• unfreeradical@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Communism and capitalism are terms that describe structures of power in relation to the processes of production and distribution within society.

    Neither causes famine.

    The Soviet Union and China experienced severe hardships in the aftermaths of their civil wars, the scrambles for power, and the transformations past feudalism. The famines cannot be completely separated from the massive concentration of power within such societies, but neither can they be attributed to actual indifference or malevolence.

    No one wanted the famines to occur.

    In comparison, famines such as the Irish Potato Famine and the various famines under the British Raj in India are direct consequences of greed and cruelty.

    They were not prevented only because of desire not to prevent them.

    The concentration of power under Party rule is an appropriate target for criticism, but also is the similar, arguably even more serious, consolidation of power by contemporary corporate agribusiness.