CommunismCommunism was as originally laid out by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in The Communist Manifesto

• Communism is a social, political and economic ideology* that aims to establish a classless society structured upon common ownership of the means of production• means of production: non-human elements used in

production (factories, machines, and tools used) to produce wealth

• Proletariat: the class of wage earners, especially those who earn their living by manual labor

*system of ideas that sometimes rigidly form the basis of policy

Socialism (elevated government control/intervention in the economy): seen by Marx as a step on the road to Communism

Communist Manifesto Predicts the Future: • Bourgeoisie are capitalists who own the means of production and

the proletariat are the working classes who are employed by the bourgeoisies

• Proletariat population would grow and they would eventually rise above the bourgeoisie and revolt against them

THIS IS THE CLASS STRUGGLE (CLASS WARFARE) THAT MARX IS FAMOUS FOR.

• Eventually the Proletariat would displace the capitalist bourgeoisie and rule a utopian Communist state.

DOES COMMUNISM RUN COUNTER TO

HUMAN NATURE?

• Communist ideology 1: capitalism leads to an abundance of material wealth. This wealth is better off shared and an organizing group is required to distribute this wealth.

• Communist ideology 2: economic forces ALONE drive history and society

• Communist ideology 3: the abolition of all religion is needed in order to reach an ideal state

oMarx’s anti-religious views were based partly on his view that religion alienated humans from reality

o Quote traditionally attributed to Marx: “[Religion] is the opium of the people.”

Communist ideology 4: ideology and love-of-state will encourage people to give up their “market value” to generously assist all the people