Communism has been around for several years, and has been implemented in varying countries including Laos, China, Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea. Communism is commonly associated with Karl Marx’s early ideas. Karl Marx was a German philosopher who outlined his ideas in his manifesto ‘The Communist Manifesto’, which he wrote in 1848. He liked to emphasize that capitalism led to inequality between citizens in the population and that his goal was to promote a classless society where everyone shares the same beliefs, and that the government should control all the property and wealth in the system. Ultimately his goal was to make everyone equal, the close the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and to stop oppression of the poor and end exploitation of the working class.
While Marx made communism popular, he did not invent this ideology. In early Greece both Aristotle and Plato discussed the idea of complete equality for everyone. While Plato and Aristotle only talked about this issue, Marx worked to develop these ideas into a doctrine which not only would become popular but would later be implemented into a practice. Marx was concerned that factory owners, landowners, and people with a lot of wealth were the cause of oppression in the society. He wanted to liberate people of the burden of oppression and inequality. “His idea of utopia was a land where people labored as they were able, and everyone shared the wealth” (National Geographic).
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
While the main ideals of communism are that the government should control the economy, wealth, and property everyone could be equal and no one person could gain too much control or rise above others, communism has many pros and cons. While communism can reduce the impact of differences in society, help people start off with the same opportunities, and can help create a stronger community it can also cause so many problems. Communism can lead to the manipulation of the ownership of public structures. “Because there is no private ownership involved with communism, the public nature of all properties creates a higher risk of abuse” (Chief). The individuals that are in the higher levels of the government can control majority of the available resources. If these officials decide that they want to make a change within the society, no one can stop them from doing so. The people will always be at the mercy of the officials as they decide what to do with what you own, where you work, and your accessibility to available resources like food, water, clothing, etc.
Another issue with the implementation of communism is that your individual rights are not going to take priority. With socialism they still respect your individual rights as a human while communism only wants to better the community. This ideology dictates every need, want, and goal of their individuals to the point where you can only pursue your interests if they benefit to the welfare of the people (Chief). This type of government also the messaging, performance, and agenda of the society. The government has a strict control over the law, and they have the authority and power to dictate if the actions that an individual does are illegal or not and then will apply those changes to society.
China first began introducing communism in 1921, when the Communist Party of China was formed under Mao Zedong’s rule. Mao Zedong was poorly educated when he was younger however, he was very intelligent for his age. He later left his home and had become a member of the army as the revolution began around 1911. Somewhere around his time serving he was introduced to the idea of Marxism and quickly became influenced. After the Rebellion of 1900 the citizens of China experienced starvation due to lack of food, they faced extreme poverty due, and most importantly they were grieving the loss of the many innocent lives that were lost. This situation easily benefitted Mao as the citizens rebelled from the warlords. Mao easily had the support of roughly 85% of the nation who were poor farmers. The writer Christopher van de Merwe said that “Mao Zedong led the communists after the army successfully finished the Revolution by defeating the nationalists. Then once Mao was in control, the Chinese loved him and gave ample support in return for better changes for the peasants”.
China’s current situation is looking like a demographic genocide, suppression of information, and a disregard for human rights and dignity. China is enacting a demographic genocide against Uyghur Muslims by forcing them into reeducation camps and making them have forced abortions and sterilization. They are also suppressing the free choice of practice for Chinese Catholics and are currently dismantling the civil liberties in Hong Kong. Police in China are making arrests that are made on false charge, indefinite detainments are being made, and campaigns discussing misinformation and censorship are being faced with backlash. Nina Shea, an international human-rights lawyer, stated: “Crackdown doesn’t even begin to describe it, it’s an eradication of communities that are independent of the Communist Party”.
Under the rule of president Xi Jinping different churched have been demolished and shut down as an attempt to purge China of foreign elements. While Xi is enforcing his dream, the CCP abolished term limits for the president in China essentially giving way for Xi Jinping to tule for life. China imposes a great threat towards the United States. The Chinese Communist party is enacting in a layered campaign that has lasted generations to become the world’s economic and technological leader.
China is paving their way not through fair competition but through the suppression of their citizens freedom and speech. While people who live outside of China are trying to expose the extensive human rights violations that are occurring in the country, China is actively threatening ex citizens to either return or they threaten their family that are currently living in China in order to gain leverage against them. The FBI’s director Wray stated that “confronting this threat effectively does not mean we shouldn’t do business with China”. “But it does mean that when China violates our criminal laws and international norms, we are not going to tolerate it. The FBI and our partners through the U.S. government will hold China accountable and protect our nation’s innovation, ideas, and way of life – with the help and vigilance of the American people” (Editorials).
In December 2021, the Biden administration said that they are imposing new and different sanctions on several of the Chinese surveillance companies as well as their biotech companies. It is said that China is actively choosing and using these different technologies to gain control over their people both ethnically and religiously (NBC). The United States Treasury Department had announced that had placed the world’s largest drone manufacturer and several other Chinese companies on investment blacklists. They placed these companies on blacklists due to their alleged involvement in biometric surveillance and tracking of Uyghurs (NBC).
In overview, communism is comparable to playing with a young child. There are no rules until the child decides that things must occur a specific way in a specific order, and there will always be twists and turns into how they play. But in this case the child is the government, and you are the people playing their games, and you are spending your whole life trying to circumnavigate their rules and agenda.
Works Cited
- ‘‘Total Control’: China Regime’s Communist Ideology the Common Thread of Web of Human-Rights Abuses’. (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://www.ncregister.com/news/total-control-china-regime-s-communist-ideology-the-common-thread-of-web-of-human-rights-abuses
- ‘Biden Administration Imposes Sanctions Against China Over Abuse of Uyghurs’. (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-administration-imposes-sanctions-against-china-over-abuse-uyghurs-n1286100
- Chief, E. (2022). ‘15 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Communism’. Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://connectusfund.org/15-major-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-communism
- ‘China Poses Biggest Threat to U.S. National Security’ (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://editorials.voa.gov/a/china-poses-biggest-threat-to-u-s-national-security5516031.html
- ‘Communism: In China’. (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ‘Rise of Communism In China’. (2022). Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/rise-of-communism-in-china-faq.htm
- Society, N. (2022). ‘Communism’. Retrieved 26 April 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/communism
Stuck on your essay?
