Communism and its relevance to our present world: Part-2

By Mohammad Asghar

Communism or Socialism, as we know it today, owes its existence to Vladimir Ulyanov, best known to almost all of us by his pseudonym, Lenin. It was he who gave life to Marx’s theories, and established Communism in Russia in 1917.

Younger of the two brothers, Lenin became a radical after his other brother, Alexander, was executed for having taken part in a plot to assassinate the Russian Czar. At the age of twenty-three, he was arrested for his revolutionary activities and exiled to Siberia after serving fourteen months in a prison. His term in Siberia ended in February 1900. He spent the next seventeen years of his life in Europe working as a professional revolutionary. When the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, to which he belonged, split into two factions, Lenin became the leader of the larger faction, the Bolsheviks.

World War 1 presented Lenin with his great opportunity. The war was a military and economic disaster for Russia, and it greatly increased dissatisfaction of the people with the entire Czarist system. After the Czarist government was overthrown in March of 1917, the well-disciplined Communist party seized its control, despite its small numbers. In November of same year, Lenin became Russia’s new head of state.

As a leader, Lenin was ruthless but highly pragmatic. At first, he pushed for an uncompromising and rapid transition to a completely socialistic economy. When this did not work, he reversed himself and instituted a mixed capitalist-socialist economy, which continued in the Soviet Union for several years.

Lenin was the man who first took up the theories of Karl Marx and translated them into actual political practice. The establishment of a new social and economic order in Russia was one of the turning points of our modern history. From 1917 to 1979 there was a continual expansion of Communist power throughout the world, and for a while approximately one-third of the Earth’s population lived under Communist rule.

Lenin ruled only for five years. During those years, he completely destroyed the power of the Russian aristocracy, thus enabling him to lead the country on the road to socialism. He was responsible for several million deaths. He crushed those who opposed his Communist programs.   

Marxist movements that followed the Bolsheviks success in Russia have generally stressed four main ideas: (1). A few persons live in great wealth, while most workers live in comparative poverty. (2). The way to rectify this injustice is to set up a socialist system; that is, a system where the means of private productions are owned by the government rather than by private individuals. (3). In most cases, the only practical way to establish this system is by a violent revolution. (4). To preserve this socialist system, the dictatorship of the Communist party must be maintained for a considerable time (Michael H. Hart, The 100, p. 135).

Idea number 2 had a monumental impact on the innate nature of mankind. It blocked their desire to work hard, and to preserve whatever they could in order to provide security to their dependents and children against mishaps that were likely to befall them after they passed away from this world.

It made the government and its officials the arbiter of the masses’ fate and future. They told them how much they should produce, and how much they should retain out of it for meeting their needs. They took away all spirits from their subjects, thus reducing them to the status of pawns. They existed without any inclination to make their lives worthwhile. They breathed air but it did not create vibrancy in their lives. They were like mummies; their existence made no difference to the communities to which they belonged.

It transferred the ownership of all land, industries and other ventures to the Communists-led governments. It also turned such governments into monolithic capitalists. Under the new system of governance the communists devised, only their governments were authorized to make investments in new and old enterprises. This exclusive right granted to the communist-led governments was intended to help them reap all the benefits from their investments, and to use them for the purposes that were likely to serve the only cause of their political goals.

Check and balance, as these exist, though not perfect in the true sense of the word, in the democratically-run countries, became totally non-existent in communists-led states. Consequently, government functionaries of the communist regimes became the masters of the masses. Under the dictums of the communist governments, laborers were/are required to do what they were/are ordered to do by their superiors. They cannot organize themselves into unions or groups to represent them before the authorities, nor were/are they permitted to launch movements to realize their grievances.

Their wings clipped and spirits bottled up, people under Communist Regimes became robots. They lost interest in their own existence, and produced so much as was necessary to meet their government-imposed quotas. Lack of incentives in them to produce as much as they were capable of producing had been one of the main factors that crippled the economies of all the communist-led countries of the world. People’s unwillingness to produce more dried up the shelves of their countries’ stores; consumers had to pay more for whatever was available, thus creating great hardships for most of them, who had no other means to boost their income, but to subsist on a meager monthly income, fixed by their respective governments.

Ever since the communist form of governments began ruling a good number of countries, the living standard of their people failed to make any progress. In most cases, their living standards deteriorated from what it used to be before the communists descended to take over the reign of those countries. Many families, consisting of five or six members, were compelled to live in apartments that did not have more than two bed rooms. Many families had to stand in long ques for long time to buy bread for their breakfasts. Many families had to cook their food in the very room they slept in.

In the Communist-led countries, people were/are forced to think what their governments want to them to think even today. They were/are required to say what their governments wished them to say. This situation I have personally encountered during some of my trips to Communist China. Most of the people I met looked over their shoulders before letting out any word from their mouths. Even in their homes and apartments, they did not say anything that could have been taken as being in contradiction to what they were required to say by their government.

In contrast to the masses’ standard of living, government functionaries, artisans and the influential people continued to enjoy better lives under the communist regimes. Where the common folks struggled to exist barely, communist rulers live in villas and palatial homes. While people slept literally in turns in their small and crowded apartments, the communist rulers of Soviet Union enjoyed their holidays in dachas, built in picturesque locations and by the side of ocean coastlines. This proves that some citizens were more equal than rest of the Soviet citizens. This also proves that the implementers’ of Marx’s theory of communism had no desire in the past, nor do they have even today, to help the suffering masses; rather they have always used it to gain power and to make their own lives better and comfortable.

On the contrary, the capitalistic societies created better living conditions for their people. Their laborers have the right to demand better wages, better working conditions and better standard of life. The formation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) is a gift from capitalism to the working class people of the world. The fixation of work-day at eight hours is another milestone in the lives of the laborers of the Western world. This has enabled them not only to make enough money to live on; it has also given them the opportunity to spend the remaining hours of each day of their lives with their families and friends.

The fixation of a working-day at eight hours has been having another beneficial impact on the lives of the blue-color workers of the capitalistic societies. It enables employers to employ more people, thus giving opportunities to those unemployed people who would have had difficulties in finding jobs, if there existed no requirement of law to ‘render’ the employed ‘idle’ after they have performed their daily eight hours’ duty.

Bertrand Russell, one of the modern world’s foremost Mathematicians and Philosophers, has eulogized the Western world’s decision to restrict its peoples’ working-day at eight hours. I urge the esteemed readers to read his book, In Praise of Idleness. This book has a lot for us to learn from in order to make our lives comfortable and, at the same time, meaningful for others.

I am ending my discussion here, though there remains a lot to talk about Communism and Capitalism. But before doing this, I must emphasize that there is no guarantee that Capitalism, as it exists today, would be existing forever. There might come a time when people might feel compelled to opt for a different economic and social order that would be compatible with the requirements of their time. All systems with which we live today are the outcome of our ability to change, hence Charles Darwin’s time-honored theory on the “survival of the fittest.”

The fittest have survived and lived better lives. Those who refused to change with the demands of time have either perished or barely existed. Examples of such happenings are many. Some see, take notice and learn from them; many do not. Hence the ever-growing disparities among the people of the world.

Let us try to bridge the gap between haves and have-nots; let us do what is best for the present generation of mankind. Let us propagate what is relevant and beneficial for us, and for our posterity. To do otherwise would be a colossal disservice to mankind. Let us, therefore, stop wasting our time and energy on trying to revive a dying elephant. Let it die its natural death.

October 2, 2004