Communism

Although the term communism did not come into use until the 1840sit
is derived from the Latin communis, meaning shared or common
visions of a society that may be considered communist appeared as long
ago as the 4th century bce. It is a political and economic doctrine that
aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public
ownership and communal control of at least the major means of
production (e.g., mines, mills, and factories) and the natural resources of
a society. Communism is thus a form of socialism.
Exactly how communism differs from socialism has long been a matter
of debate. However an important difference in this regard is that unlike
socialism, communism is a social, political, and economic ideology and
movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist
society, which is a socio-economic order structured upon the common
ownership of the means of production and the absence of social
classes, money, and the state.
Platos Communism
Plato devised two methods of controlling and promoting justice and
unity in the state, namely positive method of control i.e., education and
negative method of control i.e., Communism of Wives and Property.
Plato was a great advocate of the notion that women were just as good as
men in almost all fields and spheres of activities. Plato was of the
opinion that family life curtailed the independence and freedom of a
female and induced the male to dominate affecting the equality between
the sexes. This was one of the reasons why Plato is against the
institution of family.

Plato believed in communism of property because he felt that private

property led to selfishness of man, which in turn led to the accumulation
of wealth and the desire to resort to unfair means to acquire the same. He
also felt that the family was the root cause of all problems in society
because the existence of a family imposed upon an individual the need
to accumulate wealth and property.
Hence for the abolition of private property the abolition of family was
also required as the two were interconnected. This concept is definitely
idealistic in nature and cannot be carried out today, but what is worth
noting is Platos systematic identification of problems in the society.
In order to systematically eliminate the institution of family from the
state, Plato proposed a mechanism which eradicated the very need for
family. According to this the state would select mentally and physically
men and women who were in their prime - 20 to 40 years for women and
30 to 55 years for men - to form a union and have children.
He believed that the offspring born to parents who are physically and
mentally fit would in turn characterize the same aspects and would be
more productive towards the welfare of the state. For the same reason,
Plato believed that males or females who were unfit should be prevented
from having a union and thus producing babies. The state would try its
best to prevent such unions but if such unions occur, the child thus
produced would be killed, as it was immoral that the child be allowed to
grow.
A man who produces a baby in union with a female without the
knowledge of the magistrate shall be accused of raising an illegitimate,
unsponsored and unhallowed child and shall be punishable for the same.
Plato believed that as soon as the babies were born they must be taken

away from the mother by the officials of the state appointed for that
purpose and that the mother should not have even a single look at the
baby. This was because he believed that all children would be taken care
of better if the parents did not know the identity of their own child. As
soon as the babies were born they were to be taken to a general nursery
under the charge of certain nurses who lived in a particular part of the
city, which was far apart from the place where the babies were born.
Plato felt that in such a society, a person would look upon another either
as a brother or a sister, or a father or a mother, or a son or a daughter, or
one of the children, or parents of these and that a child would honor all
its guardians as its parents. Thus eventually a person would consider the
entire state as his/her own family.
Marxian Communism
Ideas on Class and Historical Materialism
The doctrine of class and class struggle is central to the understanding of
Marxian political philosophy. The sole criterion on the basis of which
the class of a person is determined is this ownership (or control) of
means of production constitute the haves and those who labour
constitute the have-nots.
Marxs general ideas about society are known as his theory of historical
materialism. Materialism is the basis of his sociological thought
because for Marx material conditions or economic factors affect the
structure and development of society.
Karl Marx is indebted to Hegel for his theory of Dialectics. Marx's
theory, which he called "historical materialism" or the "materialist
conception of history" is based on Hegel's claim that history occurs
through a dialectic, or clash, of opposing forces. Taken most generally,

the materialist theory of history asserts that the manner in which human
beings produce the necessities of life determines the form of the
societies in which they live.
Historical materialism is based on the economic interpretation of history
which means that the major changes in political, social, legal etc.
institutions and ideas are being explained from the changes in the nature
of the economic system. The economy is considered to be the base of
the society while the political, legal, social, religious etc. institutions and
ideas are then considered to be 'the superstructure' above the economic
base.
The whole course of human history in explained in terms of changes
occurring in the mode of production and exchange. Starting from
primitive communism, the mode of production has passed through three
stages i.e. slavery, feudalism and capitalism and the consequent division
of society into two distinct classes (Slave- master, serf-feudal lord and
proletariat-capitalist) and the struggle of these classes against one
another. The most profound view of Marxs theory of historic
materialism is contained in his preface to a contribution to the Critique
of Political Economy.
Marx believes that the society has always been historically divided into
two classes i.e haves and the have-nots. Marx, on the basis of the
change in the relations of production has divided the human history in
six parts:
(1) Age of Primitive Communism:
In this age, the institution of property had not taken birth and man had
no knowledge of agriculture and cattle-breeding. He had to live on
hunted-animals and fruits.

(2) Age of Slavery:

In this age the agriculture and cattle-rearing started. Certain people were
the masters or owners of the land and certain people were slaves. It was
the duty of the slaves to produce while the masters enjoyed the fruit of
the slaves labour. Then feudal system emerged.

(3) Age of Feudalism:

During this age big landlords were the owners of the land and in place of
slaves, serfs tilled the land but they were not the owners of the land.
They were completely under the control of their feudal lords.
(4) Age of Capitalist Society:
The fourth age of capitalism started in Europe after industrial revolution.
Many big industries were established and their owners were called the
bourgeoisie (capitalists). Millions of labourers or the proletariat class
worked in these industries. They got a meager salary and the capitalist
became the owner of the residual profit of the production.
(5) Dictatorship of the Proletariat class:
Marx said that his age (nineteenth century) was the age of capitalism.
There would be a constant class struggle between the capitalists and the
proletariat, because the capitalists exploited the workers constantly. In
this struggle, the workers would ultimately be victorious. After the
revolution, capitalism would perish and dictatorship of the proletariat
would be established.

(6) Communism:
Marx predicted that the last age would be the communist age. In this age
there would be no class struggle because capitalism would have perished
in the previous age and thus there would be only one class. An
egalitarian society i.e a classless and stateless society would be
established.
Marx believed that the have-nots would ultimately revolt when they
realize that they have been exploited. This realization is what Marx
terms as class consciousness. According to Marx, capitalism is the
most brutal age of history where the have-nots have been suppressed the
most. This leads to a conflict between the two classes because the
bourgeoisie and the proletariat do not reconcile in this struggle. The
interests of both these classes clash with one another. Therefore, this
struggle can stop only if capitalism is abolished and the workers gain a
victory.
Ideas on Communism
Communism is explained by Marx as a form of society which the
proletariat will bring into existence through its revolutionary struggle. In
Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engles argued that the communists
have no interests separate and apart from the interests of the proletariat
as a whole.
During the period of dictatorship of the proletariat the state continues to
be the repressive organ of the class controlling the means of production,
but instead of the minority oppressing the majority, the minority will
oppress the small group of former exploiters (haves). Under the loving
care of the dictatorship of the proletariat, socialism will blossom into
communism.

Thus, it will be different from the state in capitalism which is no more

than the managing committee of the bourgeoisie. For Marx the state in
capitalism is serving the long-term interests of the bourgeoisie as a
whole.
Marx talked of two stages of communist society.
In the first stage communism will bring about the socialization of
means of production. It means that the means of production will
not be in the hands of any one class but in the hands of society as a
whole. At this stage labour will continue to exist and the
organizing principle of the economy will be: from each according
to his capacity to each according to his work .It means that
everyone will work according to ones ability and get according to
the amount of work done.
At the second and final stage the communist society will ensure the
end of mans domination by objective forces. According to Marx,
communism is not only the abolition of private property but also
the abolition of state and abolition of classes. It will be a classless
and stateless society.
In his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, Marx defined
communism as the positive abolition of private property. It also
entailed the abolition of classes and abolition of division of labour. In
economic terms, the communist society will be a society of associated
producers. In political terms communism will be the first state in the
history of mankind to political power for universal interests instead of
partisan interests.

P.S: Students need to understand here that Communism cannot merely

be understood through the ideas of Plato and Marx. One may also
have to look into the philosophies of Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong,
Eduard Bernstein, Antonio Gramsci etc., in order to get a
comprehensive view of the topic. However for the sake of your exams,
these notes are sufficient.