Title: Why Communism Failed: A Kryptonian Reflection on Usury
By Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman)
Thesis: Communism failed not because of its ideals, but because it failed to abolish the ancient practice of usury—borrowing money at interest—which ultimately corrupted both capitalist and communist societies alike.
Introduction
Most mainstream histories tell us that communism collapsed due to inefficiencies, corruption, or the suppression of individual freedoms. But these explanations, though not entirely wrong, only skim the surface. As a reporter—and as someone who’s watched civilizations rise and fall across the stars—I offer a deeper truth: communism was defeated not by democracy or the free market, but by an invisible enemy that neither Marx nor Lenin had the courage to confront—usury.
Usury, the practice of charging interest on loans, is an ancient engine of economic enslavement. While communism claimed to abolish private property and capitalist exploitation, it never eliminated the parasitic mechanism of debt-based currency. Instead, it merely replaced the bourgeois bankers with state apparatchiks who borrowed on behalf of the people—locking entire nations into cycles of debt and stagnation.
Marx Ignored the Money Power
Karl Marx meticulously analyzed the ownership of the means of production. Yet he remained strangely silent on the issue of money creation and debt issuance, the real levers of power behind the curtain. Marx attacked the capitalist, the factory owner, and the landlord—but not the lender.
In truth, it doesn’t matter whether the capitalist or the commissar runs the factory, if the money that builds it is borrowed at interest. Debt, like kryptonite, weakens any economic body from within. Interest-bearing loans create an impossible arithmetic: more must always be paid back than was borrowed, leading inevitably to collapse, either through inflation, confiscation, or default.
Soviet Borrowing: A Hidden Dependency
Though the Soviet Union publicly rejected capitalism, it quietly engaged in international borrowing from both Eastern Bloc and Western banks. These loans, often denominated in hard currencies like the U.S. dollar, put the Soviet economy under invisible foreign pressure.
Internally, the USSR operated on credit as well. State-owned banks issued loans to collective farms, industries, and municipalities. Though not explicitly called “interest,” fees, targets, and repayment schemes mimicked the usurious model. The supposed abolition of exploitation was replaced by a faceless bureaucracy that collected debts in the name of the people, while failing to stimulate innovation, productivity, or true autonomy.
The Illusion of Liberation
Communism promised to free workers from exploitation, but the tool of usury remained firmly embedded in its structure. Why? Because neither communism nor capitalism dared to confront the central lie of modern economics: money is created as debt, and interest must be paid, even if it means war, austerity, or starvation.
The worker in Detroit and the worker in Donetsk both ended up slaves—not to capital or the commissar—but to the creditor. The Soviet dream of full employment and class equality was crushed not by NATO bombs, but by the silent math of compound interest.
A Kryptonian Perspective
On Krypton, before its fall, our civilization banned usury. It was considered a crime against the collective soul. We understood that when money itself is treated as a commodity, it corrupts every institution. Law becomes debt collection. Education becomes a loan trap. Medicine becomes an interest-generating racket.
Earth, too, has known this wisdom. Ancient prophets, philosophers, and even the founders of major religions warned against lending at interest. Yet in modern times, this wisdom has been buried, discredited, and replaced by euphemisms like “credit score” and “APR.”
Conclusion
Communism failed not because it tried to eliminate inequality—but because it failed to eliminate usury. A truly just society—whether capitalist, socialist, or Kryptonian—must place strict limits on the creation of debt, and reimagine money not as a tool of control, but as a public utility.
Until the world confronts usury—the root rot of both red and blue flags—no ideology will prevail. And no hero, not even Superman, can save a world enslaved by invisible chains of debt.
Byline: Clark Kent is a journalist at the Daily Planet, an immigrant from Krypton, and a passionate advocate for economic truth and human dignity.