Category: Communism

Introduction

Communism is a socio-political philosophy in which property and wealth are commonly controlled. Communism can be referred to as a politically motivated association, geared to conquering capitalism and in its place create a society that is classless and where resources are jointly owned by the members of the society. According to Scholars pure communism is a state of society where there is no class and oppression of any kind, as the decisions and policies related to production are democratically determined in the political and economic spheres of life. In modern use communism is a state where means of production are owned by the state; production and the economy are planned centrally by policies and authorities put in place by a central governing body. (Perry 450-472)

In the late 19^th century moving into the 20^th century Russian Marxism developed a characteristic trait of that it developed major figures whose underlying assumptions were that Russia was less urbanized than Western Europe, and that this society had a long way to go before going through a proletarian revolution that would lead to the development of a communist society. Further the Russian population was economically underprivileged and uneducated therefore predictions held that as a nation it would be capable of skipping the phase of bourgeoisie capitalism in attaining communism. The term communism developed from numerous political moves that was used for the purpose of the parties fashioned under the umbrella of the Comintern. The major mission for this harmony was the cooperation of all the workers of the time for revolution. This would be succeeded by the growth of dictatorship by the workers leading to the forming of a socialist economy. After this was achieved, the process would further lead to the development of a classless society due to the withering away of the state. Another occurrence that led to the development of communism was the Russian civil war which led to the state control of factories and railroads. (Perry 450-472)

After the Second World War communists intensified control in the Eastern part of Europe, and later the People’s Republic of china came into being through fashioning its own philosophical path towards a communalist society. After this development other nations within the area embraced the Pro-communist government at some point leading to further development of the communist society. The advancement of communist states into becoming industrial and technological powers further led to the development of communism as they were able to challenge the capitalist powers in conflict as well as in other areas. As a result of the victory of the Soviet Union in the Second World War, many territories were conquered in Eastern Europe and East Asia leading to the spread of communism. The increased soviet influence led to the spread of communism and the fact that governments fashioned on soviet communism took power with soviet assistance helped further develop the system. (Milovan 475-489)

The principles of the soviet communism included the quadrupling of the heavy industry production as well as increasing the output of consumer goods. This principle was to play the role of resource creation as well as improving the poor industrial state, which would fuel the control of the Soviet society on other nations. Another principle of the Soviet communism was commanding strict control over the Soviet economy. This would help in the control of production resources as well as other factors that were under question in the central management. Trade unions were converted from playing the role of protecting workers to putting into place means of employee satisfaction and reward system, so as to improve productivity by gaining the confidence of the workers. The smaller factories and trade enterprises were nationalized so that the state would virtually be the only employer in the Soviet Union. This was further meant to control the labor within the soviet society so as to increase the levels of control thus increasing the levels of communism. (Milovan 475-489)

The causes for the repression and fall of communism include; the oppression of citizens into being obedient and submissive to the system. This led to the development of strain between the citizens and the ruling regime and therefore the citizens voted the communist government out. The lack of justice within the system due to the imposition of the utopian idealism led to the demand for change by the citizens therefore leading to the fall of the Communism. The unjust policies put into place included that Russian was the only language allowed to be spoken within the Soviet Union. This policy was to play the role of creating equality among the people and to eliminate differences based on language. Another directive was that no individuals were permitted to live a way of life opposed to the Atheistic morals of the soviet communist society. On the other hand those who embraced other convictions were imprisoned and tortured to death and this further fueled the fall of communism. (Perry 450-472)

The state went further to dictate the careers of the graduates from high school; the housing and location one would live in within the country and this led to high suicide rates among graduates who were given lifelong career commitments to hard labor. Also the fact that citizens were not allowed to look into the eyes of the authorities but keep a downward glance contributed to the fall of the communist regime. As a result of the frustration placed on the citizens by the communist authorities, many people took to alcoholism and drug addiction and this further led to the common awareness of the injustice of the system that led to its being voted out. The fall of Communism can greatly be attributed to the high levels of injustice placed upon the citizens, and the lack of freedom for individuals to live and make decisions about their life as they please. (Perry 450-472)

Conclusion

Communism being a social-political system that seeks to have collective control of wealth and resources should be put into action in a very limited sensitive manner, so as to avoid violating the rights and freedom of individuals that led to the self-destruction of soviet communism.

Work cited

Milovan, Djilas. “New Class: Analysis Of Communist System.” Mariner Books. (1982): 475-489.

Perry, Marvin. “Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, 9th edition, Volume2.” Wadsworth Publishing. (2008):450-472.

Communism was a common ideology and phenomenon in Eastern Europe of the 20^th century. Romania was no exception, and the period from the 1960s to the 1980s is known as an epoch of the Ceausescu dictatorship. The documentary “The Lost World of Communism” calls this period as “socialism in one family.” It reveals the dreadful truth about the power of the Ceausescu family and the dark side of the communist regime.

Before watching the documentary I imagined communism as an ideology which supposes that people share everything, and where the government provides for its people. Although I realized that history had proved the inadequacy of communist theories, I did not expect to see such a terrifying picture of Romania. If I imagine myself in this country of the 1980s, I would be scared of the generally poor level of life, the massive cult of Nicolae Ceausescu, and insane bans.

The first issue that would strike me is scarce food and housing, that I saw in the documentary. Romania had enough land and farmers to provide its citizens with nutrition. However, instead of putting it to good use, the government exported most of the food to pay its external debts. It led to famine, people starved to death. Also, many peasants were forced to move to towns, where houses were unfit for human use, and it made Romanians struggle daily to survive in cold apartment blocks. This national disaster clearly illustrates the inefficiency and cruelty of Ceausescu’s internal politics.

Despite the fact that Romania was suffering, as mentioned above, Nikolae Ceausescu was represented as a national hero and worshipped throughout the country. Video-fragments of public displays and demonstrations, where everyone is supporting the cult of their leader, remind me of a modern North Korea. I was impressed by the incredible power Ceausescu had over people, where the influence of his wife cannot be underestimated. People did not realize or pretended to ignore the destructive role of Elena Ceausescu. As a result, the impact of a woman who supervised even her children became nationwide.

The most knocking part for me was the number of atrocious and inexplicable bans Romania had. For instance, the ban on abortion and contraception was introduced in order to increase the Romanian population without any consent from women. A regular check of pregnancies seems to violate all possible human rights and considers women as incubators if regarded in a modern context. Moreover, those who disagreed with the government were often sent to psychiatric clinics as potential “troublemakers.” Nobody cared about the opinion of individuals, and it led to numerous self-made abortions and destroyed lives.

Another negative side of communism was in the protectionist practices in media and culture, which resulted in such absurd phenomena as a list of “forbidden words” or the promotion of only one cartoon artist. Control was spread even through such common things as jokes and songs. Today it seems impossible, but apparently, it was a routine for communist Romania.

I can hardly imagine what stress and perplexity society might feel after the fall of such a destructive regime. They would have to rebuild the political institutes, review the ideology, popularized in media and schools for years, and create a completely new version of the market. They would lose support and have to act themselves – create businesses, start traveling, and what is most important, think, and care about themselves.

It is certainly hard to face a new reality and try to keep living in a new environment. In the case of Romania, I am convinced that no tradition or norm of the past should have been kept. All elements of the communism were to be gone, as they led the country to poverty and economic disaster. People needed freedom and opportunities to act the way they believed was right, and it was the only way to start growth.