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.
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...
revolution in which there is a break up and elimination of the state and no
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
Communism is defined as a political and economical doctrine, the aim which is to abolish private ownership of property and for-profit enterprise and to replace these with public ownership and control of industry, agriculture, and resources (“Communism”). The product of this government is supposed to be a society free of class ranking based on wealth, property, and political power. The Soviet Union was the first country to test these governmental strategies and it did not take long for the regime to collapse. The inevitable collapse of communism led to the fall of the Berlin Wall; this started the domino effect of freedom that ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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.
"In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic." Marx idea gives the individual the ability to make choices, and the responsibility for the consequences of those choices. He attacks capitalism and criticizes it importunately because it produces inequality, reduces the family relationship, destroys small business, and enslaves.
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...
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
Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire. 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:
Marx and Engels had a specific vision for what they wanted their communist government to be. If communism had remained unchanged in its original form, the corruption of the party may not have occurred, and the rest of the world could have learned valuable lessons from the communists. If communism had continued to be what Marx and Engels intended it to be, then communist governments may have been successful. Unfortunately, what they neglected to take into consideration was the greediness that would overcome society. When people become hungry for power, they can easily take advantage of a communist government and corrupt it, transforming it into a totalitarian government. In theory, communism works out well. But as shown in East Germany’s history, communism’s promise of full equality is unlikely, unless government corruption can be prevented.
The fall of communism can be linked to several reasons. Some of these reasons were internal while other were the results of outside influence. For a form of any type of government to work the people must support it, true a government can use force to make their populace submit to the will of the government as with China in Tiananmem Square. In that case, the government use armed military force to put down student demonstrator demanding for democracy reform. Meanwhile over in Eastern Europe the people are able to force a change of government. When communism first took hold in Russia, Lenin predicted that their system would produce a new socialist man, completely loyal to communism. However, the young folks that had spent their whole life under communist control that hated this form of government and were trying to escape to the west. This maybe credit to fact that folks behind the Iron Wall were able to see the advantages the people of the west had. Other internal problems facing the communist governments of Eastern Europe was the collapse of their economy. The arms race the Soviet Union had been involved in with NATO had bankrupted their economy. This in turn effect the people, when the economy started to collapse, the people started to lose their jobs, were not able to get the basic necessities from the local stores. In most cases when one form of government can not provide the basic needs for their people, than the people will look for a form of government that can provide for them. Than there is one aspect of human nature that Communist Party in the Soviet Union was not able to control and the desire of the people of Eastern Europe to be free of Soviet control. Before World War II, the countries that made up Eastern Europe had been independent countries able to decide their own fate. When the Soviet Union pushed out the forces of Nazi Germany, they install puppet governments that were loyal to the Soviet Union. Inspite of 40 plus years of control, the communist party was never able to kill the dream of the people to govern themselves and chose their own destiny. The other major cause for the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was NATO.
One of the greatest debates of all time has been regarding the issue of the freedom of mankind. The one determining factor, for Marx, it that freedom is linked with class conflict. As a historian, Karl Marx traced the history of mankind by the ways in which the economy operated and the role of classes within the economy. For Marx, the biggest question that needed to be answered was “Who owns freedom?” With this in mind, Marx gives us a solution to both the issues of freedom and class conflict in his critique of capitalism and theory of communism, which is the ideal society for Marx. His theory of communism is based on the “ultimate end of human history” because there will be freedom for all humankind. Marx saw communism as the ideal society because it is "the genuine resolution of the conflict between man and man- the true resolution of the strife between existence and essence...between freedom and necessity" that capitalism fosters. Marx was also committed to the notion that theory and action go hand in hand. Marx dismissed earlier thinkers because they (philosophers) "have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it." He also stated "Ideas cannot carry out anything at all. In order to carry out ideas men are needed who can exert practical force". However, Marx would have been appalled by the way his theory of communism was misused. It can be said, though, that Marx's theory of communism was clearly open for interpretation because he failed to offer "principles or guidelines of even the most general kind" for how the system of communism was to be fully established. It was this opportunity for interpretation that made Marx's theory of communism doomed for failure when it was used in practice.
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto in order to give a voice to the struggling classes in Europe. In the document he expressed the frustrations of the lower class. As Marx began his document with "the history of all hitherto societies has been the history of class struggles" he gave power to the lower classes and sparked a destruction of their opressors.1 He argued that during the nineteenth century Europe was divided into two main classes: the wealthy upper class, the bourgeoisie, and the lower working class, the proletariat. After years of suffering oppression the proletariats decided to use their autonomy and make a choice to gain power. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century the proletariats were controlled and oppressed by the bourgeoisie until they took on the responsibility of acquiring equality through the Communist Manifesto.
He saw communism as a way for all people to be truly free and equal. There would be no more class discrimination and everyone would have resourced based on what is needed. He exclaimed that communism would give individuals the freedoms that the bourgeoisie denied them. While this is what Karl Marx predicted and believed would be successful, the reality over time has taken a much different path proving that Marx’s ideas cannot be accurately applied