A Political and Economic Philosophy

A Political and Economic Philosophy

What if nobody was rich and nobody was poor? Suppose valuable things like land

and factories belonged to everyone. Imagine a world in which everyone worked, but no one got paid. Why? Because everything would be free.

Everyone would have the basic necessities of life (designer labels and

XBOX 360’s not considered necessities). These are among the basic ideas of a

movement called communism.

The dominant forms of communism, such as Leninism, Stalinism,

Maoism and Trotskyism are based on Marxism,

but non-Marxist versions of communism (such as Christian communism

and anarchist communism) also exist.

Anarchist – a person who wants to eliminate all government.

Communism has ten essential planks: Abolition of Private Property. Heavy Progressive Income Tax. Abolition of Rights of Inheritance. Confiscation of Property Rights. Central Bank. Government Ownership of Communication and Transportation.

Government Ownership of Factories and Agriculture.

Government Control of Labor. Corporate Farms and Regional Planning.

Government Control of Education.

Communism is the political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They wrote the Communist Manifesto. They said that all

through history, different classes (groups of people) had been at war. The battles were

between the owners of businesses and the people

who worked for them.

Karl Marx

Friedrich Engels

The main goal of The Communist Manifesto was to focus on class

struggle and motivate the common people to riot. Even more so, it was designed to create a government, whose economics would destroy

the upper class - freeing the lower class from tyranny; creating a

classless society.

Vladimir Lenin

Leninism builds upon and elaborates the ideas of Marxism, and serves as a philosophical basis for the ideology of

Soviet Communism.

Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953. It includes an

extensive use of propaganda to establish himself as an absolute dictator, as well as

extensive use of the secret police to maintain social submission and silence

political opponents. Joseph Stalin

Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism created by Leon

Trotsky. He considered himself an orthodox Marxist; arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party. His politics differed sharply

from those of Stalinism, most importantly in declaring the need

for an international revolution (rather than socialism in just one country) and unwavering support

for a true dictatorship of the proletariat.

Leon Trotsky

Proletariat – the lower social class; the working class

Maoism Maoism differs from Marxism in that its focus is on the agrarian

countryside (agricultural workers) rather than the industrial urban

forces (factory workers). Mao Zedong

He was the Chinese military and political leader who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.

A map of countries who declared themselves to be socialist states under the Marxist-Leninist or Maoist definition (in other words, "communist

states") at some point in their history.

Prior to 1990’s

This map shows the states which today are officially run by a Communist party

What countries are highlighted in red?

In China, the Communist Party still holds power. But China is allowing privately owned businesses to grow again. Other communist countries today include Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and North Korea.

Created by Debra Harrington