What is Communism?

[Abood]

Most people think that Communism is an authoritarian ideology that believes in oppressing the people and nationalizing all the means of production and forcing the rich to hand in products to make everyone equal. This is a misunderstanding and is the result of countries such as the USSR and such. That, in fact, is called socialism and is the stage between capitalism and communism.

Communism is the public ownership of the means of production (i.e. owned by everyone and NOT by the government). It is total equality, with no classes and no one better off than another. That is unfair, anti-communists say, because people who work harder deserve more money. My fellow comrades (or potential comrades), in a factory, who works harder, has a more dangerous job and produces the product? Isn't it the workers? The proletarians? Aren't the workers the ones who produce the product, who are much more likely going to be injured and possibly dead in their job? Don't they deserve to be equal, if not, better than the owner of the business, who all he does is paper work and office stuff.

An argument by capitalists is: Without the entrepreneur of the business, the business would not exist. Well, same with the workers - without the workers, there would be no product to sell, therefore no profit made, and the business would go bankrupt.
Therefore, the workers need much more pay than they actually get, since the business revolves around them, and without them it wouldn't exist.

What has the USA done to the world and why?
As we have seen in Latin America, during the time of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and before, the USA has battled against freedom of the Latin Americans and tried their best to keep them under the indirect control of the USA by choosing which president to be put, such as the coup d'état organized by the CIA to put Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán as president of Guatemala. The CIA also opened a file to track down Che Guevara in Bolivia while he was with his guerilla army and captured him.

But WHY?! Is the question I ask myself. WHY!? I am sure many people ask themselves the same question. The answer is as follows, which is mostly my own theory: The USA has always kept control of the third world countries and exploited them and made sure that they remain poor so that they do not have any other choice than to work for very low wages set by multi-national American companies. This is because there is a minimum wage in the USA that most businesses are not willing to pay their workers, so they move to countries that have no minimum wage and no worker protection laws and give them bad conditions and very low wage in order to keep profit as maximum as possible.

Ernesto Guevara had a dream, which is to unite Latin America as one free nation. This dream meant that Latin America will be much stronger and more powerful and will therefore have a better life for its citizens, so they do not need to work for America. Obviously, that means American companies have to employ American workers and pay them higher wages (due to the American minimum wage) and give them a better working environment (due to the workers' protection laws), and therefore the businesses would make much less profit. So the CIA decided to go there and hunt Che down so that Latin America remains weak and under the control of the USA.

In Communism, there is no monetary economy and the means of production is owned by everyone. "How would that work?" Many people ask. Well, first of all, a revolution is needed to overthrow the capitalistic and fascist regimes all around the world. Those regimes have always damaged the image of communism and connected it to National Socialism (Nazism). This is because they know it will give the workers consciousness and cause them to revolt against the government. A revolutionary army will overthrow the governments with the aid of the workers of the world and install governments which nationalize all the means of production and distribute equality to the people by oppressing the oppressors (the bourgeosie, i.e. rich class) and making them pay high taxes. When there is enough class consciousness among the proletarians (workers) and the bourgeiosie class is abolished, the government will decentralize and the workers will take control, known as "dictatorship of the proletariat". This is total democracy, as instead of having representatives elected by the people who could change their views and beliefs after they have been elected and do not need to consult the people everytime they make a decision (which is what is happening today), the workers themselves make the decisions and rule, and therefore, everyone's voice is heard.

When there is total democracy, and no government, everyone would own everying and therefore there is no need to work, as you do not need to pay to get what you want. Capitalists say that this will cause the economy to fall and people would be lazy and the person who works will be treated the same as the person who doesn't, but they have missed a point. The point is that, when no one works because they need the money, they will work because they have to. For instance, who will wash the dishes? Who will drive the car? Who will produce the products? Who will educate the children?
The answer for all those questions is, that people will realize that they need to work in order to live, so they work because they need to. Then, people will start to realize that everyone is doing everything, and there is no specialization, so they start to specialize in what they do best and their products are benefited by everyone, as they are all for free, since they do not need money to buy any products, as they are all free.

In conclusion, for communism to take place, there need to be a revolution to overthrow the governments, install a socialist government, then, when it is the right time, it will decentralize and give power to the workers, who will produce everything for free, since they do not need money, as everything is free.

THAT is communism!

[Abood]

Any corrections and/or more details are welcome, thanx.

[Martin Blank]

This isn't a correction, but rather another take on the same subject. -- Miles

What is Communism?

Without a doubt, you’ve probably heard about communism. And, also without a doubt, you’ve probably heard all sorts of horror stories about it — from your teachers, from the media, from politicians, even from your church pastor or preacher.

They tried to scare you. They want to keep you from finding out for yourself. If you asked one authority figure for a second opinion, they usually told you to ask another authority figure. And if that didn’t satisfy you, then they told you to read the history books they wrote for you.

Do you see a pattern here? The one person they will never tell you to talk to, however, is a communist. Why? Because a communist might go “off script” and tell you something they don’t want you to hear.

So, what is communism? Well, there is communism, the theory, and communism, the society. Let’s first deal with communism, the society.

To begin with, communism is a society without bosses or servants, without superiors or subordinates, without masters or slaves — in short, communism is a society without classes and the stress, conflict and antagonisms that go with the existence of classes. Contrary to the history they teach you, classes are a relatively new thing in the human experience, having been around for only about 25,000 of the last 50 million years of human existence.

“But,” someone might say, “there are a lot more people alive today than there were back then.” That’s true. What’s also true is that we are smarter, more conscious of our world and more technologically advanced than our ancestors. We really don’t need someone standing over us, telling us what to do and when to do it. If necessary, we can work that out together, in common.

Because it is a society without classes, communism is also a society where all aspects of society are developed and administered in common. That means not only the political system, but the economy, culture and social relations too. Can you imagine, having an equal voice, along with your co-workers, in deciding how conditions at your job would be determined? Or, having a say, along with your neighbors, in shaping how the city’s budget will be spent?

Democracy is a key element in the development of communism — but not the stale, formal “democracy” we are taught about in school; we are talking about democracy as a practice, a real-world tool that works for those who work.

As well, communism is a society without a state. Now, when we talk about a “state,” we are not talking about councils and assemblies that debate issues and adopt policy. When we say “state,” we mean the armed organizations that enforce “order” (the rulers’ “order,” that is), like the police and military.

“No police?!” Yes, no police. What are the police really for? Well, when you live in a society where goods and services are restricted to a few, you end up with the many in need. When you have so many in need, you need to maintain order. However, if you live in a society where the needs of everyone in society are met, what need is there for police? If everyone’s basic needs — good food, decent housing, worthwhile education, etc. — are met, what basis is there for most of the crime in society?

Sure, there may be times here and there that may require some kind of investigation or enforcement unit, but those times would be relatively few and far between, and could easily be handled as they come up.

It is also the case that communism is a society without money. “Without money?!” Yes, without money. Why does money exist? Basically, it was invented so that one group of owners wouldn’t get screwed by another set of owners. But, if you have a society where the factories and workplaces are owned in common, and we can sit down and plan out three months, six months or even a year in advance what we have to produce to provide all that we need, what point is there to having money?

Also, if we’re all working together to produce what we need and administer our own affairs, we can cut out a lot of things we don’t need. For example, we don’t need all those layers of managers and officials that we pay (through our labor and the profits it creates) to tell us to work harder. Similarly, we don’t need all of those professional politicians and bureaucrats in the government who do everything they can to convince us that our future should be in the hands of “professionals” who have no clue what we deal with on a daily basis. For that matter, we don’t need all those worthless professions that exist only because we live in a profit-driven society, like advertising, marketing, business management, etc. The resources poured into those jobs can be put to better use.

And we can do all of this while working less and enjoying life more. Because a communist society produces for our needs and well-being, and not for creating more profits for the bosses, we can reduce the amount of working time each of us has to do. For that matter, depending on how well we can use technology to our advantage, we have the ability to calculate how much working time each of us will have to do in our lives in order to provide for all our needs throughout our lives.

Think of it! Retiring at age 40 and not having to worry about where your next meal is coming from, because you’ve already put in your share for society! Think of what you can do with all that time! If you wanted, you could go back to school and become a doctor, or learn how to paint or sculpt, or see the world. For that matter, you could spend your summers in moderate weather and your winters in warm areas. Why should the birds be the only ones with the sense to migrate when the weather changes?

Finally, we should point out that communism is a world system and society. We live in a world that is more and more unified by economics, culture and our own common interests. Communism looks to bring all of those who work for their living together in a common struggle to liberate ourselves from this rotten system. But, unlike those who call themselves “boss” and want to control the world, communism looks to join the people of the world together as brothers and sisters to build a better future for ourselves and our children.

So, does this sound like something you’d like to see? Well, that brings us to communism, the theory ... and the movement. Communism doesn’t come about without the help of all of you. Because we have to sweep away a lot of garbage from this sick society, we need the help of millions to make it happen. “I get all of that,” you might say, “but no one else will go for it.” Really? Ask your friends, your neighbors and your co-workers what they think about what we say above. Chances are they would like to see this kind of new society, too.

How you choose to get involved is up to you, of course. There are all sorts of ways to help bring this society about. If you’re not sure of what you can do, ask one of us. We can sit down and talk about what’s possible. The important thing is that you get involved somehow. That’s what communism is about: being an active part of creating your own future. Represent yourself! Join the fight for a communist future!

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[Tormented by Treachery]

(woops, edited!)

Other than that, both posts were great, very informative. :)

[Abood]

it's right, he didnt mean to write lawyers, but layers.. as in "layers of managers" :P
anyway, thnx... lol

[cbm989]

Two amazing articles. cleared alot up for me. good job

[( R )evolution]

Good posts comrades.

[FULL METAL JACKET]

So techincally Cuba and China are not communist countries right?

[KC]

I might as well throw in my article. Here. (https://www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?act=blog&id=10051&entry=310&action2=perma)


So techincally Cuba and China are not communist countries right?

Nope. Not even close. There's no such thing as a communist country.

[Abood]

So techincally Cuba and China are not communist countries right?
I dunno about China since i haven't read much about it, but the closest "ideology" or "label" put on Cuba is socialism, which is the stage between capitalism and communism. it is infact the closest country to socialism and i doubt it can reach communism by itself, since its an international movement.

[Winter]

Very informative! That was awesome, but one question: Can someone not work and get the same resources as someone who works?
~ Winter

[loveme4whoiam]

In a Communist society? Yes. A gift economy means that all products are available to all who want them, because there is no money :). While this may seem screwy and never able to work, its actually deceptively simple (although try and explain that to capitalists :angry:). But to answer your question in short, yes, anyone has the right to the same resources that someone else gets. But then, why wouldn't you want to work?

[Djehuti]

I wrote most of the communism article on the swedish wikipedia. I think it's pretty good, the bourgeoisie got their critics part through in the article (I would have prefered it in a seperate article or maybe under "communist states"), but atleast I added a section in the critics part about how communists viewed the critique.

So now theres four major parts in the article.
1: Introduction, a summary on what communism is. (brings up state- and classlessness, the marxist conception of private property and individual property, commodity production versus use value production, wage labour vs free labour, communism as a material movement, et cetera. Short but full.


2: "The history of communist ideas". First a short section on Plato, Thomas More and the utopian socialists. Then a much larger section on Marx, Engels and the scientific socialism, including a short summary on their contributions; studies in capitalist economy (Grundrisse, Capital), the concept of alienation (the economic-philosophic manuscripts), the development of a dialectic historical materialism (theses on Feuerbach), etcetera.

I also make it clear that it today exists two primary communist traditions.
The marxist tradition and the anarchist tradition, and I have a section on the differences, in the view of the state etcetera. The article focuses on marxism though, there are seperate articles on anarchism. I also bring forth the differences and similarities between Marx and Lenin, and the differences between the leninist marxism (marxism-leninism, trotskyism, maoism), and the non-leninist marxism (council communism, left communism, etcetera). The focus is actually more on non-leninist marxism then on leninist marxism, there is much more easy-to-get information on the later, so I think its more important to further describe the ideas of the former.


3: "Communist states and communist societies". I describe what a communist state (like the USSR) means and then describes what a communist society means. I point out that the so called communist states don't necessarily have anything to do with communism, I also mention the spanish civil war, the 1956 Hungary uprising and other examples when the communist movement have come in conflict with the communist parties and communist states.

In this part I also have a section on primitive communist societies and a little bit on the small communist towns and villages that existed during the 19th century (described by Engels in one of his works).


4: "Why communism?" This part is about why Marx believed that communism would eventually replace capitalism. About the communist potential in the struggles of the working class, etcetera. I focus on communism as a material movement and have an anti-ideological and anti-utopian perspective.


Then there is the critique-part, and a small part called "references", and after that the "external links", overall a quite nice collection of links in my opinion. ;)


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Still, the article is not very long and can be developed further. I plan to do so with time (and others surely will, on good and bad), but now we mostly expand through new articles. There is for example a new article (not by be) on "left communism" that is still a stub but it seems very good. I have also begun a new article on "state capitalism" etcetera.


I think this is a great way to spread information. Thousands of high school students check wikipedia when they search for information on communism for a school essay, and when you google "kommunism" this article is third in order.

Unfortunatly the english wikipedia article on communism contains a lot of crap. Even though the very first words in that article are "This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. For issues regarding Communist organizations, see communist party. For issues regarding communist party-run states, see Communist state. the article is totally dominated by the history of the soviet union and "soviet marxism".
It is also full with wrong facts.