Yes. That follows from basic economics: in order to induce people to be productive one has two and a half options:

#1: The proverbial stick. "If you don't work you'll That's modus operandi of slavery and feudal serfdom. That's also the most potent inducement all known to date socialist systems of government used, along with #2.5.

#2: The proverbial carrot. "If you work we'll give you something in return." That's how capitalism works.

#2.5: Brainwashing. "If you work your kids will live in communist paradise" (that's the remaining part of socialist inducement) or "It you work you'll be rewarded in the afterlife" (that's why monks work very hard) or "If you create a majestic sculpture the future generations will praise you forever" (that works for a tiny minority of jobs).

Karl Marx suggested that brainwashing alone is enough to run a fully satisfied society. That's his vision of communism: everybody works for no reason other than because the new generation of people would be selfless enough to work with neither reward nor punishment.

Of course that doesn't work and never will. Surely, scientists and artists and musicians and perhaps some engineers and doctors would work for the joy of it and for the altruistic benefit of humanity. But it's more difficult to convince 90% of humanity to do menial job for the sake of it.

And so every regime that proclaims itself "communist" rejects that awesome advance of capitalism over prior systems, the use of the carrot rather than the stick to induce production. Why should workers receive meaningful compensation for their work if they would just work for the sake of it, as Saint Marx promised? Let's nationalize everything and distribute things equally (except, of course, those who are doing the distributing, they surely need more than others). And, of course, production dwindles. And, of course, the regime reverts to the only inducement that remains: the stick.

I was born and raised in USSR. I saw what "socialism with communism on the horizon" really does. I know people from other similar regimes: China, etc. And I'm thoroughly horrified to see that the young generations of Americans are so clueless about what socialism is in practice and what the marxist ideology inevitably leads to that many of them actually believe in it. College students wear T-shirts with communist murderer Che Guevara, and applaud AOC for promoting "Democratic Socialism."

No, folks, there can be no such thing as "democratic" socialism, unless it's "socialism" in the name alone. Socialism and Communism reject the idea of the carrot, and therefore they inevitable fall back to the stick. Just as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" is neither "Democratic" no "People's", neither can be socialism or communism.

Yes. That follows from basic economics: in order to induce people to be productive one has only three options:

#1: The proverbial stick. "If you don't work you'll get hurt. That's the modus operandi of slavery and feudal serfdom. That's also the most potent inducement that all known to date socialist systems used, along with #3.

#2: The proverbial carrot. "If you work we'll give you something in return." That's how capitalism works.

#3: Brainwashing. "If you work your kids will live in communist paradise" (that's the remaining part of socialism systems' inducement) or "It you work you'll be rewarded in the afterlife" (that's why monks work) or "If you create a majestic sculpture the future generations will praise you forever" (that works for a tiny minority of jobs).

Karl Marx suggested that brainwashing alone is enough to run a fully satisfied society. That's his vision of communism: everybody works for no reason other than because the new generation of people will be selfless enough to work with neither reward nor punishment.

Of course that never worked. Surely, scientists and artists and musicians and perhaps some engineers and doctors would work for the joy of it and for the altruistic benefit of humanity. But it's more difficult to convince 90% of humanity to do menial job for the sake of it.

And so every regime that proclaims itself "communist" rejects that awesome advance of capitalism over prior systems, the use of the carrot rather than the stick to induce production. Their logic: "why should workers receive meaningful compensation for their work if they would just work for the sake of it, as Saint Marx promised? Let's nationalize everything and distribute things equally (except, of course, those who are doing the distributing, they surely need more than others)."

And, of course, as soon as the government redistributes wealth equally, production dwindles. And, of course, the regime reverts to the only inducement that remains: the stick.

I was born and raised in the USSR. I saw what "socialism with communism on the horizon" really does. Also, I have friends who came to US from several other similar regimes, and they all saw the same evil.

No, folks, there can be no such thing as "Democratic Socialism", unless it's either "Democratic" or "Socialism" in the name alone. Socialism and Communism reject the idea of the carrot, and therefore they inevitable fall back to the stick. Just as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" is neither "Democratic" no "People's", neither can be socialism or communism.