Communism - Overview & Analysis

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Communism

NJ Debate

November 2008



Basic Concepts - Communism

Looking at some Key Features:

1 Egalitarianism

- Political doctrine that holds that all people should betreated as equals and have the same political, economic,social, and civil rights.

- It can be applied in many different ways, such aspolitically, legally as well as economically.

- This can be said of the ideologies of anarchism,communism, socialism and human rights.

- They are ideologies, after all. What about the actualapplication of these ideas? This is a region of greatdispute and we will look at them in greater detail later on.




2 A Classless Society

- No distinctions between µupper classes¶ of society and µlower classes¶.

- People will all know that they will be lookedupon and treated equally as all others in thesociety.

- Hopes to eradicate problems of

discrimination, inter -class hatred andmisunderstanding. Also hopes to stop thenever -ending cycle of poverty.



3 Common Ownership

- Joint or collective ownership by all

individuals in society. Common ownership of

the means of production is advocated, or

asserted, by socialism and communism.

- ³common ownership of the means of

production´




Socialism

COMMUNISM

LIBERTARIANISM

MARKET

SOCIALISMSOME TYPES



Socialism?

Economically, socialism denotes an

economic system of state ownership and /

or worker ownership of the means of

production and distribution.



List of socialist countries: CURR

EN

T

People's Republic of China (since 1949); Communist Party of China

Republic of Cuba (Cuban Revolution in 1959, socialist state

declared in 1961); Communist Party of Cuba;

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (since 1948); KoreanWorkers' Party officially describes itself as a socialist republicgoverned according to the ideology of Juche, which is derived fromMarxist-Leninist theory.

Lao People's Democratic Republic (since 1975); Lao People'sRevolutionary Party

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (since 1976); Communist Party of Vietnam (ruled the Democratic Republic of Vietnam since 1954)



Chew on these«

What do you notice about the current spread

of communist states? Continentally is there a

slight trend? Compare it with what we had

when communism began to burgeon initially.

Communism originated from which region?

Whose ideas?



Communism VS Democr acy

Greatest difference: In terms of economic models

Communist: Community owns the major resources

and means of production To prevent income and livelihood disparities by giving

everyone in the society equal pay and ownership

In a small way, it can be seen as a ³Robin Hood´

action. Problem: Increased lower class WHY???



Democracy: Free enterprise is encouraged

The system is an advocate of meritocracy

Problem:

Education levels and skills held are of high importance.

People can get a high paying job through education, but

may work just as hard at a lower paying job and receive

less money.

Communism VS Democr acy



"The inherent vice of capitalism is the

unequal sharing of blessings; the inherentvirtue of socialism is the equal sharing of

miseries."



The problem with communism«

Where is the incentive for workers to work hard???

You can work 1000 times harder than the guy sitting

next to you, and you will still receive the same pay.People are rational beings; if they know that they won¶t

benefit further from doing something additional,

chances are, they won¶t do it.

Hence you end up with a slothful, underperforming andinefficient workforce.



A trend to note

Communism is most widely taken up by third-

world (now called developing) countries

striving towards national independence and

sudden social change. This began in the early 1900s, taking cue

from idealists like Karl Marx and Friedrich

Engels

Russia, Cuba, North Korea, China



Fear of Communism (historically)

With the exception of the Soviet Union's, China's and theItalian resistance movement's involvement in World War II, communism was seen as a rival, and a threat towestern democracies and capitalism for most of the

twentieth century. This rivalry peaked during the ColdWar , as the world's two remaining superpowers, theUnited States and the Soviet Union, polarized the worldinto two camps of nations (characterized in the West as"The Free World" vs. "Behind the Iron Curtain");

supported the spread of their economic and politicalsystems (capitalism and democracy vs. communism);strengthened their military power, developed newweapon systems and stockpiled nuclear weapons;competed with each other in space exploration; and even

fought each other through proxy client nations.



Near the beginning of the Cold War, on February 9,

1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin

accused 205 Americans working in the State

Department of being "card-carrying Communists".

The fear of communism in the U.S. spurred

aggressive investigations and the red-baiting,

blacklisting, jailing and deportation of people

suspected of following Communist or other left-wing

ideology. Many famous actors and writers were puton a "blacklist" from 1950 to 1954, which meant they

would not be hired and would be subject to public

disdain.

Fear of Communism (historically)



CONTR OL ± Fact or fiction?

In theory, everyone is equal in a communistgovernment, however this is not true in manyaspects. When only one person controls a communistgovernment, it¶s not far off from totalitarianism, as

that one voice is the only one that really matters. In a democracy, however, every citizen is supposed

to have an equal say in government. Suffrage rightsapply to men and women alike, regardless of race,past education, heritage, etc. Even in ancient Greece

and Rome, every citizen could vote individually at anassembly, with a vote from a farmer counting asmuch as a vote from an artist.



Case Study on Cuba

Brief:

Fidel Castro began his political life with nationalist

critiques of Fulgencio Batista, and of United States

political and corporate influence in Cuba. He gainedan ardent, but limited, following and also drew the

attention of the authorities.[4] He eventually led the

failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks, after

which he was captured, tried, incarcerated and later

released. He then traveled to Mexico[5][6] to organizeand train for the invasion of Cuba that took place in

December 1956.



CUBA

Castro came to power as a result of the Cuban

revolution that overthrew Fulgencio Batista, and

shortly thereafter became Prime Minister of Cuba.[7]

In 1965 he became First Secretary of the Communist

Party of Cuba and led the transformation of Cuba into

a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he became

President of the Council of State as well as of the

Council of Ministers. He also held the supreme

military rank of Comandante en Jefe ("Commander inChief ") of the Cuban armed forces.



CUBA

Human rights record Castro's human rights record remains controversial. It is

alleged that some political opponents to his regime werekilled, primarily during the first decade of his leadership.Persons found to be "counterrevolutionaries", "fascists", or "CI A operatives" were said to be imprisoned in poor

conditions without trial. Military Units to Aid Production, or UMAPs, were labor camps established in 1965 to confine"social deviants" (including homosexuals and Jehovah'sWitnesses), with the goal of working "counter -revolutionary" influences out of certain segments of thepopulation. The camps were closed in 1967.

Castro acknowledged that Cuba holds political prisoners,but argued that Cuba is justified because these prisonersare not jailed for their political beliefs, but have beenconvicted of "counter -revolutionary" crimes, includingbombings. Castro has often portrayed opposition to theCuban government as illegitimate, and has alleged thatmost such opposition is the result of an ongoingcooperation between Cuban exiles and the CI A.



Case Study: Cuba

Developments in 2008:

Handover of power Fidel Castro Raul Castro (his brother)

Raul promised reforms but no significant

changes have been observed yet.



Case Study on Vietnam

Communist Party of Vietnam (SInce 1976)

Vietnam War

Democratic nationwide elections mandated by the

Geneva Conference of 1954 having been thwarted byNgo Dinh Diem, the communist nationalist National

Liberation Front began a guerrilla campaign in the

late 1950s, assisted by the Democratic Republic of

Vietnam, to overthrow Diem's government, which the

NLF's official statement described as a "disguisedcolonial regime³

-Vietnamese Demilitarised Zone @ the 17th Parallel



VIET NAM

Diem was followed by a series of military

regimes that often lasted only months before

being toppled by another. With this instability,

the communists began to gain ground. To support South Vietnam's struggle against

the communist insurgency, the US began

increasing its contribution of military advisers.

US forces became embroiled in combatoperations in 1965 and at their peak they

numbered more than 500,000





Case Study on China

A Brief History of Communism in China

- Qing Dynasty (till 1912) Old-fashioned,

weak and unpopular

- Interim rule by capitalist party

Guomingdang(GMD)

- Infighting

- Chinese Communist Party takes theleadership. (1949-Incumbent)



Case Study: China

Overview of Human rights problem:

Chinese authorities showed no signs of

easing stringent curbs on basic freedoms.

Their preoccupation with social stability,fueled by a rise in worker and farmer

protests, severe urban unemployment, and

separatist movements in Tibet and Xinjiang,

led to tight political control. The leadershipcontinued to see unauthorized religious

practices as potentially subversive.



Humans R ights Issue #1: China

Beijing Olympics 2008 ±Free expression

At least 22 f oreign journalists were attacked or arrested or otherwise obstructed during the games. Two US video-bloggers, Brian Conley and Jeffrey Rae, are currently

detained in Beijing f or covering the activities of pr o-Tibetanactivists. They have been sentenced to 10 days in prison f or "disrupting public order." Reporters Without Borders calls f or their immediate release.

At least 50 Beijing-based human rights activists were placedunder house arrest, harassed or f or ced to leave the capitalduring the games.

At least 15 Chinese citizens were arrested f or requestingpermission to demonstrate. Dozens of others, including theblogger Zhou "Zola" Shuguang and the handicappedpetitioner Chen Xiujuan, were physically prevented by police

fr om travelling to the capital.



Right to demonstrate

Designated places in Beijing for demonstrators butpermission was not given for any demonstration,although 77 applications were filed with Beijing. The

Chinese authorities accused the would-bedemonstrators of intending to commit an offence, and

punished them for this. The IOC has accused theChinese government of breaking its promises in thisrespect.

In view of the impossibility of demonstrating freely in

Beijing, several international organisations stagedunauthorised street protests or gave newsconferences in hotel rooms.

RWB clandestinely broadcast FM radio programmesin Chinese and English on 8 August in Beijing, above

all as a protest against the state¶s monopoly of broadcast news and information.

Humans R ights Issue #1: China



Human rights issue #2: Tibet

Chinese authorities continued to suppresssuspected "splittist" activities in Tibet andexert control over religious institutions.O

fficials embarked simultaneously oncampaigns to vilify the Dalai Lama and toconvince the international community thatChinese policies in Tibet had ensuredeconomic well-being and respect for human

rights. Starting in January, authorities again blocked

broadcasts by the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet.

Documents

Communism - Overview & Analysis