Ban Communism by Sauvik Chakraverti
Dec 29, 2005, 07.49pm IST Times of India
Communists despise private property and idealise commonly held property. But I'll bet Brinda and Prakash Karat don't share a toothbrush.
So let us conduct a "reductio" thought experiment as to what would happen in a city if private property were abolished and all property declared to be held in common.
Well, the first thing that would happen is that everyone would stop working. If someone needed something he would simply go to the house or shop where the object of his desire was located and demand it in the name of communist brotherhood.
Within a few days of the establishment of the communist fraternity, all shops would be stripped bare, as would be all the mansions of the rich. All economic activity would come to a standstill.
The redistribution of all property in the name of communism would lead to the "levelling down" of all the members of the commune.
Further, instead of the polite civilisation that existed previously, bound by the "natural law" of private property rights, the commies would soon descend to barbarism — snatch, grab, loot, scoot.
Observing markets easily reveals the natural law of property at work. When a fisherman returns from the sea, no one forcibly takes fish away from him because the ocean has not furnished him with a title deed to his catch.
No one snatches bananas from any of the millions of fruit vendors. Look at any big market and you will see thousands engaging in the great game of trade, respecting private property rights.
If this natural law was overthrown, man would be reduced to the status of ape. Indian commies do not practise what they preach to the level of the above 'reductio ad absurdum'.
They idealise some supposedly commonly-held properties, especially the state-owned industrial sector. However, these are all really "private properties" in the control of individuals or groups claiming to represent the public.
The minister's official bungalow is his "private property". We (sic) the people cannot enter it freely. The PSU is the minister's fiefdom.
Neither are "common property" in the sense that the term would be used for a public thoroughfare or a public park, which all can use. Thus, communism is so totally wrong, it should be banned.
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