Communism
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Transcript of Communism
CommunismCommunism was as originally laid out by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in The Communist Manifesto
• Communism is a social, political and economic ideology* that aims to establish a classless society structured upon common ownership of the means of production• means of production: non-human elements used in
production (factories, machines, and tools used) to produce wealth
• Proletariat: the class of wage earners, especially those who earn their living by manual labor
*system of ideas that sometimes rigidly form the basis of policy
Socialism (elevated government control/intervention in the economy): seen by Marx as a step on the road to Communism
Communist Manifesto Predicts the Future: • Bourgeoisie are capitalists who own the means of production and
the proletariat are the working classes who are employed by the bourgeoisies
• Proletariat population would grow and they would eventually rise above the bourgeoisie and revolt against them
THIS IS THE CLASS STRUGGLE (CLASS WARFARE) THAT MARX IS FAMOUS FOR.
• Eventually the Proletariat would displace the capitalist bourgeoisie and rule a utopian Communist state.
DOES COMMUNISM RUN COUNTER TO
HUMAN NATURE?
• Communist ideology 1: capitalism leads to an abundance of material wealth. This wealth is better off shared and an organizing group is required to distribute this wealth.
• Communist ideology 2: economic forces ALONE drive history and society
• Communist ideology 3: the abolition of all religion is needed in order to reach an ideal state
oMarx’s anti-religious views were based partly on his view that religion alienated humans from reality
o Quote traditionally attributed to Marx: “[Religion] is the opium of the people.”
Communist ideology 4: ideology and love-of-state will encourage people to give up their “market value” to generously assist all the people