Comment: I want to comment on Trump’s speech about “communism and socialism”. Trump seems very comfortable speaking to people who operate at his level and you can see it looking at their reactions. This, however, is not politics, this is called manipulation. It only works, when the listeners operate at or below the level of the speaker.

Now, on the topic: Communism and socialism are not the same thing. Socialism is a social and economic system in which people (at least in theory) are the beneficiaries. Communism is the power structure that allows this system to be implemented and controlled centrally. In essence, communism is the totalitarian and repressive power system, while socialism (in theory) protects the consumers. Capitalism, on the other hand, is a system that benefits private owners and investors at the expense of the public, citizens, taxpayers, and voters. Each system can be abused, and it happens more than often. Each system represses its opposition. Somehow, it always ends up that way.

I grew up, went to schools, and worked in a communist Poland until I was 34 (in 1984). I took part in the original “Solidarity” movement in early 1980s, when we tried to shake off the Soviet era distortions of what socialism was supposed to be. After the martial law (1981 – 83), “Solidarity was taken over by its leftist wing that joined the communists and formed the “new” government. I could not return to my teaching job and could not find any employment. As a result, I emigrated to Canada. Here I have worked and retired in 2015.

My question today is, “Do I prefer communism or do I prefer predatory capitalism?” My answer is, “Neither. Both are bad for you.”

In my opinion, an ideal system would be a mixture of these two – a highly controlled capitalism that is not allowed to go predatory. A balance of power between socialism and capitalism. We had such model is Sweden for a while. Now, I think, Russia is on its way to balance the two, cultural right with social left. This is why it is being attacked by both, the pure global left and the pure global right. In practice, however, most people always support a system that gives them higher material and physical standard of living. Damn spirituality and abstract theories, damn ideologies, we act like animals, no matter which ZOO we are being placed in. This is the instrument that Trump is playing on.