Communism is a system of social organization that has never been truly tried and, these days, never truly explained. Yet it inspires fear in some, derision in others, and an almost universal unconcern for what it is actually intended to convey. You could read Marx for yourself, of course, and find that his communism is not made from dreary monsters but instead complex reasoning toward a future social evolution.
Many of its features may even be acceptable to your conservative aunt, if only she read him, too. First up, you need to suffer one of those tedious passages where we define some terms. Here we go: Socialism and communism and liberalism are not interchangeable words. The liberal, whether of a progressive or conservative sort, believes that social problems largely derive from poor individual morals.
US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, for example, said our moral intolerance of minorities is the great problem with America; US president Donald Trump said our moral privileging of minorities is the great problem with America. The communist cannot agree with either proposition. Currently, that system is capitalism. Communism is the critique and the antidote to capitalism, with all its problems, including those of social and cultural division. A liberal believes that capitalism can be humanized.
A socialist is skeptical about this. In other words, liberals think a few bad apples spoil the supply. A communist thinks that the crate itself is rotten.
A communist is a socialist, but a socialist is not necessarily a communist. A communist believes that socialism is a historical phase that precedes communism and follows capitalism. Socialism is that system where the state is the full or partial owner of all property.
Communism is the collective ownership of all property. A communist wants more. A communist seeks the abolition of property, whether held by the state or private firms and citizens; they want all of us to own everything equally and become our own dictators. A communist seeks conditions to end the state entirely and have all human society collectively managed. To make his argument that the mode of production is the starting point for many of our ideas and life experiences, Marx goes back in time.
That is to say, the labor of many has ensured the comfort of a few ever since the Neolithic Revolution. This is our struggle. In a slave economy, most of us are slaves. In a feudal economy, most of us are serfs. Communism vs. Budget Deficit. Key Takeaways Communism and socialism are political and economic systems that share certain beliefs, including greater equality in the distribution of income. One way communism differs from socialism is that it calls for the transfer of power to the working class by revolutionary rather than gradual means.
Both communism and socialism advocate public control of the means of production, although socialism allows for the continued existence of capitalism in some parts of the economy. Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts.
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Related Articles. Macroeconomics What are the most important aspects of a capitalist system? Economics Main Characteristics of Capitalist Economies. Economics Who Created Economics? Partner Links. Related Terms Marxism: Theory, Effects, and Examples Marxism is a set of social, political, and economic theories created and espoused by Karl Marx that became a prominent school of socialist thought.
What Is Communism? Communism is an ideology that advocates a classless system in which the means of production are owned communally. Karl Marx Karl Marx was a 19th-century philosopher, author, and economist famous for his ideas about capitalism and communism. He was the father of Marxism. Socialism Socialism is an economic and political system based on public or collective ownership of the means of production that emphasizes economic equality. Friedrich Engels Definition Friedrich Engels was a German philosopher, social scientist, journalist and businessman who is credited with helping begin the communist movement.
What Is Political Economy? Political economy is a branch of the social sciences that focuses on the interrelationships among individuals, governments, and public policy. Investopedia is part of the Dotdash publishing family.
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The communist leaders set the wages, they set the prices, and they distributed the wealth. Western capitalist nations fought hard against communism, and eventually, most communist countries collapsed. However, as of , five proclaimed communist countries continue to exist: North Korea, Vietnam, China, Cuba, and Laos.
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