Free Essays on Communism

Communism In the early 19th century, the idea of a communist society was a response of the poor and the dislocated to the beginnings of modern capitalism. At that time communism was the basis for a number of utopian settlements; most communistic experiments, however, eventually failed. Most of these small-scale private experiments involved voluntary cooperation, with everyone participating in the governing process. Later the term communism was reserved for the philosophy advanced by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel's in their Communist Manifesto and the movement they helped create in Central Europe. Since 1917 the term has denoted those who regard the Russian Revolution as a model that all Marxists should follow. Beginning with the Russian Revolution, moreover, the center of gravity of global communism has shifted away from Central and Western Europe; from the late 1940s through the 1980s, communist movements were often linked with Third World strivings for national independence and social change. The first of these countries was Russia, a huge, poor, relatively backward nation that was just beginning to acquire an industrial base. Its people, still largely illiterate, had no experience in political participation. In 1917, after a series of halfhearted reform measures and disastrous mismanagement of the war effort, the antiquated mechanism of czarist rule simply disintegrated and was swept away Communism means an economic and political system in which the government makes all economic & own all the major form of production. From the social & economic the public ownership of all businesses . Government run education & healthcare. The have very limited freedom to protect the government , practice religion, or change houses or jobs . Total government control over market except for illegal transactions , very little choice among competing goods in the market. Very little incentives for workers work hard or to produce quality goods o... Free Essays on Communism Free Essays on Communism Communism In the early 19th century, the idea of a communist society was a response of the poor and the dislocated to the beginnings of modern capitalism. At that time communism was the basis for a number of utopian settlements; most communistic experiments, however, eventually failed. Most of these small-scale private experiments involved voluntary cooperation, with everyone participating in the governing process. Later the term communism was reserved for the philosophy advanced by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel's in their Communist Manifesto and the movement they helped create in Central Europe. Since 1917 the term has denoted those who regard the Russian Revolution as a model that all Marxists should follow. Beginning with the Russian Revolution, moreover, the center of gravity of global communism has shifted away from Central and Western Europe; from the late 1940s through the 1980s, communist movements were often linked with Third World strivings for national independence and social change. The first of these countries was Russia, a huge, poor, relatively backward nation that was just beginning to acquire an industrial base. Its people, still largely illiterate, had no experience in political participation. In 1917, after a series of halfhearted reform measures and disastrous mismanagement of the war effort, the antiquated mechanism of czarist rule simply disintegrated and was swept away Communism means an economic and political system in which the government makes all economic & own all the major form of production. From the social & economic the public ownership of all businesses . Government run education & healthcare. The have very limited freedom to protect the government , practice religion, or change houses or jobs . Total government control over market except for illegal transactions , very little choice among competing goods in the market. Very little incentives for workers work hard or to produce quality goods o... Free Essays on Communism Communism - From Marx to Zemin Essay written by Kris Rayner Communism has long been heralded in capitalist countries as the root of all evil. However, as with all phobias, this intrinsic fear of communism comes from a lack of knowledge rather than sound reasoning. It is that same fear that gave the world the Cold War and McCarthy's Red Scare. The purpose of this paper is neither to support communism over capitalism nor the reverse of that. Rather, it is to inform the reader of communism's migration through time and hopefully assist the regression of such fear. The ideology of communism came out of the minds of two men, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Marxism, 11). (Dueto Marx being the more widely known influence, he will be the one most often referred to.) It was his belief that private property was the cause of the poverty and degradation of the proletariat. Therefore, he came to settle on the idea that no one person should have control over production of good, ownership of land, and management of funds. In that same token then, no one class should be allowed to have control over these things. He went onto comment that the exploitation of the working class must come to an end. That end would be achieved through revolution. Once this was achieved, everybody would work according to their abilities and then be paid accordingly (Capital, 586-617). Soon after, however, technical innovations would create such abundance of goods that "everyone works according to his abilities and receives according to his needs." Soon thereafter, money would ha ve no place in society. People would be able to take what they want and would be lacking nothing. Marx then believed that the pleasure of seeing the fruits of labor would be enough to cause man to work (Communism, 56-62). Countries and people were soon to catch on to this ideology. The two most known of which are Russia and China. Of the two, Russia was the first to adopt the communist beliefs.... Free Essays on Communism Communism is a concept or system of society in which the major resources and means of production are owned by the community rather than by individuals. It was a vital part of what happened through the 1900s. It had various affects on many countries in just a century. Although the ideas were for the better, and some countries may have benefited in some ways, in the long run, it was defective. The worst victim of communism was, arguably, the Soviet Union. This was because they had numerous wars within their country, a destructive communist leader, and would later be involved in the Cold War followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union. The worst thing a country could ask for would be a civil war. That is exactly what was happening in Russia from around 1910 to the early 1920s. The Bolsheviks, also known as the Red Army, were supporters of Lenin and were radical socialists. They wanted to immediately overthrow the czar. On the other hand, the people who opposed Lenin, and believed that the czar should be slowly overtaken, and that Lenin’s ideas contradicted with those of Marx, were called Mensheviks. The czar made serious mistakes, which heated the rivalry between the two groups. The worst, in my opinion, was the cold-blooded killing of nearly 1,000 unarmed peasants, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday. (Compton’s Interactive CD-ROM. 3rd ed) After an unproductive decade, Germany sent Lenin back into Russia and he quickly became in charge. The Bolshevik Red Army and the Whites or Mensheviks, were destined to fight and that is what happened. From 1918 to 1920 the two sides fought deadly battles totaling up around 15 million Russian fatalities. Victory eventually went to the Bolsheviks, but not at a small price. Aside from the 15 million less people Russia had, including the czar and his family, everything Russia depended on was hurt. Trade was at a standstill, the Russian economy was in ruins, factories were destroyed and many of ... Free Essays on Communism Democracy Compared to Communism Democracy and communism are two of the most different, yet important systems of government ever to be set into motion. While total democracy and total communism are not widely spread, the effects of both can be seen in the countries that adopted these forms of government years ago. This is done by the practice of the more modern forms of these two governing systems, liberal democracies and CPC states. Both communist and democratic governments have benefits and disadvantages; therefore many disagree about which may be best. One of the greatest distinctions between a communist and a democratic government are their conflicting economic systems. In a communist government, the goal is to abolish private property and class systems. The public owns the major resources and the means of production. Power is also held in common. The goal of the system is to hinder any individual person or group from becoming extremely wealthy, while others become excessively poor. By giving everyone equal pay and ownership, the system attempts to balance wealth between the previously rich and poor. Over time, the outcome became an increased lower class. However, in a democratic government, the economy prospers by allowing free enterprise. People can work hard for more money and profits. Money is most certainly a driving force in a democracy. Though, a downside might be someone that works just as hard and makes a minimum wage. But, democratic systems seem to be more economically successful that other forms of government . . On the other hand, in a communist society a person can work infinitely harder than a coworker and receive the same pay by the end of the day. This fact has contributed to the downfall of communism. When employees have no incentive to work hard, they become lazy at their jobs which, in turn, drags down the economy. The success of democratic governments may be contributed to the fact of how ...