Oral “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. ” There is no greater economic system that can rival the Utopian nature of Communism, yet this statement sent shivers down the spine of the Capitalist World. The concept was flawless however the implementation resulted in one of one of the most infamous Political systems in the world. Communism, in layman’s terms, is a revolutionary political system , aiming to create a classless, moneyless and stateless social order structured upon common ownership of the means of production.
It also aimed to change the social and economic ideology of capitalism , which was thrived on the principle of the rich getting richer, the poor , poorer. To understand why Communism spread so rapidly we must learn about the origins of communism. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels were the founding fathers of communism in 1848. Marx wrote a document called the Communist manifesto. In this document he outlined which areas would need to change. There were 3 main changes: political change, a economic change and social change. Unfortunately these are very difficult to change.
Marx, however, found a way to accomplish this. A revolution. The Red Revolution!!! These were usually very bloody, as people would not easily part with their material wealth. Communism had to be implemented fully,people could not choose only one part of it. You are either in or killed. In the Russian Revolution alone 9 million people were killed. However, this must take place in order to overthrow the existing government. Marx emphasized the need for total destruction of the existing system in order for change to take place.
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The next part of their plan stated that a dictator must gain absolute control over the working class. During this phase, the new government has absolute control over the common citizen's personal choices for example education, religion, employment and even marriage. Redistribution of wealth would take place in this period. The final phase has never been attained because it requires that all non-communists be eliminated in order for the Communist Party to achieve supreme equality. In a communist utopia, everyone would happily share wealth.
The government would control all means of production so that the one-class system would remain constant, with no possibility of any citizens rising to the top. Marx also detailed the 10 essential principles of communism, namely: •Central banking system •Government controlled education •Government controlled labor •Government ownership of transportation and communication vehicles •Government ownership of agricultural means and factories •Total destruction of private property •Property rights confiscation •Heavy income tax on everyone •Destruction of rights of inheritance Regional Planning In the communist society that the manifesto described, the government has supreme authority as it controls all 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. The system seems to work in theory, but Marx and Engels died before it was put into practice and did not see the fruit of their labour.
Economy Capitalism, the current economic system in South Africa, is, according to communism, tremendously wasteful and destructive of men, goods, power, land. All useful goods are used until there is none left. But goods aren’t made for consumption, but for profit, and if a greater profit can be made, the destruction takes place. As capitalism developed, larger factories are built, thousands of laborers are used to make 1 product, yet it does not belong to them but to the owner of the Factory.
The laborers are merely paid wages, which constantly grow less and less, as the price of the total product increases. So the gap between the worker and the owner increases and creates classes in which some can afford everything whereas others can barely know where their next meal is coming from. During the communist rule in Russia the State Bank was nationalized. Subsequently all other banks were nationalized and fused with the State Bank. This meant that the state owned the bank and could control the spending of money in their country to some extent.
During the 1940’s 3 economic crises occurred in Europe. The Soviet Union, however, stayed economically stable The way out of this endless cycle of rich getting richer and poor getting poorer is a communist economy, where the means of production are nationalized and classes are no more, because the state owned everything and everyone would only get enough money to spend on their needs and a few wants. This system allows people to value knowledge, family and work as they have very little money to buy material goods. Communism can’t be built in one country alone.
Since Capitalism can’t be overthrown all over the world with one stroke. They’ll use their state machines, their armies and navies to maintain their property and their power, the workers too are organized into a state to crush and conquer the capitalist states. So there are 2 ways to rectify this. To completely stop using industry, which in this day and age is virtually impossible. The second way to do this is what communism dictates to completely destroy all businesses that aren’t willing to be run by the state. There will be no exploitation. There will be no classes.
Each will receive according to what he puts in, and as the productivity of labor will greatly increase, each will receive according to his needs and will contribute according to his ability. Social Structure: In a Communist Society there are no classes. There is no verbal, emotional or physical abuse. Everyone has the same benefits, everyone pays the same taxes. In short everyone is equal, but no 2 individuals are alike so Communist countries like China and the Soviet Union have special schools where young children with specific talents are placed they barely see their arents as they are forced to become the best in their field. This is Cruel, but effective. During WWII The Soviet Union held the chess world title longer than any other country during the 20th century and had the best and most grandmasters. They did this to prove that their way of living produced finer and more intelligent people than any other country. The Soviet Union used chess as propaganda. Sports were also very important to the USSR. Dominating the Americans in the Olympics was the ultimate way of them saying “we are the greatest”.
At a young age children with talent for sports, music or academics would be taking away from their parents to study and train in that specific niche. Cruel but effective. Upon the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1925, Joseph Stalin outmaneuvered his opponent Leon Trotsky to take the reigns of the Soviet Union. Trotsky sought to continue Lenin's efforts of aggressively establishing Communism throughout all the world, since communism was inherently stateless, and was not intended to exist withn just one country. Stalin, however, was more practical, learning from the resounding defeat of communism in other parts of Europe.
He instead focused on strengthening the Soviet Union, under Communist ideals, while simply supporting communist revolutions whenever and wherever they arose. Stalin's ideology proved more widely accepted, and became the modus operando of the Soviet Union from that point forward. This was not communism any more, but Stalinism. Religion The religion of communism is atheism. Now this may seem unfair for communism to force people to believe in something , but in a communist state they wouldn’t want people to be distracted from working for the good of the country.
So with atheism people had more time to spend bettering their country’s economic status and producing an intelligent race. In this Day and age communist countries are few and far between, out of the 196 countries that exist there are only 5 communist countries: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam that is less than 3 percent of all countries But back in the day of communist uprising there were over 40 communist countries Bulgaria, Mongolia, USSR, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, East Germany, Poland, Angola , Benin, Dem Rep. f Congo , Ethiopia ,Somalia, Eritrea, Mozambique and of course Russia. Are just a few of the communist countries. Symbols The hammer and sickle These two tools are symbols of the industrial working class and the farmers; placing them together symbolizes the unity between industrial and agricultural workers. This emblem was created during the Russian Revoultion of 1917. The hammer and sickle were not the official symbol until 1922, before which the original hammer and plough insignia was used by the Red Army and the Red Guard on uniforms, medals, caps, etc.
The five-pointed red star is sometimes understood to represent the five fingers of the worker's hand, as well as the five continents. A lesser known suggestion is that the five points on the star were intended to represent the five social groups that would lead to communism rising to become the dominant political structure in the world: the youth, the military, the industrial labourers, the agricultural workers or peasantry, and the intelligentsia. It was one of the emblems, symbols, and signals representing the Soviet Union under the rule of the Communist Party.
In politics, a red flag has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. [1] Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its use by the Paris Commune of 1871. The flags of several communist states, including China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union, are based on the original red flag. Leaders Lenin- 1st communist leader in the world Stalin -USSR Mao Zedong – China ( 1st communist leader) Kim il Sung – North Korea ( 1st Communist Leader) Ho chi minh - Vietnam Castro – Cuba (1st communist leader) Che Guevara- Latin America
Gorbachev – Last USSR leader Benefits 1. people are equal, the advantage her no matter what type of education and financial stability you are on everyone is still equal which reduces crime and violence 2. everyone has employment. 3. The next advantage would be a steady and stable economy. 4. the greatest advantages in communism is that there is no competition. This is a great advantage because everyone is created equal, so each person can work equally as hard without stepping on one another’s back. 5. Communism abolishes class system, This results in an open society where there is no any kind of oppression. . Communism offers a platform on which all policies that affect the community are openly discussed and implemented fast 7. In communism all people hold land. All goods are shared equally. 8. There is no poverty in communism so everyone is equal. 9. In communism individuals are assigned work by the State and they are given a bit remuneration of their service normally in kind. 10. People get ration from Government department Disadvantages •The government decides on what the people can have, rather than what they want. •The government dictates what people must do (like your job) and controls freedom of movement. All businesses are owned and controlled by the government. •Everybody is working, and most have nothing. •It relies upon everyone in the system being selfless and not trying to get more than anyone else. •It is very difficult to get out of a communistic country. When we have reached Communism we will have done away with both the Social Order and Social Disorder and humanity will have reached a rational system of society where development of mankind will no longer be choked by social relations, where, therefore, society will be a free one and man emancipated.
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