A question and some responses from Salem Oregon Communists

A question was asked by an early-30's person - What are key things that people need to fully believe in politically to make them a potential communist?

What follows are some answers from Oregon socialists and communists:

*** I think of socialism as the legal and cultural extension of democracy into every sphere of life and the socialization-—putting wealth and administration under the legal and popular control of the democratic majority--of the means of production and distribution and decision-making.

I think of communism as the abolition of coercion, the free association of labor and people and the end of commodity production; and, therefore, the end of alienation in all of its forms on the basis of all that socialism has accomplished.

***Communism means the end of the profit motive. Workers will decide what to produce, ordinary people will decide how society is structured. The end of profits will work toward the end of national hostilities - perhaps the end of nations/national borders - and war, which are currently fueled by the pursuit of wealth. There will be global cooperation in all regards and an end to exploitation of people and the environment. There will be peace, a healthy environment, respect for our earth and nature and all people and life. What does a person have to believe? That this world is truly possible. How do we get there? There are strong debates on tactics and strategies; one is that the field in which we work should be as hospitable as possible to working to achieve socialism; some think that we get there by defeating the right through election of democrats who are left leaning; others think that this strategy is self-defeating, reformist, and only serves to dilute our work. Others remind us that we must alleviate immediate suffering wherever possible. Regardless of whether our tactics involve working for the defeat of the far right or whether we work for election of socialist or communist candidates, we always keep in mind our vision ... and live that vision and its values as much as possible every day...