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The Communist Theory

Communism from the Latin words communis (common) 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.

COMMUNISM-RELATED TERMS

Socialism: A system that advocates the state's ownership of land, industry and capital. Communism is a branch of socialism. Capitalism: Economic system in which individuals or corporations own land and means of production Bourgeois: The middle-class/upper-class, or the owners of land and means of production Proletariat: The working-class Kulak: Wealthy peasants

Bolsheviks/Bolshevists: Russian word for "majority." Also, the political party that spawned the Bolshevik Revolution, effectively introducing communism in Russia

Mensheviks: By definition, "minority," although this Russian party had many more supporters than the Bolsheviks when Lenin returned to Russia in 1917.

Reds: Communist/Bolshevik supporters. Also, "red" is a derogatory term to describe communists. Whites: Those opposed to the Bolshevik regime's takeover Money/Money form: The commodity chosen to function as the universal equivalent for all other commodities Gulags: Russian slave labor camps Utopia: A perfect place, in reference to social, moral and political issue

Marxism (Karl Marx)

The main characteristic of human life in class society is alienation. Communism is desirable because it entails the full realization of human freedom. Communisms outlook on freedom was based on an agent, obstacle and goal. The agents are the working people (proletariat); obstacles are class divisions (the different social classes) which are also causes of economic inequalities, unequal life-chances and false consciousness; and the ultimate goal is the fulfillment of human needs, which includes fair share of the product and satisfying work. Communism allows people to do what they want, but also puts people in situations in where they will not have the desire to exploit their fellowmen, or even have the need to exploit.

Holds a process of class conflict and revolutionary struggle which will result in the victory of the proletariat and the establishment of a communist society in which private property and ownership is abolished over time; the means of production is the work of the community.

Karl Marx states that there are two types: higher-phase communism and lower phase communism.

Lower Phase Communism the new society after the overthrow of capitalism; a transitional stage in human social evolution that will give rise to a fully communist society, in where social classes and the state are no longer present. Higher Phase Communism - communism is a specific stage of historical development that inevitably emerges from the development of the productive forces that leads to access abundance to final goods, allowing for distribution based on need and social relations based on freely associated individuals.

Communist Theories and Principles Marx believed that a truly utopian society must be classless and stateless. Free the lower class from poverty and give the poor a fighting chance. In order to liberate the lower class, Marx believed that the government would have to control all means of production so that no one could outdo anyone else by making more money. 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.

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. 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. The philosophy of Marxism is Materialism

Materialism Materialism shows that the process of humanitys social development is tied directly with the development of production and technology. Production is the expression of humanitys ongoing relationship with the world. It is a manifestation of the never-ending battle for survival. Every living organism struggles to survive and thrive, whether simply defying cold weather, eluding predators, searching for food or working in a factory.

Historical Materialism Historical materialism is the philosophical opposite of idealism. It is directly opposed to idealism, the notion that material reality is created by what people believe or perceive in their minds. Marx also asserted that in all class societies the dominant ideas are the ideas of its ruling class. Racism, sexism, homophobia and national chauvinism are the ideas that the masses of people assimilate from the ruling class, which benefits from the promotion of those ideas. Philosophic Materialism Nothing is final, absolute, sacred. It reveals the transitory character of everything and in everything; nothing can endure before it except the uninterrupted process of becoming and passing away, of endless ascendancy from the lower to the higher, Fredrick Engels wrote in The End of Classical German Philosophy. Dialectical materialism A methodology which is the combination of dialectics and materialism. It shows that changes in society are not necessarily linear; that history moves forward in fits and starts. Dialectics Dialectics is nothing more than the science of the general laws of motion and development of nature, human society and thought. (Engels, Anti-Dhring.) The Dialectical Formula. The thesis-antithesis-synthesis dialectic triad is this:

Thesis: A simple verbless concept, usually consisting of only one or two words (e.g., "one"). Contrary to a common misunderstanding, the thesis is not a proposition (a statement that affirms or denies something), an assertion, or a detailed argument. Sometimes each of dialectics three stages consists of two concepts (e.g., unconscious + union) rather than one. Antithesis: Another simple verbless concept that is the opposite of the thesis (e.g., "many," the opposite of "one"); it is not just something different or possibly a lengthy "reaction to or refutation of the thesis. When the thesis has two concepts, the antithesis has the opposite two concepts (e.g., conscious + separation, the opposite of unconscious + union. Synthesis: A third simple verbless concept that somehow combines the thesis and antithesis into a sort of compromise (e.g., "one composed of many" or, in the two-concepts-per-stage format, "conscious" from the antithesis + "union" from the thesis).