Communist Ideal example essay topic

The Marxist ideal, a highly appealing, almost Utopian society, is impossible to achieve due to the fact that it demands that the human mind be almost without flaws. I tasks of society and its members to be absolutely with outranks, without greed or leadership. This has been clearly impossible for society. Each step to achieving a communist establishment has been, continues to be, and will be, in actuality, a step towards the totalitarian societies of past and current so-called communist countries.

Communism became popular solely in under-developed countries, contrary to Marx's beliefs as to what should happen, and its rise in these countries was the beginning of its fall. Marx believed that the only way to overthrow capitalism was to create a revolution of the proletariat and in essence this revolution carries the cause even farther away from true communism. Equality is the next issue that Marx tackled, and in the communist ideal, it is absolutely crucial. In the real world of distorted ideologies, it hovers in the background. The ultimate in communist ideologies, however, is that eventually there will be no need for government. This essay will illustrate how, as communist societies in the real world progress, nothing could be further from the truth.

Currently, communism, as exercised in the few Communist countries left in the world, is far from the Marxist ideal. From its beginnings to the present day and into the future, communism has become distorted into something that would be Marx's worst nightmare. Due to " quirks' in the human mind that just can't seem to be worked out, the Marxist ideal simply cannot work. Marx's prediction was that communism would prevail in the highly industrialized countries of Western Europe. Instead, it took place in Russia, a country troubled by its corrupt head of state. By definition a Communist revolt demanded an industrialized country as its focus, where a militant and organized proletariat had had a chance to develop.

The revolution of 1917, however, exploded in Czarist Russia, one of the most backward countries in Europe. russia in the early 20th century was mainly agricultural, rather than industrial, but through their exasperation and strong leadership, the Communists prevailed. The head of state, Czar Nicholas II, was overthrown, and later that year Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik Party established the first Marxist government in the world. With the formation of this Communist government began the downfall of Marx " ideal. Lenin had established a so-called Marxist government, but he felt that Russia was not yet ready for the Marxist idea of Communism.

He believed that the country first had to be industrialized. That had been one of Marx's stipulations. Secondly, Lenin felt that the new ruling class, the proletariat, was not yet ready for ruling, so he took up the position. That is where the chief problem lies, in the implementation of the Marxist Ideal. From the very beginning, even prior to the foretold revolution, the ideal is fitted to the leaders' viewpoints, which is completely opposite to what Marx had envisioned. The problem with capitalism, as Marx saw it, was that leaders were taking the lives and futures of others in their hands and using them to their advantage and this was forever escalating.

As Leninist Russia progressed, Lenin guaranteed that people did not gain too much freedom and implemented such forces as the secret police and one-party rule. Thus, through initial adaptations of the system as envisioned by its creator, the distortion of the ideal is present even in its beginnings. Following the first step towards communism is the revolution that Marx predicted would ultimately occur. However, through a revolution, especially a violent one that Marx deemed would sometimes be necessary, power is to be had and, as the infamous saying goes, 'power corrupts. ' In order for a revolution to occur there must be a leader and inevitably this leader will assume a greater power and use this to his advantage, destroying Marx's Utopia of equality from the beginning. In keeping with how this analogy relates to Communist Russia, Lenin and his Bolsheviks exercised this type of leadership.

They advocated, equality and the wonderful society predicted by Marx, but as it became evident that they were about to win the revolution, they realized that there were slightly modified principles by which their type of Communism would abide. Unfortunately, the remainder of the quote is,' and absolute power corrupts absolutely' and the " modifications' of the Russian Communist system, and all others that have endured, became more and more major. Marx believed that absolute equality was the key to the communist ideal and, through good leadership, this could be achieved. In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere represent the interests of the movement as a whole. i iHe also felt, as illustrated above, in order for Communists to succeed, they must work as a whole, and that the Party must represent all viewpoints. However, equality and teamwork do not function in an already corrupt society. Asa communist society, already ridden with its " modifications,' progresses, the leader is not content with having the same privileges as the common street-cleaner.

He doesn't feel that he should work together with the street-cleaner, or represent his views, since they no longer have the same goals. By this time, he is a dictator, and will go through any means to retain his absolute power. In George Orwell's novel Animal Farm (a satire of the Russian Revolution), the ideal begins as 'All animals are created equal,' and, inevitably, ends with 'All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others. ' In Communist countries, human shortcomings have distorted Marx's ideal so that it is nearly indistinguishable. The few Communist principles that remain (for example, state-owned / owned -by-the-people property) have become horrible distortions (state-owned capitalism). Instead of becoming more and more like Marx's ultimate ideal, because of an escalating effect of twisted human minds, Communist countries plunge deeper and deeper into a cave of totalitarianism.

Due to human flaws, greed and abuse of power, equality and teamwork is dead in a communist state. The ultimate ideal of communism entails that after awhile, the system will run so smoothly that government is no longer needed. The new state, dictatorship of the proletariat, would repress the former bourgeoisie until it disappeared. Then society would be classless.

Once this had occurred, the state itself no longer would be needed. It would, according to Engels, 'wither away. ' Communism would have been established. In reality, the power which leaders exercise grows and grows and this is definitely not a step towards the abolishment of the state. In a communist state the abuse of power has escalated so that government control is crucial to the way that society functions. To continue the analogy of communist Russia (by now the United Soviet Socialist Republics) with Lenin's successor, who has become almost infamous, Joseph Stalin.

He illustrates an amazing example of the way in which a totalitarian government that is supposedly communist is not even remotely close to Marx's ideal. Stalin exercised the ultimate in absolute power, with complete, and deliberate, disregard for even the lives of his own people. Millions of peasants died anonymously during Stalin's drive to rivet the countryside to state control. Political rivals within the Communist Party died more spectacularly, following rigged trials featuring bizarre confessions of guilt by men whose only crime was to disagree with Stalin. iv In this supposedly Communist nation, which was already corrupt, Stalin did whatever suited his staying in power and punished whoever challenged this power. The U.S.S.R. was still called a communist state.

It is clear that there is noway in which the ideal of no need for government can be accomplished in a communist state. Instead of government gradually intervening less and less, in real communist states, the opposite occurs. The power available is not something that is easy to give up. In the present day, The Communist Manifesto is a work of philosophical merit or great literature.

Communism, in practice, is something that has been tested and has failed bitterly. The tragic flaws of the human mind have distorted it so that instead of the Utopian society that Marx envisioned there exists a totalitarian society that calls itself Communist. In each country that communism has been implemented, there has followed a downward spiral into totalitarianism and an absolute decay of human rights. As the dictator's power grows stronger, it is only logical to assume that his subjects' grows weaker. In Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and all other communist countries, the word communism has a meaning that is distinctly different from Marx's ideal. In each country there have been leaders, who have changed the principles of communism and twisted it to suit their motives.

Through their 'ingenuity,' there remains the communism that is known today. Communism was supposed to be the ideology that created the Utopia of society. That was the ideal. However, Marx underestimated the way in which the human mind works. Without a doubt, the flaws in the minds of the leaders of the communist states that have existed, and continue to exist, have ensured that this ideal will never be realized.

From the very beginnings of a communist state's existence, to the revolution that brings it about, to the equality that it lacks, and the impossibility of the ultimate ideal, Marx's vision is being distorted the whole way through the process. In theory, communism is a good idea. However, it fails to anticipate the flaws of the human mind. It is a good idea that doesn't work out well in practice. i Ellis, Harry B. (1972). Ideals and Ideologies: Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism. Nelson, Fosterand Scott Ltd.

Pg. 31 ii Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich. (1964). The Communist Manifesto. Monthly Review Press. Pg. 25. Ellis, Harry B. (1972).

Pg. 31 iv Ellis, Harry B. (1972). Pg. 36.