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Communism

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Communism is a social and political movement inspired by Karl Marx's theory as it is revised by Vladimir Ulyianov (Vladimir Lenin). During the 20th century, communism, or communism theory is an alternative name for Marxism-Leninism.

Sometimes, the term communist theory is used to denote the study of social, economical and political problems from Marxist-Leninist point of view.

Communism, or communist society is the name of the social formation, which, according to Marxism-Leninism is a classless society in which all property is owned by the community as a whole and where all people enjoy equal social and economic status. According to Lenin's approach the first step of the long term process of developing a communist society is a revolutionary seizure of political power; in Marxist terms, the domination of the bourgeoisie is to be replaced by the domination of the working class. In Marxist literature this political stage is called the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Marxists believe that just as society has evolved from feudalism to capitalism, it will evolve into socialism and eventually communism.

Early Communism

Many western intellectuals have advocated ideas conceivably similar to Communism. In his 4th-century BC work The Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato proposed the communal ownership of property by an intellectual ruling class, to put the welfare of the state above personal desire and moderate the greed of the producing classes.

In 1534 John of Leyden turned the city of Munster into a commune called "New Jerusalem" in expectation of the Second Coming and introduced polygamy (going partway towards Plato's ideal) before the city was taken by a Catholic army, leading to a massacre. Thomas More's 16th century work Utopia depicted a society organized along communist lines.

The idea floated around during the Enlightenment, exerting varying amounts of influence on the philosophes. The greatest amount was on Rousseau, whose thought extensively influenced the French Revolution.

Many 19th Century idealists, disgusted by the ongoing oppression and decadence created by the Industrial Revolution, broke away from society to form short-lived communal utopias. An example was Robert Owen's New Harmony community in Indiana.

The Ideas of Marx and Engels

The ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, epitomized by their Communist Manifesto, transformed communism into a revolutionary movement. Marx and Engels claimed Communism did not have to occur in isolated communities, but could emerge globally. According to the Manifesto, all history can be explained in terms of class struggles. In each society, a small ruling class owned or controlled the means of production; the rest, who constituted the vast majority of people, owned and controlled very little.

During the current stage, capitalism, the dominant bourgeoisie (capitalists who controlled the means of production) exploited and oppressed the proletariat (industrial workers). Karl Marx in his work Das Kapital (see Labor theory of value for more) explains in detail how capitalists buy labor from workers, obtaining then the right to sell the productive result of labor at a profit; this, Marx believed, creates class stratification and an unjust, unsustainable distribution of wealth. Marx thought it was only a matter of time before the working classes of the world, realizing their common goals, would unite to overthrow the capitalists and redistribute the wealth. He felt the establishment of communism would be the inevitable outcome of a historical process.

According to Marx, capitalism would evolve into socialism and then eventually to communism. Marx specified a transitional period in which the workers would form a socialist society. A "temporary" dictatorship was seen to be needed to weild power during the transistion of the society into "true" Communism. This theoretically temporary stage has never had that desired effect, but rather remains in a state of totalitarian dictatorship, or has transitioned into to some form of democracy or capitalism.

Communist Countries and Governments

"Communist country" is a Cold War term used by the political analysts of the west (i.e. the part of the world having a capitalist economy and following the political leadership of the United States). However, the "communist countries" of the 20th century were not actually communist and did not label themselves as such, and calling them communist is a simplification. The "communist countries" were influenced by the regime of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which frequently diverged from Marxist communism. However, common characteristics of all "communist countries" include the leading position of a Marxist-type party in society and central planning of the economy, serving as a justification for the term "communist country".

Historians and political analysts still argue about whether aspects of many 20th century "communist countries", such as single-party rule or the human rights violations by Soviet apparatuses such as the KGB, Stasi (East Germany), or NKVD, were direct, unavoidable results of flaws in Marxist theory or were caused by unrelated historical incidents; the point is unresolved and is reinterpreted with each new political conflict. However regimes of this nature have been totalitarian, featuring absence or repression of free press, church, and independent labor unions, and have often committed human rights abuses, opponents of Communism see it as a dangerous ideology, similar in effect to fascism.

Marxists dispute this usage, reserving the term communism only for the final evolutionary stage of society (see socialism). In Marxism, communism refers to an ideal stateless, propertyless, and classless society with no oppression or exploitation and general abundance and freedom. This society would run in accord with the principle: To each according to their needs, from each according to their ability. A common exemplification of the concept is "if a successful architect is single, he only needs one loaf of bread a day, and if a member of the proletariat has seven children with his wife, they need nine loaves of bread a day; neither have to pay for the bread at the baker's, and they both ask for exactly as much bread as they need -- the same applies for any other property, such as the apartment or the car". Such a circumstance has never occurred, and the Marxist ideal of communism is often viewed as an unrealistic goal.

Many nations in the 20th century were run by such Communist Parties, who identified themselves as true communists implementing socialism, and declared to govern themselves according to Marxist principles. See Soviet Empire for the list of them.

For a general discussion of the practical consequences of communist rule, see communist government. For an exposition of the formal and semi-formal mechanisms of government and constitutional workings in communist countries, see communist state.

Usage of the term

According to the 1996 third edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage, communism is always written with a small "c". Big "C" Communism (and its related forms) refers to a political party of that name, a member of that party, or a government led by such a party.

See also

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