Why Modern Communism Failed
Why did modern communism fail? Is it because it did not fulfill its promises? Well, what exactly was it promising? In this essay, the reasons will be presented. Then we can decipher why communism did fall.
Karl Marx came up with the theory known as communism. He viewed his theories and beliefs to be very promising for the working class people of the world. He had five basic theories. One, that throughout history, the workers have been exploited by the owners. Two, that the value of a product or service is determined by the materials and labor needed to produce it. Three, that to end the exploitation brought on by the owners, the call for a revolution would be the answer to overthrowing the capitalist system. Four, that the communist state would be run by the workers and the Communist party officials would occupy the government positions. Finally, that any religions would be halted so there would be complete dedication to the Communist party. However, what was promised to the people of the world if they went along with the communist theory?
Marx's beliefs were later modified by Lenin (real name: Vladimir I. Ulyanov). He was responsible for bringing communism to Russia in 1917. Basically, they figured that their theories would bring very good promising things to the working class people of the country Russia and hopefully the world. They promised that the state would reach a "classless state." Which means that private ownership of property would be limited to personal possessions. They also believed that the means of production should be publicly own. However, they stated that individual freedom would have to be denied in order to replace the old social classes with a society dedicated to communism. Well, if it promised all these things then why did it fall?
There are countries that have been crippled because of a communist government, for example, China and Russia. There are many reasons why these two specific countries have fallen. Their constitutions have little to know meaning. The government owns the means of production and makes all the economic decisions.
Marx’s ideals of communism were drawn from the realization that the cycle of revolutions caused by the class struggles throughout history lead society nowhere. Society as a whole was more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes that were directly facing each other—bourgeoisie and proletariat. According to Marx, in order for society to further itself a mass proletarian revolution would have to occur. The bourgeois, who were the employers and owners of the means of production, composed the majority of the modern capitalists. It was these individuals that controlled the capitalist society by exploiting the labor provided by the proletariats. For example, the bourgeoisie make property into a right because they are the ones with the property. However, without their power force of labor behind them, the bourgeoisie class would crumple. To accomplish a revolution, the workers (proletariats) would need to rise up against the bourgeoisie and take back the factors of production. Marx believed that after the inevitable revolution of the proletariats against the oppressive force of the bourgeoisie, a communistic form of government would take hold.
Although this manifesto is small, it emanates one of the most recognized and well thought out political arguments in history. The basis of Marx’s reasoning for the use of this type of gov-ernment is seemingly straightforward. He believed all resources in a nation should be distributed equally to all citizens, so that the division of social classes would cease to exist and to make sure there was no exploitation of any citizens. Marx also wanted the abolition of owning private prop-erty, which is the main contributor to the bourgeoisie’s source of wealth. Marx broke this manifes-t...
Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by
Karl Marx is living in a world he is not happy with, and seems to think that he has the perfect solution. I am a strong believer in his ideas. We are living in a time period with a huge class struggle. The Bourgroise exploits and the proletariat are being exploited. Marx did not like the way this society was and searched for a solution. Marx looked for “universal laws of human behavior that would explain and predict the future course of events" (36). He saw an unavoidable growth and change in society, coming not from the difference in opinions, but in the huge difference of opposing classes. He speaks of his ideal society and how he is going to bring about this utopia in his book The Communist Manifesto. I am going to share with you more on his ideas of this “world-wide revolution” (36) that would put an end to social classes and allow people to live with equal sharing which would result in a harmonious and much peaceful world.
He believed that the state would disappear if classes in society were erased because a state’s job is to take advantage of inequality. Marx speculated that he would see a good portion of the poor advance financially and socially. However, this did not occur. Aristocracy was taken over by the capitalism, they were the people who’s main objective was to acquire money and the working class were taken over by the proletariat which were those working in labor to acquire income. Marx states “workers end up alienated not only from the goods that they produce and the process itself, but from fellow humans, from themselves, from nature (Marx, 6).
This paper is intended to assess key ideas of Marxism with observations of the positives and negatives it brought and the reasons why the concepts failed. The word “communism” is generally linked to “Marxism”. Since Marx along with Friedrich Engels published the cutting-edge thesis, The Communist Manifesto in the middle of the 19th century, it conceived the new dimension for both politics and economics. Before turning to the principles of the Manifesto, it is useful to present the brief historical background of the era, and understand why it affected the ideology. Predominantly the Industrial Revolution (IR) and the Great Revolution in France (FR) transformed the society as follows: creation of conditions for capitalism by destroying feudalism.
Communism was the ideology followed by the Soviet Union. Originally founded by Karl Marx, it said that everything should be owned by the government and then divided up equally among the people who would then all work for it. For the communist party in Russia, their political system was always in danger. From the start of the Russian Revolution there have been dangers to communism. Before World War II most of the western nations ignored Russia simply because it was a communist state and the western nations actually supported Hitler because they believed that Germany would provided a buffer against Communism. The permanent threat against Russia gave the incentive to expand and spread communist influence as much as possible to keep their way of life intact, it was very much Russia against the world. However not only was the Soviet Union communist, they were totalitarian, meaning all the power was with the rulers. While this was effective for keeping the standard average of living the same for everyone and preventing poverty, it also led to a poor work ethic among the working population...
In his Manifesto of the Communist Party Karl Marx created a radical theory revolving not around the man made institution of government itself, but around the ever present guiding vice of man that is materialism and the economic classes that stemmed from it. By unfolding the relat...
At this time in history, mankind was moving forward very rapidly, but at the price of the working-class. Wages were given sparsely, and when capital gain improved, the money payed for labour did not reflect this prosperity. This, therefore, accelerated the downfall of the proletarians and progressed towards a justifiable revolt against the oppressive middle class. The conclusion of this revolt was envisioned to be a classless society, one in which its people benefit from and that benefits from its people. The overthrow of capitalism would create a socialist society eventually flourishing into communism. Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 - 1883) was the philosophical analysis who created communism and saw it as an achievable goal. Marx denounced religion and created what were thought to be radical ideas, which resulted in the banishment from his native land of Germany and then France, eventually ending up in England.
...nt the works of Marx. The result became a system where emotion triumphed over practicality, and the central message was blurred by the overthrow of the old regime. Thus, Lenin followed Marx in the general ideas of socialism, where everyone was equal under the law, and worked for each other and the common good. While Lenin’s system did manage to create a proletariat class, it also evoked the formation of the corrupt and power hungry Bolshevik Party. With regard to the Populists and Anarchists, Lenin was transformed into a revolutionary who would not stop at anything in the pursuit of Communism. Furthermore, Lenin followed to a lesser extent the Social Democrats and their views on the threat of the peasantry if they were not properly maintained. It is clearly evident that in following other philosophies, Lenin mutated Communism into a form unrecognizable to true Marxism
The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism”. With industry and capitalism growing, a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism.... ... middle of paper ...
It is clear that capitalism is more advantageous than communism in every aspect in the economy. All stakeholders such as common people, state, government, banks, and investors will benefit more in a capitalist economy. The best way to describe a communist economy is as an old lady who is demotivated in her life and just wants to eat and sleep, while a capitalist economy can be described as a motivated young man who wants to keep achieving more and more in his life.
Marx thought of a society that would create equality and bring power to the people. He didn 't expect society to be totally equal but a society with distributed justice. According to Marx, a good society is when there is no exploitation. To get rid of exploitation, we have to get rid of surplus values and make everyone equal. But Marx also knows that no good society can exist as long as exploitation is allowed. That is why some societies will want a Marx type of living and some will not. A society that has used and embodied the Marxist tradition is Russia. They have used Marx ideas and lived by the communist manifesto. This way of life worked for many years and to the people of Russia, it made a good society. But to people outside of Russia, people who lived in a democratic state or country, they looked at it as a failed society. A type of society that should not be allowed to exist in the world of democracy. But like Marx said, some societies will be able to live in a Marxist environment and some won’t. Marx also states, “ In a communist society, the working class will be more important than the capital class”(M 10-25-2016). By having everyone equal, this allows for class conflict to be no more and exploitation not exist. Marx knows there can be no good society but a Marxist society will do its best to form a ideal
Marx based many of his theories based of his own life experience and views of politics. He was a very radical thinker and believed that the economy and political systems were so wrong and far gone that they could not be internally fixed or rejuvenated. Marx has strong critiques of capitalism and the bases of this opposition was that capitalism would quickly exceed its maximum usefulness and need to be replaced in order to uphold the necessary level of production. The main reason he predicted the downfall of capitalism is alienation and separation and will be a direct result to the uprising of
Janos, Andrew C. “What was Communism: A Retrospective in Comparative Analysis.” Communist and Post- Communist Studies Volume 29 (1996): 1-24. Print.