a totalitarian monarchy. Three generations of rulers have followed since Kim Il-Sung assumed control after World War 2, all from the same family line. Military concerns trump all others, sometimes at the expense of concerns like food.  Wealth reaches the members of its society disproportionately, and they hardly have any wealth to begin with. In theory, the government in this socialist paradise provides everything: housing, healthcare, jobs, all made possible by a bustling planned economy. Realistically, very little economic activity coordinated by Pyongyang goes on. Instead, citizens find ways to make money on their own: sell drugs, prostitution, sell foreign media, it could be anything. Ergo, the country actually has a lot of free market activity. Methamphetamine has a strong hold in North Korean society. Peasants use the drug to not feel hungry and work despite malnourishment. No rights for anybody exist in this place, unless you hail from the very few who rule this land. The leaders here went far beyond what Russia or even China ever tried to do; brutal torture, extensive surveillance, and a cult surrounding its glorious leader all prevail.  

 Cuba has a socialist style of state, adhering somewhat to quasi-communist principles. Among the remaining "communists," it probably has the most prosperous society, save for China. Saying that should show how badly the countries that aligned themselves with Moscow have it today. Ever since Fidel's brother assumed control after the decades-long presidente stepped down in 2008, the government looks more and more like a monarchy. The job market doesn't look too promising for anybody given that the nation has a maximum wage of $20 per month. Apparently doctors, lawyers, and the like may make maybe $10 more every month but not much more. Even the Soviet Union never had such a thing as "maximum wage" after some experimentation early, early on. Theoretically, the government should provide its people all basic goods and services, including healthcare. Yet Cubans who seek medical treatment find that they often have to pay for amenities as basic as bedsheets. Materially, the country has very little--shortages of essential items like soap can happen often. Though most of the population lives in this miserable poverty, a very few elite connected to the government lead a more affluent lifestyle. In the last decade or so, the communist island has opened up internationally, warming relations with the United States in particular. Tourists from places like Spain visit designated vacation areas in the country, enjoying the beautiful climate and landscape without having to come too close to the impoverished people who inhabit it. 

Laos, an oft-forgotten landlocked Southeast Asian state, considers itself communist; instead, their government looks more like a military dictatorship. Only one party legally exists. Almost everyone here lives in poverty, though it has seen some relatively fast economic growth in recent years, possibly because it eased its restrictions on international trade. Perhaps 80% of the population works on farms which produce just enough for them to survive. Laos denies its people even the simplest of human rights, like free speech. Tens of thousands of citizens "disappear" each year, presumably at the hands of the powers that be.

Vietnam also falls under the banner of contemporary communists, yet doesn't look like it at all. The United States didn't need to fight this country for nearly a decade: instead, they should've just waited it out and saved the money, shame, and bloodshed. By 1992, amendments to the constitution allowed for private ownership of property for citizens and foreign investors. Each year it eased its strict socialist stance until now it operates with several hallmarks of a free market economy appearing since reforms made in the 1980s. Vietnamese citizens do not find themselves given to the freedoms guaranteed to Americans by the First Amendment. Though a less controlling regime than other communist countries, the Vietnamese government does a lot of repressing free speech and religious practice. They treat certain minorities unfairly and have been accused of other humans rights abuses by some.

The biggest fraud of the contemporary communist club though: China. This gigantic state has all the lack of freedom inherent in the old communist countries, but it operates extensively via free market practices. The Communist Party runs Beijing as well as every local level of government. Free speech, expression, religion, the ability to browse the internet freely...the list goes on of things that the Chinese leaders do not permit. Yet when it comes to the economy, China couldn't be any less communist and egalitarian. Not all Chinese people have health insurance--and yes, it has health insurance rather than free healthcare provided by the state. The 5% of the country uninsured actually means that a higher percentage of its people have a health plan than in the United States, where more than 10% lack a plan; nonetheless, no communist or even socialist system can have private healthcare like that. Private enterprises have popped up all across China, rapidly transforming the face of the economy. This new wave of wealth has created for the first time a middle class in Chinese society. The shift to this type of economy began when China opened up trade with the United States and others despite its communist flag. Trade meant that wealth would trickle in the country slowly, and it would not make its way around to everyone equally.

In some ways, the countries coming closest to true communism would never call themselves that. And yet, some European countries have the essentials: an egalitarian society, free elections, social benefits to help those in need, prosperous economies…Norway comes to mind first. The Soviet perversion of communism hahttps://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/Government-and-society

s tarnished not only the idea itself, but also anything that pundits can loosely attach to that description. Democratic socialism, a more viable and pragmatic realization of the vision somewhat espoused by Marx, does not share the same characteristics as Maoism or the country Stalin ran. Perhaps the way to a truly equal society doesn’t derive from sudden revolution like Marx envisioned, but rather gradual and peaceful evolution as has taken place in much of Western Europe and Canada. After all, incrementalism has a shown track record. Unfortunately, so does the persistence of injustice. 

Works Cited:

North Korea Info

http://www.researchomatic.com/North-Korea-And-Totalitarian-104923.html

Cuba Info:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/05/13/life-under-cuban-communism/?utm_term=.9d349073fbb3

Vietnam Info:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/Government-and-society