FATHER OF MODERN COMMUNISM KARL MARX (1818-1883) FATHER OF MODERN COMMUNISM

I. MARX AND ENGELS A. KARL MARX 1. GERMAN PHILOSOPHER 2. SET OUT TO PROVIDE A SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR SOCIALISM a. ECONOMIC THEORIES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION b. STATE OWNERSHIP OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION c. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL 3. SON OF A PROSPEROUS GERMAN LAWYER 4. RADICAL VIEWS GOT HIM INTO TROUBLE WITH THE PRUSSIAN GOVERNMENT 5. FLED TO PARIS WHERE HE MET FRIEDRICH ENGELS B. FRIEDRICH ENGELS 1. THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASS IN ENGLAND a. CRITICIZED FACTORY CONDITIONS

I. MARX’S THEORIES A. MARX BASED HIS IDEAS IN PART ON THE TEACHINGS OF THE GERMAN PHILOSOPHER G.W.F. HEGEL 1. MARX BELIEVED THAT HISTORY ADVANCED THROUGH CONFLICT 2. ECONOMICS WAS THE MAJOR FORCE FOR CHANGE a. LAWS, SOCIAL SYSTEMS, CUSTOMS, RELIGION, AND ART ALL DEVELOPED IN ACCORD WITH A SOCIETY’S ECONOMIC BASE b. THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE ECONOMIC BASE WAS THE DIVISION OF SOCIETY INTO CLASSES c. MARX STATED THAT “CLASS STRUGGLE” WAS WHAT PUSHED HISTORY FORWARD Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

B. MARX ARGUED THAT EUROPE HAD MOVED THROUGH FOUR STAGES OF ECONOMIC LIFE 1. PRIMITIVE 2. SLAVE 3. FEUDAL 4. CAPITALIST a. CAPITALISM: MEANS OF PRODUCTION ARE PRIVATELY OWNED Primitive: Shared property, Hunting and gathering, Proto-democracy: there is usually no concept of "leadership"  Slave: Class, Statism (as a tool for owners to control slaves) , Agriculture. Democracy and Authoritarianism, Private Property Feudal: Aristocracy, Theocracy, Hereditary classes, Nation-state Capitalist: Market Economy, Private property, Parliamentary democracy, Wages, Warfare, Financial institutions

II. MARX’S THEORIES C. MARX BELIEVED THAT CAPITALISM WAS ONLY A TEMPORARY PHASE 1. THE MAKERS OF GOODS, THE PROLETARIAT (THE WORKING CLASS) WAS THE TRUE PRODUCTIVE CLASS 2. AN ECONOMIC CRISIS WOULD GIVE THE PROLETARIAT THE CHANCE TO SEIZE CONTROL FROM THE BOURGEOISIE (THE MIDDLE CLASS) 3. THE PROLETARIAT WOULD THEN BUILD A SOCIETY IN WHICH THE PEOPLE OWNED EVERYTHING

4. THE LAST STAGE - KNOWN AS COMMUNISM A. THE GOVERNING PRINCIPLE WOULD BE “FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEED” B. COMMON OWNERSHIP OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION C. MARX AND ENGELS PUBLISHED THEIR VIEWS IN THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO IN 1848 D. MARX DEVELOPED HIS IDEAS FURTHER IN THE WORK DAS KAPITAL (1867)

III. MARX’S THEORIES, PART 2 A. ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY 1. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS DETERMINE THE COURSE OF HISTORY 2. THE CLASS THAT CONTROLS THE ECONOMIC POWER CONTROLS THE GOVERNMENT B. CLASS STRUGGLE 1. HISTORY IS A CLASS STRUGGLE (HAVES VS THE HAVE-NOTS) 2. INTERNATIONAL – ALL WORKERS FACED THE SAME PROBLEMS

C. SURPLUS VALUE 1. CAPITALISTS (OR CAPITALISM) EXPLOITS THE WORKERS 2 C. SURPLUS VALUE 1. CAPITALISTS (OR CAPITALISM) EXPLOITS THE WORKERS 2. WORKERS LACK ABILITY TO PURCHASE GOODS PRODUCED D. INEVITABILITY OF SOCIALISM 1. CAPITALISM WILL DESTROY ITSELF 2. WEALTH WILL CONCENTRATE IN FEWER AND FEWER HANDS 3. WORKERS WILL BE DRIVEN TO OVERTHROW CAPITALISTS

E. ULTIMATE COMMUNIST SOCIETY 1. WITH THE VICTORY OF SOCIALISM, THE PROLETARIAT WILL CREATE A CLASSLESS SOCIETY 2. “FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEEDS”

COMMUNISTS SOCIALISTS COMMUNISM CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY REVOLUTION – A VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF THE CAPITALIST GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY. SOCIALISM CAN BE ACHIEVED BY EVOLUTION – A PEACEFUL AND LEGAL GAINING OF CONTROL BY PUBLICITY AND THE BALLOT. TO PROTECT THE REVOLUTION, A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT MUST AT FIRST BE A “DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARAIT.” IT MUST SUPPRESS, BY ALL AVAILABLE MEANS, ANY MOVEMENT CONSIDERED PRO-CAPITALIST OR COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT, ASSUMING POWER BY CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE, MUST ALWAYS BE A DEMOCRACY. IT MUST RETAIN THE PEOPLE’S SUPPORT BY PROVIDING POLITICAL LIBERTY AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE. COMMUNISM REQUIRES GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP AND OPERATION OF ALL THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION. SOCIALISM REQUIRES NATIONALIZATION ONLY OF MAJOR INDUSTRIES. SMALL FARMS, SMALL FACTORIES, AND RETAIL STORES MAY REMAIN UNDER PRIVATE OWNERSHIP BUT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT REGULATION

SOCIALISM CAPITALISM THE GOVERNMENT AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PEOPLE OWNS AND OPERATES THE MAJOR MEANS OF PRODUCTION (FARMS, MINES, AND FACTORIES) AND DISTRIBUTION (TRANSPORTATION AND RETAIL STORES). PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATIONS OWN AND OPERATE BUSINESS ENTERPRISES. THE GOVERNMENT MAINTAINS LAW AND ORDER, ENCOURAGES PRIVATE INDUSTRY AND PREVENTS ABUSES. THE GOVERNMENT DETERMINES THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AND PROVIDES GOODS AND SERVICES FOR THE PEOPLE’S USE. PRIVATE OWNERS PROVIDE THE PEOPLE WITH GOODS AND SERVICES THEY WANT IN ORDER TO MAKE A PROFIT. THE GOVERNMENT PLANS THE ECONOMY, DETERMINING WHICH NEW INDUSTRIES TO START, AND WHICH EXISTING ONES TO CONTRACT OR EXPAND. INDIVIDUAL OWNERS AND CORPORATE MANAGERS MAKE THE BASIC DECISIONS ABOUT STARTING NEW INDUSTRIES AND CONTRACTING OR EXPANDING EXISTING ONES.

SOCIALISM CAPITALISM THE GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES CAPITAL, DIRECTS THE FLOW OF RAW MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES THE WORKERS INDIVIDUAL OWNERS PLAN HOW TO SECURE CAPITAL, TO ARRANGE THE FLOW OF RAW MATERIALS, AND TO PROVIDE WORKERS THESE ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY THE GOVERNMENT ARE SUMMED UP BY THE TERMS “STATE PLANNING” AND “CENTRALIZED PLANNING” THESE ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS, PERFORMED BY PRIVATE OWNERS WHO ARE ORIENTED TO THE CONSUMER AND THE MARKETPLACE, ARE SUMMED UP IN THE TERMS “INDIVIDUAL PLANNING” AND “CORPORATE PLANNING”