Kim Jong Il just died and since I never really understand those at the extreme and violent left, I figured I should reflect, write, and share my thoughts on the kind of communism without an authoritarian coercive state.
The Beach (2000)
The Beach, a movie shown in 2000 starring Leonardo DiCaprio, based on a novel by Alex Garland (screenwriter of 28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go) and directed by the awesome Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millonaire), portrays a totally different kind of communism. Similar to North Korea, there is no money or profit. There is minimal regard to ownership but ideally everything is shared and publicly owned. It reminds me of anarcho-communism and the ideas of Peter Kropotkin and other "left-libertarians"; very different from the Leninist or Maoist interpretations of Marxism.
Their leadership was entirely voluntary, representative, and agreed upon. In fact, there really wasn't anyone who you could actually point out to be a leader. Sal was merely an arbiter, a referee of sorts (much like how a government ideally ought to be) who decided on matters of membership, protection from force or fraud, management of their sustainable trade system. Quite minimal and voluntary, in my opinion. You could say it's the opposite of the coercive authoritarianism of North Korea.
They achieved sustainability through hunting, fishing, agriculture. Another concept that made their society endure is their selling of the state-prohibited plant Marijauna in the mainland and trading it for basic necessities like soap, medicine, batteries, survival gear and supplies, etc. It's quite clear that these products and services are still and could only be provided by the capitalist society. Their primitivism and lack of technology is their downfall. When their friend got bitten by a shark, they couldn't do anything: no x-rays, no surgeons, no healthcare.
This concept of society is lovely, beautiful, and moving. A philosophy that is seemingly the true epitome of what freedom is; of what maximizes the value of life. It's interesting that even at such a young age, I've already been influenced by the anarchist writings of Bob Black (The Abolition of Work) and this kind of voluntary society somehow resonates with his ideologies. I love this movie. I am so absolutely in love with the philosophy behind it all. It's depressing, really.
I know it is inevitably short-lived. It cannot be sustained in higher populations. There will be absence of technology and innovation provided by the market economy, much like when China closed their doors to the world. It's all just a utopian dream. It is heartbreaking.
I'm going to Boracay on the 26th until the 30th. Perhaps one last bite of freedom, of life, all before the year ends. Yes, it's about time I start looking for work. This post, I guess, is just for all those on the left who think so highly of communism in the centralized bureaucratic planning sense, the Leninist/Maoist type, and just somehow share to them a different concept of "communism".
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