University:
Carleton College
Course:
POSC 120 | Democracy and Dictatorship
Academic year:

2022
Views:

352

Pages:

9
Author:

Sheha A.

A QUICK OVERVIEW OF COMMUNISM COMMUNISM HAS BEEN AROUND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. IN ITS PUREST FORM, THERE IS NO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP. MARX IN A NUTSHELL: 1848 KARL MARX AND FREDERICH ENGELS WROTE A PAMPHLET CALLED THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO . LATER MARX (ALONE) WROTE A BOOK CALLED DAS KAPITAL . BOTH THESE WORKS USED THE TERM COMMUNISM TO MARK A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS VIEWS AND THOSE OF FRENCH UTOPIAN SOCIALISTS. KARL MARX CHANGED HISTORY WITH HIS WORKS, ESP. IN RUSSIA, CHINA, AND SEVERAL SMALLER COUNTRIES LIKE CUBA. NOTE!!: EACH PLACE AND TIME PERIOD CHANGED MARXISM TO FIT THEIR SITUATION. MARX IN A NUTSHELL: • ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY— • *ALL EVENTS ARE INFLUENCED ONLY BY ECONOMICS • *NOT RELIGION, NATIONALISM, IDEAS, LOVE, ETC. MARX IN A NUTSHELL: • HISTORY IS A STRUGGLE BETWEEN CLASSES— THE “HAVES” AGAINST THE “HAVE NOTS” • *SLAVES V. MASTERS SERFS V. LORDS • *PROLETARIAT (FACTORY WORKERS) V. BOURGEOISIE (MIDDLE CLASS) • *“WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CHAINS!” MARX IN A NUTSHELL: “SURPLUS VALUE”—THE ONLY THING OF VALUE IN A PRODUCT IS THE LABOR THAT MADE IT. CAPITALISTS PAY JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP WORKERS ALIVE ACC. TO MARX: CAPITALISTS CONTRIBUTE NOTHING TO PRODUCTION, BUT THEY KEEP THE PROFIT MADE OFF THE WORKER WORKERS CAN’T BUY PRODUCT, SINK INTO DEBT, DEPRESSION OCCURS MARX IN A NUTSHELL: SOCIALISM IS INEVITABLE—CYCLE OF “BOOM-BUST” WOULD LEAD TO WORKERS OVERTHROWING CAPITALISTS AS WORKER’S CONDITIONS WORSENED *LAISSEZ-FAIRE: CONCEPT THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD KEEP ITS HANDS OFF OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY; (ANTI-PROLETARIAT, PRO-CAPITALIST) THIS REVOLUTION IS INEVITABLE (IN A SCIENTIFIC WAY)—IT CANNOT BE STOPPED MARX IN A NUTSHELL: AFTER THE REVOLUTION, END UP WITH A “WORKER-RUN COUNTRY” ACC. TO MARX, THE STATE WOULD “WITHER AWAY” AND BE REPLACED BY A CLASSLESS SOCIETY OF WORKERS, WHERE THIS RULE WILL GUIDE LIFE *“FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEEDS” • PROBLEMS? LENIN CHANGED COMMUNISM A WHOLE LOT BY SAYING . . . • COMMUNISM SHOULD OCCUR THROUGH VIOLENT REVOLUTION • COMMUNISM COULD OCCUR IN COUNTRIES NOT INDUSTRIALIZED • SINCE PEASANTS/FARMERS WERE BASICALLY STUPID, PROFESSIONAL REVOLUTIONARIES MUST EMERGE AND LEAD THE PEASANTS TO VICTORY MARX IN A NUTSHELL: • AFTER LENIN’S BOLSHEVIK PARTY WON THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR IN 1922, HE HAD TO BEGIN THE “NEP” (NEW ECONOMIC POLICY) TO GET THE COUNTRY GOING. • THIS WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM, MAINLY BECAUSE IT ALLOWED FARMERS AND BUSINESSMEN TO KEEP THEIR PROFITS. • KEEPING PROFITS THAT ONE EARNS IS A KEY POINT IN AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM CALLED CAPITALISM.

A Quick Overview of a Communism

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