Communism

Communism is a far-left economic and political system, created by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The ultimate goal under communism is to overthrow capitalism and in its absence establish common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state. Since the creation of the first communist state in 1927, communism has evolved worldwide, garnering massive amounts of critics and supporters alike.

## **Ideological principles**

Communism, like other leftist ideologies, believes capitalism to be a form of exploitation, and that the system must be overthrown. Communism, like syndicalism and anarchism, believes that, for actual change to come to the working class (the proletariat) there needs to be a social revolution. However, the way to get to the revolution and what should happen afterward has been endlessly debated, resulting in sub-ideologies forming under communism, such as Marxism, Leninism, and anarcho-communism, to name a few.

### **Views on religion:**

One of communism's most radical views is on religion, and many people have had different ideas as to how communism should deal with its institutions. Far-left communists, such as Vladimir Lenin harbor no sympathy for religion, saying "*Religion is the opium of the people: this saying of Marx is the cornerstone of the entire ideology of Marxism about religion. All modern religions and churches, all and of every kind of religious organizations are always considered by Marxism as the organs of bourgeois reaction, used for the protection of the exploitation and the stupefaction of the working class*". Many communists view religion as inherently anti-revolutionary. Communism is more radical in this view than syndicalists, as in Germany for example religion was tolerated as long as any priests, clergymen, etc. openly supported the ruling party, but pressure from the German government was given onto its citizens to abandon religion as a whole. In communist states, such as the Socialist Republic of Russia, the early leaders of the state directly opposed religious practices and institutions, prompting thousands to flee into White Russia. But after the election of Alexandra Kollontai, she has relaxed the restriction on the church and has eased tensions with the population who was majority Russian orthodoxy and made Alexandra quite popular.

In Vietnam as another example, tight restrictions on religion remain, and education in the country discourages the youth from adopting religion into their lives. Still, in these countries no government officials actively practice any sort of religion, at least openly,

### **A country's road to communism**

A topic that has been gaining attention for some years in communist communities is the topic of how a country's road to communism will look. Communists who support syndicalist policies, and support Alexandra Kollontai (called Kollontism), support the idea that the transformation should be more gradual depending on the circumstances. For the SRR and Vietnam, both countries' lands were not industrialized, and the issue stemming from that was how communism was meant to be implemented in industrialized societies, not agrarian ones. Because of this, they support agrarian countries making a slow transition to avoid any unneeded spilled blood or sacrifices. Others, like Leninists and traditional Marxists, believe that the state's end goal towards communism is already planned out and that the transition should and can be achieved, no matter which or where the state is.

## **Economic principles**

In communism, the ideology seeks to abolish private property and replace it with joint public ownership. Class is also meant to be abolished, as its barriers have tended to serve the agenda of capitalists. In communism, there are two classes in society, one, known as the proletariat (AKA the working class) and the bourgeoisie (AKA the capitalist class). Herein, the bourgeoisie is the class that, in a capitalist society unequally receives the majority of the profits made by the working class of the country through privatized ownership. In this sense, a communist community would seek to abolish this class divide to put a stop to the unequal distribution of wealth and through social ownership.

Generally, what separates communism from syndicalism and further anarchism is the centralization of a communist country. Along with centralized control comes a planned socialist economy.

## **Communism being adapted into modern society**

The first communist state was formed in 1925 with the outbreak of the Russian Civil War when leftists seized Petrograd and declared the Russian Socialist Republic. The republic would fight in the civil war for another 2 years before peace was made and the RSR (Russian Socialist Republic) could finally settle down. Many leftists were uneasy by two powerful socialist states in Europe and feared it would cause an irrecoverable rift in the socialist movement worldwide. Instead, the Germans opted to help out the Russians, leading to the RSR being economically dependent on the Germans, even to this day. The reds had many obstacles to overcome, one of which was the land they had was non-industrialized, anti-communist reactionaries remained in the country to name a few. The leftist community watched to see how communism would be adapted into the RSR. The Reds were quite poor, but it was also due to factors out of their control. Nevertheless, the Red Russians grew as a state, bolstering support for the communist cause on a global scale. The Reds had managed to industrialize at rates faster than that of several capitalist nations in some years. Petrograd, Tikhvin, and many other cities became prosperous as they grew, and with the help of Germany, reactionary forces were eventually pacified.

However, one thing that was a disaster for the communists was agricultural collectivization. In Red territory, for example, centralized collectivization proved to greatly anger the farmers in the country, resulting in widespread hatred for the communist regime and weakening their already fragile agricultural industry in the 1930s, forcing the government to look towards Berlin once again to help alleviate the issues. For many leftists, they see communism as working great under the right circumstances, but syndicalists argue that, under syndicalism, the Reds would not be facing the obstacles they are currently facing right now.

With the election of communist candidate Elmer Allison in 1934, communism has seen a resurgence in popularity. In this regard, communism has been able to work out quite effectively in the PUA, not having to worry about industrialization, since the lands they annexed in the outcome of the 2ACW were already industrialized, such as New England and the Midwest. As with agricultural collectivization, Elmer has taken a different approach with the industry, instead of sacrificing central planning for a more decentralized approach to collectivization, which for the most part turned out to be a success.

## **Variations of communism**

Communism, like any other ideology, comes with dozens of sub-ideologies, from small and subtle changes to obvious differences from orthodox Marxism.

### **Anarcho-communism**

Anarcho-communism is a sub-ideology of anarchism more so than communism, but anarcho-communism advocates for the abolition of the state, markets, money, and private property and instead set up common ownership of the means of production. Anarcho-communism is also in favor of direct democracy, workers council, and the slogan "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". They differ from traditional Marxism in how to reach a classless society, and how anarchists advocate for the abolishment of the state, whereas communists do not wish to abolish the state. Anarchists argue that capitalism and the state were inseparable and that one could not be abolished without the other. Anarcho-communism is small in favor of larger parties worldwide, but their presence is felt worldwide.

### **Kollontism**

Kollontism is a new sub-ideology, formed after the leader of the Russian Socialist Republic: Alexandra Kollontai. Kollontism combines radical feminist beliefs with traditional Marxism and principles of syndicalism, mainly through strengthening trade unions and forms of decentralized planning. Kollontism is not popular outside of the RSR, but it has been a slow but growing movement outside of the country. Kollontai has been a popular leader, but many of her supports fear that once she is out of office Kollontism will falter and become a fringe movement, but only time will tell.

### **Marxism-Leninism**

Born out of the death and widespread popularity of Lenin as a result of his murder, Marxism-Leninism can best be described as a union of Orthodox Marxist beliefs and the authoritarian, centralized Bolshevik beliefs brought about by Lenin.