Communism

The word communism is derived from the Latin communis meaning common or shared. Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that aims to replace profit-based economy through the abolishment of private property and the public ownership of the means of production, distribution, exchange, and subsistence. According to the communist view, everything that people produce is a social product; therefore, everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Communism/socialism is opposed to capitalism, which is based on private property and the free market that determines how goods and services are distributed. Karl Marx, like most writers of the 19th century, used the terms socialism and communism interchangeably. Precisely how communism differs from socialism has been a matter of debate, although the dissimilarity rests mainly on the communists' observance of the revolutionary socialism of Marx. Andrew Roberts (2004) notes that the anthropologist Jan Kubik believed that some political regimes made communist and socialism ambiguous terms in order to gain legitimacy and confuse the public about who the enemy was.

An earlier definition of communism was introduced by the English humanist Sir Thomas More. More (1516) in his work Utopia describes an invented society in which money is eliminated and citizens share in common houses, meals, and other goods. Friedrich Engels (1847) defines communism as “the doctrine of the conditions of liberation of the proletariat.” According to The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Marx and Engels, the main planks of communism are: (1) the abolition of private property, (2) heavy progressive income tax, (3) confiscation of rights of inheritance, (4) a central bank, (5) government ownership of communication and transportation, (6) government ownership of factories and agriculture, (7) government control over labor, (8) corporate farms and regional planning, and (9) government control of education.

According to Marx, the history of humanity is a series of class struggles from ancient slavery through feudalism, leading ultimately to freedom for all. In each period, a class has dominated the other social classes and has exploited the labor class. For Marx, material production requires material forces and social relations for production. In Marx's view, capitalism is ruled by the bourgeoisie class that owns the means of production and controls the working class or proletariat. Marx recognizes that capitalism has brought remarkable [Page 305]and unprecedented scientific advancement and technological improvements; however, the economic opportunities and political power, in Marx's view, are unfairly distributed. Besides this unequal distribution, Marx found that capitalism alienates workers in the sense that workers are separated from: (1) the product of their labor, (2) the process of production, (3) the sense of satisfaction derived from doing creative work, and (4) other human beings whom workers see as competitors for wages and jobs.

As stated in The Communist Manifesto, “the distinguishing feature of communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property.” Marx and Engels summed up communism within a single phrase: Abolition of private property. Marx felt that communism would “supersede” capitalism once the capitalist system of production becomes an obstacle for the development of the forces of production.

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