Article discreditng the thesis that Mao "killed millions of people" in The Great Leap

[FireIceTalon]

Actually, there's this thing known as the Bystander Effect. It's actually quite possible (and more likely) that noone does such a thing as more and more people are witness to such a thing.

Idk most of the time I see an accident, I see people helping (if I'm not doing so already). It might not have been the best example to use, but my larger point that people generally want to make society better still stands: We do it in our workplaces all the time - whether its delivering mail and packages, serving people food, fixing things, providing people with medicine if they get sick, cleaning toilets, or whatever. And we usually do it, as I said before, for very little incentive.

But I thought in a communistic society, noone owns anything

Communism abolishes private property, but respects personal property. There is a huge difference between these two things.

And in a that pure democracy. . .do you really trust the rest of your comrades to know what's best for you at all times? Do you know what's truly best for everyone else?

I think you are mixing up personal lifestyle with actual production process here. Regarding the former, so long as you dont partake in activities that would endanger or harm the community as a whole or any individual within, no one is going to care how you live your life - thats entirely up to you. Communism is a mode of production, not a set of lifestyles. It doesn't care what you do in your spare time because production is not for profit. Capitalism on the other hand, is very hostile towards certain types of lifestyles, and your lifestyle has to be lived in such a way that your goals and activities are dictated by the needs of the bourgeois.

The latter is a bit different, because yes, planning an economy and the production of goods does indeed require decision making. This happens NOW, but the difference is, you don't get to have ANY input on what is produced, when it is produced, how it is produced, or how much of it. Right now, you have ZERO decision on these things - as does just about every other worker. Your boss decides all that, in addition to when you can work and go home, how many hours your work, when you can take a break, and he/she can fire you for any reason (or no reason at all) at any time. In communism, everyone has input to all these things.

If you disagree with something, speak up, plead your case as to why you think a different course of action should be taken, and the community will consider it and decide if you are right or not. Yes, there will be times where we don't get our way. Thats just LIFE, and happens under ANY system. To think otherwise is completely a pipe dream. But at least in communism, you get to have input in the process.

Pure democracy is not "rule by the mob". It is a system combined with what is commonly known as direct democracy and Free Association. Not the same thing as "rule of the mob" at all. Just because there is no state, classes or hierarchy doesn't mean society is literally a 'free for all' and there is absolutely no structure whatsoever.

Personally, I don't think a Communist Society would be nearly as perfect as it seems you perceive it as for one very simple reason. It was created by imperfect people, and they won't be able to create a perfect thing. We never have. A Utopia sounds wonderful, but there are so many different types of people in the world, that one man's Utopia is another man's Hell.

Strawman. No one said it will be perfect (nor does it need to be) - just better (much better) than what we have now.

Thus, I don't think it's possible to create a single society that could make everyone satisfied

Why not? Everyones basic needs are provided for, which relieves the burden of working to survive and now they can partake in and direct production and activities in the direction of social improvement, instead of working for crumbs and worrying/hoping if they can pay the rent next month as they do now.

unless you also make everyone the same (including how they think

They won't always think the same, and they don't need to. Many people don't think the same now, yet we coexist and we make society run.

. . .and that sounds terrifying.

The world we live in now is far, far, far more terrifying if you ask me - the fact you can have your livlihood snatched from under you at any given moment if you show up 2 minutes late to work and your boss doesn't like you. That's pretty terrifying.

Becuase who (or what) would decide what that singular standard should be, and why should it be forced upon everyone regardless of how they like it?

These are problems we have now. Your boss decides what the "singular standard" (whatever that means exactly) is, and it IS indeed forced upon you, and all your co-workers - whether we like it or not. You are a cog in a profit making machine with utterly zero self-determination.