Economic Philosophies: Communism

Communism is the other of two left-leaning economic and political ideologies
Like it’s fraternal twin, socialism, it attempts to provide an alternative to feudalism which it replaced in countries like Russia and Capitalism which is widespread in the so-called Western countries
Again at its core is the belief that all members of society ought to be equally economically and socially
To better understand what communism is we need to look at its history

The brief history of communism

Was coined and championed by Friedrich Engels, Karl Max and Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (commonly known as Lenin)
The first two men were philosophers who were disillusioned by society and the way their countries were run
They, especially Marx, came up with a theory that is now called Marxism from which communism is derived
According to Marx, there is a social-economic struggle through which all societies goes through
Pre-historic societies operated their communities along the principles of Primitive Communism
Then they transitioned to Slavery, Feudalism, Capitalism and Socialism
Each stage is known as an epoch or an era which covers a certain period in time of human history
Because each political-economic ideology/system has weaknesses there is eventually a revolution led by the oppressed members of society which forces the system to transition to the next stage
Marx and his disciples take it for granted that the revolution is forward moving i.e. it goes through all these stages as he mentioned them and there is no regression i.e backward movement
Socialism is seen as a rudimentary emerging form of communism
Lenin oversaw the Russian revolution and implemented Communism as a government system in Russia and made refinements of his own
This included reinforcing the distinction between Socialism and Communism
Communism, as it exists today, is actually called Marxism–Leninism

Features of Communism

It’s based on the Marxism-Leninism ideology
According to Marx and Lenin it is the final political and economic system of the class struggles (revolutions)
Under this system people live in Communes
All factors of production are owned and operated by the community as a whole i.e there is communal ownership of factors of production
All members of the commune/community are equal i.e. there are no social classes
It is based on the communitarianism philosophy which emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community
According to communism the needs of the individual should be subservient to the needs of the community as a whole
There is no private ownership of resources as everything is owned by the community
This means for example that there is really no need for an individual to be paid for their work as they are striving to improve their community as a whole and not just themselves
The word community/commune might refer to a family but it commonly refers to people who live in a particular location, geographic area or a people who share a history, for example, people who have historically been part of one country
Extreme individualism is discouraged and personal freedoms are sacrificed for the good of the community as a whole
As already said, workers are not really paid for their labour
This means that there is really no buying or selling of goods and services
Instead whatever the community produces is shared according to the needs of each member of the community
This also means that there is no accumulation of wealth resulting in all people being essentially equal in economic terms
Central plans are made by the leaders of the community in the form of economic plans
Communism has thus led to the development of the central/planned/command economic system
In its purest forms, communism gives out free goods and services
Communism is Utopian in nature i.e it believes in a paradise like community
It’s greatest flaw is the belief that all members of society are equal yet that same society is supposed to have leaders,
Logic dictates that leaders are above all the other members of society