Communism is a political way
of thinking and an idea of how society should work and be organized. Communism
is a kind of extreme socialism that says that there should not be social
classes or states. Communism says that the people of any and every place in the
world should all own the tools, factories, and farms that are used to produce
goods and food. This social process is known as common ownership. In a
communist society, there is no private property. The main differences between
Socialism and Communism are that, in a Communist society, the state ceases to
exist along with money, so that the people work in exchange for the things they
need to live. In other words Communism is a revolutionary socialist movement to
create a classless, moneyless and stateless social order structured upon common
ownership of the means of production, as well as a social, political and
economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order. This
movement, in its Marxist–Leninist interpretations, significantly influenced the
history of the 20th century, which saw intense rivalry between the
"socialist world" and the "western world" (countries with
capitalist economies).
Origins of Communism-
Communism as a theory of
government and social reform may be said, in a limited sense, to have begun
with the ancient Greek idea of the Golden Age, a concept of a world of communal
bliss and harmony without the institution of private property. Plato, in his
Republic, outlined a society with communal holding of property; his concept of
a hierarchical social system including slavery has by some been called
"aristocratic communism."
The manorial system of the
Middle Ages included common cultivation of the fields and communal use of the
village commons, which might be vigorously defended against the lord. It was
partly to uphold these common rights, threatened by early agrarian capitalism,
that the participants in the Peasants' Revolt (1381) in England and the insurgents
of the Peasants' War in 16th-century Germany advocated common ownership of land
and of the means of production.
Communist thought has also
been traced back to the work of 16th century English writer Thomas More. In his
treatise Utopia (1516), more portrayed a society based on common ownership of
property, whose rulers administered it through the application of reason. In
the 17th century, communist thought surfaced again in England, where a Puritan
religious group known as the "Diggers" advocated the abolition of
private ownership of land. Eduard Bernstein, in his 1895 Cromwell and Communism
argued that several groupings in the English Civil War, especially the Diggers
espoused clear communistic, agrarian ideals, and that Oliver Cromwell's attitude
to these groups was at best ambivalent and often hostile. Criticism of the idea
of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th
century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Various
social reformers in the early 19th century founded communities based on common
ownership. But unlike many previous communist communities, they replaced the
religious emphasis with a rational and philanthropic basis. Notable among them
were Robert Owen, who founded New Harmony in Indiana (1825), and Charles
Fourier, whose followers organized other settlements in the United States such
as Brook Farm (1841–47).
Forms of Communism- we can
define the forms of communism through the different communalist ideology.
Marxism-
Like other socialists, Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels sought an end to capitalism and the systems which
they perceived to be responsible for the exploitation of workers. Whereas
earlier socialists often favored longer-term social reform, Marx and Engels
believed that popular revolution was all but inevitable, and the only path to
socialism and communism. The year 1848 was also marked by the appearance of The
Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the primary exposition
of the socioeconomic doctrine that came to be known as Marxism. It postulated
the inevitability of a communist society, which would result when economic
forces (the determinants of history) caused the class war; in this struggle the
exploited industrial proletariat would overthrow the capitalists and establish
the new classless order of social ownership. Marxian theories and programs soon
came to dominate left-wing thought. Although the German group (founded in 1847)
for which The Communist Manifesto was written was called the Communist League,
the Marxist movement went forward under the name of socialism; its 19th-century
history is treated in the article under that heading and under Socialist
parties, in European history. Marx described three necessary phases toward
achieving his idea of utopia.
Phase 1: A revolution must
take place in order to overthrow the existing government. Marx emphasized the
need for total destruction of the existing system in order to move on to Phase
2.
Phase 2: A dictator or elite
leader (or leaders) must gain absolute control over the proletariat. During
this phase, the new government exerts absolute control over the common
citizen's personal choices -- including his or her education, religion,
employment and even marriage. Collectivization of property and wealth must also
take place.
Phase 3: Achievement of
utopia. This phase has never been attained because it requires that all
non-communists be destroyed in order for the Communist Party to achieve supreme
equality. In a Marxist utopia, everyone would happily share property and
wealth, free from the restrictions that class-based systems require. The
government would control all means of production so that the one-class system
would remain constant, with no possibility of any middle class citizens rising
back to the top.
Marx also detailed the 10
essential tenets of communism, namely:
• Central banking system
• Regional planning
• Government controlled education
• Elimination of rights of inheritance
• Government controlled labor
• Heavy income tax on everyone
• Government ownership of transportation and communication
vehicles
• Government ownership of agricultural means and factories
• Property rights confiscation
• Total abolition of private property
In the communist society
that Marx described, the government has supreme authority through its total
control of land and means of production. Because the government distributes
land and property among the people, communism sets a standard of equality --
both economically and socially -- among its followers.
Leninism-
Leninism is the revolutionary theories
developed by Vladimir Lenin, including the organizational principles of
democratic centralism, Vanguardism and the political theory of imperialism.
Leninist theory postulates that, with the strongly determined will of the
Bourgeoisie to establish Imperialism, socialism will not arise spontaneously
through the natural decay of capitalism, and that workers by themselves, who
may be more or less sedated by reactionary propaganda, are unable to
effectively organise and develop socialist consciousness, therefore requiring
the leadership of a revolutionary vanguard organized on the basis of democratic
centralism. As a result, Leninism promotes a Vanguard party in order to lead
the working-class and peasants in a revolution. Because this revolution takes
place in underdeveloped, largely pre-capitalist countries such as Russia,
Leninism establishes a single-party, authoritarian state, justifying
single-party control over the state and economy as a means to safeguard the
revolution against counter-revolutionary insurrection and foreign invasion.
Leninism was a controversial
system, which attracted numerous opponents, but despite this fact, Lenin
implemented it soon after the October Revolution without taking into
consideration all the impediments that occurred in his way. Obviously, this new
ideology, based on Marxism, received the leader's personal beliefs.
Firstly, Lenin said that the
working class could have achieved its goal-implementation of a proletarian
dictatorship-only with the help of a Communist Party, which actually
represented the "revolutionary avant-garde". Moreover, the work of
that party had to be based on democratic centralism, a means of organization.
The further Leninist theories referred to imperialism as to the final stage of
capitalism, thus revolution represented the solely solution to it.
Additionally, Lenin improved Marxist theory regarding imperialism, considering
it more than a national issue, like Marx had said it was a global state. In
order to overthrow it, a worldwide revolution was necessary. Lenin also
underlined that revolts were compulsory in both developed and undeveloped
states.
In conclusion, the
leadership of Vladimir Ilich Lenin was based on Marxist ideas improved by his
personal acceptances. This ideology characterized the USSR's regime from the
second to the third decade of the 20th century, but it was also adopted in
other communist countries. In the Soviet Union it was replaced after Lenin's
death with Stalinism.
Stalinism-
Joseph Stalin ruled the
Soviet Union for 29 years, from 1924 to 1953. His reign was full of terror and
abuses and that is why he is considered one of the cruelest leaders in history.
Nevertheless, Stalinism is not a truly ideology like Leninism, for instance.
Actually, the term "Stalinism" was given to Stalin's regime by the supporters
of Leon Trotsky in order to express its violent character. Needless to say that
this regime had found its fundaments in the Marxist-Leninist ideology thus it
wasn't a "personal creation", if we may call it like this. It is
well-known the fact that all the leader's activities resumed to the ones of
political nature. He was not a theoretician, although he had written several
books.
Stalinism was the political
system of the Soviet Union and the countries within the Soviet sphere of
influence during the leadership of Joseph Stalin. The term usually defines the
style of a government rather than an ideology. The ideology was officially
Marxism-Leninism theory, reflecting that Stalin himself was not a theoretician,
in contrast to Marx and Lenin, and prided himself on maintaining the legacy of
Lenin as a founding father for the Soviet Union and the future Socialist world.
Stalinism is an interpretation of their ideas, and a certain political regime
claiming to apply those ideas in ways fitting the changing needs of Soviet
society, as with the transition from "socialism at a snail's pace" in
the mid-twenties to the rapid industrialization of the Five-Year Plans.
The main contributions of
Stalin to communist theory were:
• Socialism in One Country,
stating that communists should attain socialism in their own country as a
Prelude to internationalizing.
• The groundwork for the
Soviet policy concerning nationalities, laid in Stalin's 1913 work Marxism and
the National Question, praised by Lenin.
• The theory of aggravation
of the class struggle along with the development of socialism, a theoretical
base supporting the repression of political
opponents as necessary.
Stalin argued that the state must become
stronger before it can "wither away" in favor of creating a classless
Communist society. In Stalin's view, the state must be powerful enough to
defeat counterrevolutionary elements. For this reason, Communist regimes
influenced by Stalin have been widely described as totalitarian.
Soviet puppet Sheng Shicai
extended Stalinist rule in Xinjiang province in the 1930s. Stalin opposed the
Chinese Communist Party, and Sheng conducted a purge similar to Stalin's Great
Purge in 1937.
Trotskyism-
Trotskyism is the theory of
Marxism that was developed by Leon Trotsky. It supports the theory of permanent
revolution and world revolution instead of the two stage theory and socialism
in one country. It supported proletarian internationalism and another Communist
revolution in the Soviet Union, which, under the leadership of Stalin, Trotsky claimed
had become a degenerated worker's state, rather than the dictatorship of the
proletariat, in which class relations had re-emerged in a new form.
Trotsky and his supporters
organized into the Left Opposition and their platform became known as Trotskyism.
Trotsky's Fourth International was established in France in 1938 when
Trotskyists argued that the Comintern or Third International had become
irretrievably "lost to Stalinism" and thus incapable of leading the
international working class to political power. In contemporary English
language, an advocate of Trotsky's ideas is often called a
"Trotskyist"; a Trotskyist can be called a "Trotskyite" or
"Trot", especially by a critic of Trotskyism.
According to Trotsky, his
thought could be distinguished from other Marxist theories by five key
elements:
• Support for the strategy
of permanent revolution, in opposition to the Two Stage Theory of his
opponents;
• Support for proletarian
internationalism
• Criticism of the post-1924
leadership of the Soviet Union, analysis of its features and after 1933,
support for political revolution in the
Soviet Union and in what Trotskyists term the deformed workers'
states;
• Support for social
revolution in the advanced capitalist countries through working class mass action;
• Use of a 'transitional'
programme of demands that bridge between daily struggles of the working class
and the 'maximal' ideas of the socialist
transformation of society
Trotskyist ideas have
continually found a modest echo among political movements in some countries in
Latin America and Asia, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Sri Lanka.
Many Trotskyist organizations are also active in more stable, developed
countries in North America and Western Europe. Trotsky's politics differed
sharply from those of Stalin and Mao, most importantly in declaring the need
for an international proletarian revolution and unwavering support for a true
dictatorship of the proletariat based on democratic principles.
However, as a whole,
Trotsky's theories and attitudes were never accepted in worldwide mainstream
Communist circles after Trotsky's expulsion, either within or outside the
Soviet bloc. This remained the case even after the Secret Speech and subsequent
events which critics claim exposed the fallibility of Stalin.
Maoism
Maoism, formally known as
Mao Zedong Thought, is a political theory derived from the teachings of the
Chinese political leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976). Its followers, known as
Maoists, consider it as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxism-Leninism. Developed
during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military
guiding ideology of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Nikita Khrushchev's reforms heightened
ideological differences between China and the Soviet Union, which became
increasingly apparent in the 1960s. Parties and groups that supported the
Communist Party of China (CPC) in their criticism against the new Soviet
leadership proclaimed themselves as 'anti-revisionist' and denounced the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the parties aligned with it as
revisionist “capitalist-roaders." The Sino-Soviet Split resulted in
divisions amongst communist parties around the world. Notably, theParty of
Labour of Albania sided with the People's Republic of China. Effectively, the
CPC under Mao's leadership became the rallying forces of a parallel
international Communist tendency.
Maoism can refer to Mao's
belief in the mobilization of the masses, particularly in large-scale political
movements; it can also refer to the egalitarianism that was seen during Mao's
era as opposed to the free-market ideology of Deng Xiaoping; some scholars
additionally define personality cults and political sloganeering as
"Maoist" practices. Contemporary Maoists in China criticize the
social inequalities created by a capitalist and 'revisionist' Communist party.
Mao believed that human
consciousness is the principal factor in human history. In other words, he may
be viewed as an idealist and, as such, directly contradicted the materialistic
determinist tenets of orthodox Marxism.[16] Mao had the utmost faith that,
through the actions of "dedicated revolutionaries," a new social
reality could be formed which would be in harmony with his ideals.
Mao's nationalist impulses
also played a crucially important role in the adaption of Marxism to the
Chinese model and in the formation of Maoism. Mao truly believed that China was
to play a crucial preliminary role in the socialist revolution internationally.
This belief, or the fervor with which Mao held it, separated Mao from the other
Chinese Communists and led Mao onto the path of what Leon Trotsky called,
"Messianic Revolutionary Nationalism" which was central to his
personal philosophy and is demonstrated in his long-standing hostile relationship
with ComIntern.
Mao also believed strongly
in the concept of a unified "people". These notions were what
prompted him to investigate the peasant uprisings in Hunan while the rest of
the China's communists were in the cities and focused on the orthodox Marxist proletariat.
Many of the pillars of Maoism such as the distrust of intellectuals and the
abhorrence of occupational specialty are typical populist ideas. The concept of
"People's War" which is so central to Maoist thought is directly
populist in its origins. Mao believed that intellectuals and party cadres had
to become first students of the masses to become teachers of the masses later.
This concept was vital to the strategy of the "People's War."
Prachanda Path-
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Prachanda
Path refers to the ideological line of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist), also known as the UCPN(M). It is considered a development of
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and named after the leader of the UCPN(M), Pushpa Kamal
Dahal, commonly known as Prachanda. Prachanda Path was proclaimed in 2001. The
ideology was partially inspired by the example of the Communist Party of Peru,
which refers to its ideological line as "Marxism–Leninism–Maoism-Gonzalo
Thought".
Marxism Prachanda Path does
not make an ideological break with Marxism, Leninism and Maoism, but is an
extension of these ideologies based on the politics of Nepal. The doctrine came
into existence after it was realized that the ideologies of Marxism, Leninism
and Maoism could no longer be practiced completely as it they been in the past.
The party adopted Prachanda Path, as they felt it was a suitable ideology based
on the reality of Nepalese politics.
Hoxhaism-
"Hoxhaism" is an
informal term used to refer to a variant of anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism
that developed in the late 1970s due to a split in the Maoist movement,
appearing after the ideological row between the Communist Party of China and
the Party of Labour of Albania in 1978.
Hoxhaism believes primarily
in two things distinctly. Anti-revisionism, and that each nation has the right
do decide its own routes of development. The former of these beliefs is unique
because it views Maoism as a form of revisionism. The latter, was primarily
developed in response to the Soviet policy toward Warsaw Pact nations, and also
the imperialistic behavior of organizations such as NATO. Hoxhaists also uphold
that the Soviet Union, roughly from 1917-1956 [1956 till 1965 marked the early
stages of capitalist restoration ] and Albania from 1941-1990, were the only
truly socialist nations in existence. Lenin, Stalin, and Hoxha represented the
views of the Party, and the working class. Hoxhaism is the most sufficient in
it’s analysis of the historical development of socialism, in all nations. It
has many specific opinions, sometimes inherently unpopular among other
leftists. Aside from the approval of Stalin and obviously Hoxha, Hoxhaists
believe such things as Vietnam being a quasi-Red, nationalist movement.
Titoism-
Titoism was Josip Broz
Tito's Yugoslav doctrine in Cold War international politics. Its background was
the Yugoslav Partisans' liberation of Yugoslavia independently of, or without
much help from, the Red Army, resulting in Yugoslavia being the only Eastern
European country to remain "socialist, but independent" after World
War II and resisting Cold War pressure to become a member of the Warsaw Pact
until the collapse of Soviet socialism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The
term was originally used by the Soviet Union to denote it as a heresy. Today it
is used to refer to Yugo-nostalgia.
Elements of Titoism are
characterized by policies and practices based on the principle that in each
country, the means of attaining ultimate communist goals must be dictated by
the conditions of that particular country, rather than by a pattern set in
another country. It is distinct from Joseph Stalin's Socialism in One Country
theory as Tito advocated cooperation between nations through the Non-aligned
Movement, while at the same time pursuing socialism in whatever ways best
suited particular nations. On the other hand Socialism in One Country focused
on fast industrialisation and modernisation in order to compete with what
Stalin perceived as the more advanced nations of the west. During Tito’s era,
his ideas specifically meant that the communist goal should be pursued
independently of (and often in opposition to) what he referred to as the
Stalinist and Imperialist policies of the Soviet Union.
Throughout his time in
office, Tito prided himself on Yugoslavia's independence from the Soviet Union,
with Yugoslavia never accepting full membership in Comecon and Tito's open
rejection of many aspects of Stalinism as the most obvious manifestations of
this.
The Soviets and their
satellite states often accused Yugoslavia of Trotskyism and fascism, charges
loosely based on Tito's self-management and the theory of associated labor
(profit sharing policies and worker-owned industries initiated by him, Milovan
Đilas, and Edvard Kardelj in 1950). In these, the Soviet leadership saw the
seeds of council communism or even corporatism.
The propaganda attacks
centered on the caricature of Tito the Butcher [of the Working Class], aimed to
pinpoint him as a covert agent of Western "imperialism". Tito was in
fact welcomed by Western powers as an ally, but he never lost his communist
credentials.
Eurocommunism-
Eurocommunism was a trend in
the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to
develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant
for a Western European country and less aligned to the influence or control of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Outside of Western Europe, it is
sometimes referred to as "Neocommunism." This theory stresses greater
independence.
A spirit of independence
among nonruling communist parties had already appeared, however, shortly before
World War II with the growth of Popular Fronts in socialist politics and was
afforded dramatic encouragement by the example of Josip Broz Tito’s Yugoslavia
from 1948 on. The excesses of Joseph Stalin’s regime and such Soviet
repressions as the crackdown in Hungary in 1956 and the invasion of
Czechoslovakia in 1968 alienated many communists in the Western countries and
tended to accelerate the movement toward independent policies and autonomy.
The origin of the term
"Eurocommunism" was subject to great debate in the mid-1970s, being
attributed to Zbigniew Brzezinski and Arrigo Levi, among others. Jean-François
Revel once wrote that "one of the favourite amusements of 'political scientists'
is to search for the author of the term Eurocommunism." In April 1977,
Deutschland-Archiv decided that the word was first used in the summer of 1975
by Yugoslav journalist Frane Barbieri, former editor of Belgrade's NIN
Newsmagazine.
The Eurocommunist movement avowedly
rejected the subordination of all communist parties to the once-prevalent
Soviet doctrine of one monolithic world communist movement. Instead, every
party was expected to base its policies on the traditions and needs within its
own country. The promotion of Eurocommunism seemed to coincide with the
stagnation or decline of many European communist parties. Notably, in France
the once-powerful French Communist Party, which in the early postwar era was
able to command about a third of the French popular vote, experienced a severe
decline in later years. Its leader Georges Marchais and his comrades briefly
flirted with Eurocommunism in the late 1970s—without any popular success.Its
foreign contacts and sympathies seemed to lie more with the European social
democrats and labour parties, and in 1991 it changed its name to Democratic
Party of the Left (shortened to Democrats of the Left in 1998). After the
democratic revolutions of 1989, almost all the communist parties of eastern
Europe became social democratic parties in spirit or name. Eurocommunism, in
effect, had become the norm.
Luxemburgism-
Luxemburgism is a specific
revolutionary theory within Marxism, based on the writings of Rosa Luxemburg.
According to M. K. Dziewanowski, the term was originally coined by Bolshevik
leaders denouncing the deviations of Luxemburg's followers from traditional
Leninism, but it has since been adopted by her followers themselves.
Luxemburgism is a Marxist
tendency which, while supporting the Russian Revolution, as Rosa Luxemburg did,
agrees with her criticisms of the politics of the Bolsheviks.
Luxemburg would agree on
positions taken by Lenin, and even Trotsky, but in the long run did not see
their ideas as democratic enough. Luxemburgism essentially rejects the vanguard
party as the leading force in favor of what resembles a sense of anarchism in
which the people themselves shape society. Luxemburgism attempts to avoid
reformist policies of social democracy as well, similar to Trotskyism.
Ultimately, Luxemburgism is similar to “pure Marxism,” but the theories are
vague, lacking economic conceptions, and essentially misguided. Luxemburg was
calling for pure Marxism in a society which could not have utilized it
properly. It is an undeveloped movement and furthermore, Luxemburgists are
rather rare in the realm of Marxist groups.
Council communism-
Council communism is a
current of libertarian Marxism that emerged out of the November Revolution in
the 1920s, characterized by its opposition to state capitalism/state socialism
and its advocacy of workers' councils as the basis for workers' democracy.
Originally affiliated with the Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD),
council communism continues today as a theoretical and activist position within
the greater libertarian socialism movement.
Chief among the tenets of
Council Communism is its opposition to the party vanguardism and democratic
centralism of Leninist Ideologies and its contention that democratic workers'
councils arising in the factories and municipalities are the natural form of
working class organization and authority. Council Communism also stands in
contrast to Social Democracy through its formal rejection of both the reformism
and Parliamentarism.
Juche-
The Juche Idea, is a
political thesis formed by Kim Il-sung that states that the Korean masses are
the masters of the country's development. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Kim and
other party theorists such as Hwang Jang-yop elaborated the Juche Idea into a
set of principles that the government uses to justify its policy decisions.
Among these are a strong military posture and reliance on Korean national
resources.
In 1992, Juche replaced
Marxism-Leninism in the revised North Korean constitution as the official state
ideology. Juche is based on Marxism-Leninism: "the world outlook of the
materialistic dialectics is the premise for the Juche philosophy."After
the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union (North Korea’s greatest economic
benefactor), all reference to Marxism-Leninism was dropped in the revised 1998
constitution.[citation needed] The establishment of the Songun doctrine in the
mid-1990s has formally designated the military, not the proletariat or working
class, as the main revolutionary force in North Korea.[citation needed]
According to Kim Jong-il's
On the Juche Idea, the application of Juche in state policy entails the
following:
• The people must have
independence (chajusong) in thought and politics, economic self-sufficiency,
and self-reliance in defense.
• Policy must reflect the
will and aspirations of the masses and employ them fully in revolution
and
construction.
• Methods of revolution and
construction must be suitable to the situation of the country.
• The most important work of
revolution and construction is molding people ideologically
as communists and mobilizing them to
constructive action.
Anarchism communism:
Anarchism like communism
calls for the abolition of monopolies, imperialism, privatized tyranny, and for
a more socially based system. Therefore, the end goal of anarchism is
essentially a communist society (unless we’re referring to
anarchist-capitalists of course) but how communism is achieved is where
Marxists differ. Historically, Bakunin, an anarchist, and Marx were initially
close comrades. But the two split because of differeing viewpoints; Bakunin
disagreed with the notion of dictatorship of the proletariat. Many anarchists
may as well disagree with the theory, but their conceptions are false and
inaccurate. Anarchism, like communism, has broad implications. Mutualists for
example support market socialism, which of course is revisionist and
contradictory and not truly socialist. Most importantly, anarcho-communists may
believe in immediate transition to communism is necessary, which demonstrates a
lack of understanding and maturity; the results of attempting to jump ahead
into communism without first establishing a proper revolutionary party, a
proper socialist nation, and then expanding socialism throughout nations, and
all without understanding Marxist theories (e.g. dialectical materialism) will
result in potential failure. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that labor unions are
the organizations that help achieve communist society, but this notion is false
as well. Regardless, communists and anarchists have historically been seen
cooperating in riots, protests, strikes, and so forth to weaken capitalism. The
vanguard party ultimately suppresses anarchism as a radical form of petty
bourgeois ideology, however, and ultimately anarchism remains immature and
idealistic when compared to Marxism.
Christian communism-
Christian communism is a
form of religious communism based on Christianity. It is a theological and
political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel
Christians to support communism as the ideal social system. Although there is
no universal agreement on the exact date when Christian communism was founded,
many Christian communists assert that evidence from the Bible suggests that the
first Christians, including the Apostles, established their own small communist
society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection. As such, many
advocates of Christian communism argue that it was taught by Jesus and
practiced by the Apostles themselves.
Christian communism can be
seen as a radical form of Christian socialism. Also, because many Christian
communists have formed independent stateless communes in the past, there is
also a link between Christian communism and Christian anarchism. Christian
communists may or may not agree with various parts of Marxism.
Christian communists also
share some of the political goals of Marxists, for example replacing capitalism
with socialism, which should in turn be followed by communism at a later point
in the future. However, Christian communists sometimes disagree with Marxists
(and particularly with Leninists) on the way a socialist or communist society
should be organized.
Communism effect on the
society
In the real world today, we
have all seen the results of communism, China and Russia, once great and
powerful nations tried to convert into communism. The outcome at first was
excellent and the whole world waited with held breath as the economy of China
grew every so slightly. Soon economy had gone beyond the predicted norm and the
Chinese people grew accustomed to communism, however, throughout the long
years, they grew into a mindset that they could earn income without working,
soon no one worked, assuming that they would still have food and shelter.
However, as the notion of Communism results in the effectiveness of manual
labor, soon the Chinese government had nothing to distribute anymore; the
Chinese economy went into an all time low and instead today, it has slowly
turning into a capitalist nation. The Soviet Union, as it was know in those
days, pursued the idea of Communism even further and as a result, the old
Soviet Union crashed. Out of the rubble and ruin rose a new, more cautious
nation, Russia. A nation, not willing to try new ideas, Russia has been caught
in a stagnant era of ineffectiveness and conformity. Communism today is seen as
a childish idea, a pursuit that leads to nowhere but destruction and loss.
Nations today, having seen the results of communism, instead lean towards more
fundamental governments such as democracy and capitalism. No other nation,
after the recent turn of events, is willing to turn Communist anymore and the
whole idea has been dismissed as a fantasy. The Communist Manifesto once
regarded as one of the most influential and controversial documents of the day,
is now nothing but a piece of excellent political writing, with a flawed idea.
Communism's effects on
economies across the globe have been particularly disastrous. By nationalizing
productive assets and placing their management into the hands of officials who
possess neither the competence nor the motivation to oversee them efficiently,
Communism invariably causes productivity to decline precipitously. Moreover, it
causes the people at large to view themselves not as self-sufficient
individuals but rather as wards of the state, dependent upon government
largesse for every aspect of their well-being. The free-market economist
Friedrich Hayek has noted that only the prospect of enrichment can motivate
people to exert themselves beyond their immediate needs – and that such
exertion most often results in collateral benefits to society as a whole. But
Communism, by rewarding equally the worker and the slacker, kills those
incentives. That is why Communist regimes have traditionally relied on
deception, coercion, and force in order to put their ideals into action.
Communist governments, by
contrast, are bound by no such limits. They value only the Party and the
collective. They have little to no regard for the individual, who is considered
nothing more than a tiny, virtually insignificant, and entirely dispensable cog
in a gargantuan political machine; the individual's prime duty is to refrain
from hindering the operation of that machine. A government with such a
worldview does not feel the slightest compulsion to exercise restraint in its
treatment of, or its power over, individuals.
In its quest to redeem the
collective “humanity,” the Communist regime is prepared to literally sacrifice
the lives of millions of individual human beings on the altar of despotism and
tyranny. Focusing its gaze intently on its long-range goal of worldwide
expansionism, such a government tolerates no dissenters who might act as
impediments along the road toward utopian Communism. Under this type of system,
the leadership operates from the premise that “the Party is always right.” From
there, it is but a short logical leap to the notion that “the Leader of the
Party is always right.” Such are the conditions that pave the way for the
ascent of Communist tyrants, the bounds of whose power and barbarism are
constrained only by the cultural and political traditions amid which they
arise.
When the Iron Curtain
collapsed in November 1989, the world saw for the first time the immense
environmental devastation that decades of communist rule in Central and Eastern
Europe had wrought. Throughout the region, an emphasis on production -- without
regard for its environmental consequences -- had greatly compromised the
quality of the air, water, soil, crops, and forestlands. In The Politically Incorrect
Guide to Socialism, author Kevin Williamson writes: "By the time the
Soviet government collapsed, fully one-sixth of Russia's territory had been
rendered uninhabitable because of pollution and other environmental
devastation. Water pollution in particular was extreme–far beyond anything in
the capitalist world's experience ..." In 2009, Time magazine listed the
world's ten most polluted cities. Every one of them was in a country with a
socialist government or a formerly socialist government; these countries were
China, India, Peru, Russia, Ukraine, Zambia, and Azerbaijan.
"Marx's influence on today's cultural
theorizing derives more from his social theory, which forms a useful context to
theorizing culture, and his philosophical ideas in general, including his
method of investigation and reasoning," said Johan Fornas, director of the
Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden (ACSIS). "He developed some
German and Hegelian ideas in an exciting and inspiring direction that are still
highly relevant for those of us who are engaged in developing cultural theory.
"Marx has inspired lots
of recent thinkers to never cut theoretical concepts loose from experiences of
everyday life and instead to understand the importance of situating knowledge
in concrete material, embodied and socially organized practices, always
interacting with institutionalized networks of power," he added.
Despite the continued
relevance of a number of Marx's theories, experts are quick to point out that
some have little significance in today's environment while others have been
shown to be way off the mark in some cases.
"Marx was convinced
that communism would replace capitalism but we don’t really see much of a
communist movement emerging anywhere today," Tormey said. "So the
irony might be that at the moment when Marx's ideas are even more relevant, so
the attractiveness of Marxism (or more accurately communism) as a mobilizing
ideology seems in decline. But this of course can change."
Marx's faith in the
generation of informed political opposition from worsening material conditions
failed to be realized, but that has not made his work irrelevant, Hunt said.
"His primary work, 'Das
Kapital,' still stands out as a wonderfully structured and thought through
piece of analysis, drawing on the philosophical and economic thought of his
time," he said. "Its condemnation of the specific injustice of the
capitalist system has few peers. So, as long as there are capitalists, Marx
will remain relevant."
