Dictator

The first question that came through my mind when I read this book of Barbara Demick was: Which component of the system caused the tragedy?

Specifically, was it communism, or was it dictatorship?

My initial naïve idea was: It got to be communism.

The arugment is simple: When every farm and factory is owned by the country, who would have the interest to work hard?

But, in no time I realized I might be wrong. Communism will always end up with dictatorship. (If you find the causal relationship not immediately obvious, go read The Road to Serfdom of F.A. Hayek. Or, just consider this: The two only species that follow truly communisum are ant and bee; both of them need a superior queen as the head of their society.)

And, it seems needless to explain why dictatorship commonly results in tragedy: Although a democratic leader and a Nazi tyrant are equally like to make a wrong decision, only the latter would have a chance to make bad ones repeatedly.

Alas, but, what would happen if a communist country has such a good luck and find a brilliant dictator?

Well, in that case, I’m sure this very leader would bring an end to Karl Marx’s theory.

Don’t you remember Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiao-Ping?