Was Communism Doomed?: Human Nature, Psychology and the Communist Economy

285 Pages·2016·5.311 MB·English

by  Simon Kemp (auth.)

Was
Communism
Doomed?
HUMAN NATURE, PSYCHOLOGY AND
THE COMMUNIST ECONOMY
SIMON KEMP
Was Communism Doomed?

Simon   K emp
Was Communism
Doomed?
Human Nature, Psychology and the Communist
Economy
Simon   Kemp
Dept of Psychology
University of Canterbury
Christchurch , New Zealand
ISBN 978-3-319-32779-2 ISBN 978-3-319-32780-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32780-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016951314
© Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016
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Cover image © Jeff rey Blackler / Alamy Stock Photo
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Prefa ce
Th is book originated with a conversation with my friend Friedel Bolle.
Friedel worked as an economics professor—he is now emeritus—at the
Europa University Viadrina from shortly after the German reunifi cation.
Th e university is in Frankfurt an der Oder in the most eastern part of
present-day Germany. I had visited him there twice on lengthy visits
sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and had been
fascinated by the area and the remains of the old German Democratic
Republic. As Friedel knew well, and as I came to realise, the old communist
system there had been very largely a failure.
To get back to the conversation, for some reason that I have now
forgotten, I asked Friedel whether he thought a communist system could
ever be made to work. He thought not and I agreed. I asked him why
not, and he gave me two reasons—poor incentives and the coordination
problem. I too had two reasons, but they were not the same ones: I
thought of the lack of psychological ownership and learned helplessness.
What stuck in my mind, and what led me to write this book, was that
they were not the same reasons, and, quite simply, four fatal reasons
seemed too many. Much of the book discusses these four reasons, and
whether they really are fatal.
Apart from describing the origins of the book, I have another reason for
writing about our conversation. In my experience of reading books that
are based on psychology but also contain a social message, as this book
v
vi Preface
inevitably does, I have noticed that the science of psychology tends to
come out in support of the particular political or social objectives that the
author approves of. I make no claim that I have avoided bias in this book,
but I can at least alert you to what my bias is, or, more accurately, what
it was when I started to research the book. In brief, as you have probably
guessed from the preceding paragraph, I thought that communism was
a deeply fl awed system, and that attempts to implement it were likely
to be psychologically damaging to the unfortunate citizens of whatever
state tried it. Of course, despite this bias, I tried to approach the question
fairly. If you want to discover whether I have changed my views as a result
of the research I did for this book, you will have to read on.
I have mentioned that sponsorship, by way of renewed fellowships, from
the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation took me originally to Frankfurt
an der Oder and gave me the opportunity to learn something of how the
old German Democratic Republic had functioned. Th e Foundation also
supported a visit to the Institute for Economic and Social Psychology in
the University of Cologne in the spring and early summer of 2015, and I
wrote a good part of this book then. I am very grateful to the Foundation
for all of this support.
I am also grateful to the University of Canterbury for giving me the
time and facilities necessary to write this book. In addition, managerial
and governance experiences at my university provided many insights into
the diffi culty of making any reasonably sized organisation function.
M any people have put up with my talking about aspects of this book,
contributed ideas and anecdotes for it, and read drafts of it. For some
years, my fourth year class in economic psychology at the University of
Canterbury has patiently listened to me talk about bits of it, as well as
occasionally contributing essays on what might happen if New Zealand
elected a communist government. Th e comments of Lena Haarman
and a seminar group at the University of Cologne led me to rethink the
chapter on psychological ownership. My colleagues at the University of
Canterbury contributed both ideas and tolerance. Friedel Bolle read and
commented critically on the middle chapters of the book. Th ree busy
people at the University of Cologne—Detlef Fetchenhauer, Jens Klemke,
and Olga Stavrova—read through an entire fi rst draft, and I hope I have
been able to do their sensible suggestions some justice in the fi nal version.
Preface vii
Th ree anonymous reviewers commissioned by Palgrave Macmillan all
gave sympathetic and intelligent criticism on the proposal and some of
the chapters.
Paul Stevens, Nicola Jones, and Sharla Plant at Palgrave Macmillan
were consistently encouraging about the book: I was amazed to once
get an email reply from Sharla that was sent at 3 a.m. UK time. Th is
was impressive! I am also grateful to Eleanor Christie, Subramaniyan
Bhuvanalakshmi, and the production team.
Finally, I should like to thank my wife, Cora Baillie, for her never failing
interest and enthusiasm for the many aspects of the project that I have
talked about with her.
Christchurch , New Zealand Simon   Kemp

Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Th e Aims of Communism 5
3 What Is Success for a Communist Economic System? 29
4 A Short History of Communism 55
5 Possible Psychological Flaws in Communism 93
6 Th e Coordination Problem 105
7 Incentives 135
8 Psychological Ownership 167
9 Learned Helplessness, Locus of Control, Self-Effi cacy 195
ix