Rehman Ali Khan

Communism is a political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of major means of production and natural resources. It is considered a form of socialism, representing a more advanced form according to its proponents. The distinction between communism and socialism has been a matter of debate, but it largely rests on the adherence of communists to the revolutionary socialism of Karl Marx.

Marx’s interpretation of communism, a complex and evolving ideology, has a rich history. In his Critique of the Gotha Programme, he outlined two phases of communism following the overthrow of capitalism. The first phase involved a transitional system in which the working class would control the government and economy but still find it necessary to pay people based on their work. The second phase envisioned fully realized communism, a society without class divisions or government, where goods would be distributed based on the principle of “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” This distinction was further supported by Lenin in State and Revolution, marking a significant evolution in the understanding and application of communist principles.

The practical implementation of communism largely emerged in the 20th century, with about one-third of the world’s population living under communist regimes. These regimes were characterized by one-party rule, minimal dissent, and a command economy controlled by the state. While communism significantly impacted the world in the 20th century, the inefficiency of these economies played a role in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The remaining communist countries are now allowing greater economic competition while maintaining one-party rule.

The concept of communism, with its roots in the distant past, is not a recent development. Visions of communal societies, the early seeds of communism, appeared as early as the 4th century BCE. These early visions drew inspiration from various sources, including religion, such as the first Christians practicing a simple form of communism described in Acts 4:32–37. Fictional communistic utopias emerged, and attempts to put communist ideas into practice were made. The Industrial Revolution provided inspiration for modern communism, as it achieved economic productivity gains at the expense of the working class. This historical context drove Marx to believe that the class struggles were leading to a society where prosperity would be shared through common ownership of the means of production, marking a significant turning point in the development of the ideology.

Karl Marx, a significant figure in the development of communism, was influenced by his observations of systematic injustice and corruption in German society. Collaborating with Friedrich Engels, they presented a critique of capitalism and a brief sketch of a possible future communist society in the Manifesto of the Communist Party. Marx’s theory encompassed a materialist conception of history, a critique of capitalism, and an account of the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and its replacement by communism.

The materialist conception of history posited that history is a series of class struggles and revolutionary upheavals, leading to freedom for all. Marx’s critique of capitalism highlighted the unfair distribution of wealth, with capitalists reaping profits while paying workers minimally. He pointed out that capitalism’s ideology serves to justify the unequal distribution of economic and political power, masking the exploitation of the working class. Additionally, capitalism produces “alienation,” separating workers from the product of their labor and their sense of satisfaction, among other things.

After Karl Marx’s passing in 1883, Friedrich Engels assumed the role of the principal interpreter of Marxist theory, streamlining and altering it in several aspects. His rendition of Marxism, labeled “scientific socialism,” rendered Marxist theory more inflexible and deterministic than Marx had originally intended. Engels’ version reduced Marx’s historical materialism to a form of philosophical materialism, advocating that only physical matter and its movements are genuine. According to Engels’ dialectics, everything, including nature, history, and human thought, can be boiled down to matter moving in accordance with timeless “iron laws” of motion. This reshaping of Marxist theory laid the groundwork for the subsequent evolution of dialectical materialism in the Soviet Union.

Following Engels’ demise in 1895, Marx’s adherents divided into two main factions: the “revisionist” Marxists, advocating for a gradual and peaceful shift to socialism, and the revolutionary Marxists, among them the leaders of the communist Russian Revolution of 1917. The most prominent revisionist figure was Eduard Bernstein, a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, who sought refuge in Britain in 1881 to evade arrest and imprisonment under the antisocialist laws of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Bernstein’s experiences in Britain, including his affiliation with the gradualist Fabian Society, led him to the conclusion that a peaceful parliamentary transition to socialism was viable in that country, a view he expounded upon beyond Britain in his work “Evolutionary Socialism” (1899).

Bernstein revised Marxian theory in four interconnected ways. First, he introduced an ethical dimension that had been largely absent in Marx’s ideology, contending that human beings should be treated as ends in themselves and never as means or instruments. He also noted that rising wages and improved working conditions contradicted Marx’s forecast of the worsening plight of the proletariat. This trend was attributed to the growing influence of unions and working-class political parties. Furthermore, while advocating gradual, incremental, and peaceful reform, Bernstein warned against the perils of a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, cautioning that it could devolve into a dictatorship of “club orators and writers.”

The dogmatic Marxists branded Bernstein as a bourgeois and a counterrevolutionary betrayer of the cause. Lenin, a prominent communist critic, dismissed Bernstein’s views, dedicated his life to the revolutionary transformation of Russia, and introduced significant alterations to the theory and practice of communism, leading to the eventual renaming of the party’s ideology as Marxism-Leninism. Lenin’s alterations, evident in his work “What Is to Be Done?” (1902), asserted that revolution could not and should not occur spontaneously as Marx had anticipated, but had to be orchestrated by an elite “vanguard” party composed of radicalized middle-class intellectuals, with the masses being led by workers and peasants. Additionally, Lenin initiated the concept of “socialism in one country,” emphasizing the need to build up the industrial base and military might of the Soviet Union before exporting revolution abroad.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet government swiftly withdrew from the war in Europe and nationalized private industry and agriculture, resulting in the implementation of War Communism. However, this approach left the Soviet Union in shambles, prompting Lenin to announce the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin ascended to power, perpetrating purges and advancing the notion of “socialism in one country,” ultimately giving rise to Stalinism. This variant of Marxism-Leninism was characterized by its reliance on dialectical materialism, the cult of personality surrounding Stalin, and the aggressive pursuit of rapid industrialization through forced collectivization, often at the expense of millions of lives.

Mao Zedong, the inaugural communist leader of China, championed a distinctive adaptation of Marxism, termed Maoism or “Mao Zedong Thought.” Deviating from Marx’s original vision, Mao invoked Lenin’s theory of imperialism to underpin a revolution in a poor agricultural society devoid of the industrial proletariat that Marx considered a requisite for a workers’ revolution. Mao also presided over various industrial and agricultural initiatives such as the Great Leap Forward, which proved disastrous. His tenure was marked by a stringent emphasis on ideological purity and a cult of personality, akin to Stalin’s portrayal, and after his passing in 1976, the Chinese communist leadership commenced limited free-market reforms while maintaining strict political control.

Despite the demise of Soviet-style communism, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sustains its rule, albeit with limited adherence to Maoism. While Russia and the former Soviet republics are unlikely to reinstate communist rule, China is witnessing a transition toward a full-fledged capitalist economy. The endurance of Maoism is discernible in certain regions, such as Nepal, while North Korea persists as an isolated and repressive regime. The legacy of old Soviet-style communism, with its command economy and bureaucratic planning, has faded; however, the prospect of a new movement dedicated to building a Marxist-based communist society remains uncertain.