Anti-communism

In some of the earlier 19th century usages anti-communism referred to people opposed to the growth of independant, self-reliant and often religious communities such as the Oneida and Amana communities. This kind of anti-communism had an influence on the movement of the Mormons from Illinois to Utah.

In due course the term Anti-communism evolved to mean opposition to communist ideology, organisation or government, on either a theoretical or practical level.

The basis of anti-communism is sometimes claimed to lie in perceived contradictions or errors within communist theory and gaps between communist theory and practice, though most anti-communists will tend to find the theory as objectionable as its adherents' actions in power. Some anti-communists consider Communism a variant of fascism and refer to both Communism and fascism as totalitarianism.

Many anti-communists also regard the lack of property rights and economic freedom under communism as taking away fundamental human rights.

Objections to Communist theory

Communism's theoretical basis is dialectical materialism, which is predicated on the assumption that there is no God, that spirit is generated by matter, and that all progress and development in both nature and human society comes about through contradiction. For religious believers, communism's atheism is anathema.

The other central part of Karl Marx's communist theory is historical materialism, which states that human society must necessarily evolve through historical stages, with each transition to the next stage (except the last) involving the overthrow of the existing socio-economic order. The next step after capitalism is socialism, followed ultimately by communism.

Most anti-communists reject the entire concept of historical materialism, or at least do not belive that socialism and communism must follow after capitalism. Some anti-communistis question how and why socialism is supposed to "wither away" into true communism without struggle.

Another perceived error is in communist economic theory, which predicts that in countries with free-market economies ("capitalist society"), the rich will inevitably get richer and the poor will get poorer. Anti-communists point to the overall rise in standard of living in the industrialized West as proof that contrary to Marx's prediction, both the rich and poor have steadily gotten richer.

Promise and Practice

Anti-communist also object to the actual practices of communist governments. Communist parties (sometimes combined with left socialist parties as workers' parties) which have come to power have tended to be rigidly intolerant of political opposition. No communist country has shown signs of advancing from Marx's "socialist" stage of economy to a "communist" stage. Rather, communist governments have been accused of creating a new ruling class (called by Russians the nomenklatura) with privileges parallel to those in the overthrown "capitalist" societies.

Another criticism of communism is its history of internal repression. Stalin's Soviet regime presided over millions of civilian deaths in purges and famine, as later Russian governments admitted. In China, Mao Zedong's regime is accused of more extensive bloodshed, compounded by the disruption of economic life through ill-judged revolutionary experiments (See Cultural Revolution). Vietnam and North Korea have also made use of reeducation camps.

Repression, of course is not unique to communist regimes. Under slavery, colonialism and later imperialism (which some argue still continues), western powers also have a record of; denial of political or labour rights, racism, oppression and violence, support for governments which presided over mass killings, torture and detention of political opponents, or engagement with regimes (usually on the basis of their shared anti-communism) which practised genocide or racial segregation.

Criticisms of Anti-Communism

Proponents of communism in capitalist countries historically tended to downplay or deny the accuracy of such claims. Another rebuttal was that these failings were failings of the specific country's rulers, not communism itself. Furthermore, most modern communists do acknowledge failings on the part of communist governments, saying that Marxism is clearly against these dictators' practices. A useful comparision would be the Catholic Church's Inquisition which was a fundamental error in its history.

Some anti-communists, particularly those with libertarian leanings, extend their criticisms well beyond Soviet-style communism, associating it with any state-run activity beyond the most minimal. People who support a mixed economy where some services are supplied by government-run institutions, resent the association with communism.

Some writers object to anti-communists' comparisons of communism to fascism. Moreover, during World War II the Soviet Union fought against Hitler and said that fascism was the enemy of communism, while many anti-communists in occupied Europe took the side of Nazi Germany (others, however, placing anti-fascism or national independence above their dislike of communism). The term totalitarianism was invented to comprise both communisim and fascism, partly in response to these objections.

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