The Government of Canada (Sorry, the “Harper Government”) is providing $1.5 million in funding to a group titled Tribute to Liberty, who have plans to erect a “victims of communism” monument.  I am so saddened and disgusted by this, I’m going to have to take some time to calm down and think rationally about it in order to properly write about it.

To spend over a million dollars to erect such an illogical and hypocritical propagandistic symbol just outside of Parliament and beside a library is making me feel ill.  Just because there were nations in the past who both utilised communism and caused suffering, does not mean that communism caused suffering.  That is illogical.  If I started a country with a communist government, and decided I needed to slaughter the country next to mine, does that necessarily mean that communism is to blame?  No, it means that I’m a maniacal violent criminal of a leader.

Please people, educate yourselves.  It seems the federal government wants you to believe that communism is this terrible force that necessarily hurts people.  Why is this?  It seems foolish.

Communism is an idea, a model; for governance, economics, and other aspects of society.  It can be democratic and free, or anarchistic, or fascist and totalitarian, depending on who is utilising it.  Capitalism can also be fascist and totalitarian, depending on who utilises it. (Warning: link leads to leftist Analysis)

The Nazis and Soviets were also fascist and totalitarian, the two of which are terrifying; they did indeed cause a great amount of suffering to countless people.  Communism, however, is not necessarily to be feared, and works well as a means of production & governance for some aspects of our community or society.  To erect a monument which denounces communism in this way seems reminiscent of American cold war propaganda techniques.

I don’t necessarily agree with all points in this article (excerpt), (full article .pdf) but it is interesting and describes how our Free Software development methods more or less follow a communist model; it touches on current technology, the history of economics focusing on communism, and government.