Communism | The 20th century | World history | Khan Academy

Summary

This script explores the concept of communism, tracing its philosophical roots from Karl Marx to its practical application by Vladimir Lenin, leading to the formation of the Soviet Union. It explains the progression from capitalism through socialism to communism, highlighting the issues of wealth disparity and private property. The script also discusses the transition to a classless, stateless society envisioned by Marx and the practical challenges of implementing such an ideal, including the role of the Vanguard Party in guiding society towards communism. It concludes by comparing different economic and political systems on a spectrum, with a focus on the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China, emphasizing the complexities and variations within each.

Takeaways

• 📚 The script provides an educational overview of communism, capitalism, and socialism, tracing the philosophical underpinnings to Karl Marx and the practical application to Vladimir Lenin.
• 💡 Capitalism is characterized by private property and ownership, with the potential issue of wealth accumulation leading to exploitation of laborers by those with capital.
• 🏭 Marx identified a problem in capitalism where laborers, due to competition, are often unable to increase their wages, leading to a cycle of poverty and wealth disparity.
• 🔄 Marx viewed socialism as a transitional phase from capitalism to communism, involving the organization of laborers into unions and the government's role in wealth redistribution.
• 🌐 The script explains that socialism can still have private property but with a larger government role in controlling major factors of production and redistributing wealth.
• 🏛 In a theoretical communist state, there would be a classless and stateless society where everyone has equal ownership and access to resources.
• 🔄 Lenin is credited with making Marx's ideas more concrete through the Bolshevik Revolution, leading to the creation of the Soviet Union and the establishment of a Vanguard Party to guide society.
• 🛑 The Vanguard Party in Leninist philosophy is essential for maintaining a constant state of revolution, leading society from capitalism through socialism to the ideal state of communism.
• 🌐 The script contrasts the utopian vision of pure Marxism with the practical realities of Leninism, which includes a one-party system that claims to act in the interest of the people.
• 🏳️‍🌈 The largest existing communist state mentioned is the People's Republic of China, which, despite being controlled by the Communist Party, has economic practices that are less communistic than some capitalist countries.
• 📊 The script concludes with a spectrum analysis placing different countries on a scale from democratic to authoritarian, with capitalism, socialism, and communism represented along the way.

Q & A

What is the main idea of the video script?

The main idea of the video script is to provide an overview of communism, its philosophical underpinnings, and the practical implementations of Marxist-Leninist theory, contrasting it with capitalism and socialism.

Who are the key figures mentioned in the script that contributed to the development of communism?

The key figures mentioned in the script are Karl Marx, who provided the philosophical underpinnings of communism, and Vladimir Lenin, who led the Bolshevik Revolution and created the Soviet Union, applying Marx's ideas more concretely.

What is the starting point of the spectrum discussed in the script?

The starting point of the spectrum discussed in the script is capitalism, characterized by private property and private ownership of land.

How does Karl Marx view the progression from capitalism to communism?

Karl Marx views the progression from capitalism to communism as a movement through socialism, where private property is gradually replaced by collective ownership and the state plays a larger role in wealth redistribution and control of production.

What problem does Karl Marx identify with capitalism?

Karl Marx identifies the problem with capitalism as the accumulation of capital by a few individuals, leading to a disparity where the laborers are exploited for low wages and cannot accumulate capital themselves.

What is the role of the Vanguard Party in Leninist philosophy?

In Leninist philosophy, the Vanguard Party is a leading political party that guides society through the stages of revolution, from capitalism to socialism, and ultimately to communism, acting as a shepherd for the people.

How does the script describe the theoretical communist state?

The script describes the theoretical communist state as a classless and stateless society where everyone has equal ownership over everything, and resources are allocated according to need without the presence of a centralized government.

What is the difference between pure Marxism and Leninism as described in the script?

Pure Marxism is described as a utopian vision of a perfect society with no classes and everyone leading rich, diverse, and fulfilling lives. Leninism, on the other hand, is the practical application of communist principles in governance, emphasizing the role of the Vanguard Party in guiding society through continuous revolution.

How does the script differentiate between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes?

The script suggests that while both authoritarian and totalitarian regimes are non-democratic, totalitarianism is an extreme form where the government controls every aspect of life, whereas authoritarianism is a less extreme form of non-democratic control.

What is the current state of the People's Republic of China in terms of its economic system according to the script?

According to the script, the current state of the People's Republic of China, while being a communist state in name, has economic systems that are in some ways more capitalist than countries that are proud of their capitalism, with less wealth redistribution and weaker safety nets.

How does the script position the United States on the spectrum between capitalism and socialism?

The script positions the United States as having a strong capitalist history with elements of socialism, such as labor unions, inheritance taxes, and social safety nets like Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Communism and Its Philosophical Underpinnings

The video script begins with an introduction to communism, explaining the need for a clear definition and understanding of the term. It sets up a spectrum starting with capitalism and moving towards socialism and then communism. The script acknowledges the complexity of the topic, suggesting that a full exploration could fill a PhD thesis. It introduces Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin as key figures in the development of communism, with Marx providing the philosophical foundation through works like the Communist Manifesto and Lenin applying these ideas during the Bolshevik Revolution, leading to the formation of the Soviet Union. The paragraph discusses Marx's view of capitalism, characterized by private property and ownership, and the problems he identified, such as the accumulation of capital by a few, leading to exploitation of laborers who are unable to improve their wages due to competition and lack of capital.

05:01

🏛 The Transition from Capitalism to Socialism and Wealth Redistribution

This paragraph delves deeper into the philosophical differences between capitalism and socialism, as well as the movement towards communism. It discusses Marx's critique of wealth concentration and inheritance, arguing that it leads to a lack of meritocracy and can cause social unrest, as seen in the French Revolution. The script then explains the concept of wealth redistribution as a step towards socialism, where the government plays a larger role in controlling major factors of production and ensuring a more equitable distribution of wealth. The paragraph also touches on the theoretical communist state envisioned by Marx, which is classless and stateless, with everyone having equal ownership over everything, although it acknowledges the difficulty in imagining such a society in practice.

10:02

🌟 The Practical Implementation of Communism: Leninism and the Vanguard Party

The final paragraph discusses the practical implementation of communist ideals, focusing on Leninism as the more pragmatic aspect of communism. It describes the Vanguard Party concept, where a single party is tasked with guiding society from capitalism through socialism to communism. The script highlights the challenges of defining the ideal state of communism and the constant state of revolution maintained by the Vanguard Party. It also addresses the tension between the Leninist approach and democratic principles, questioning the accountability and competence of a one-party system. The paragraph concludes by situating the largest existing communist state, the People's Republic of China, on the spectrum of economic and political systems, noting its complex mix of capitalist and communist elements, and the dominance of the Communist Party in guiding the country's direction.

Keywords

💡Communism

Communism is a political and economic ideology that seeks to establish a classless society where the means of production are owned and controlled by the community as a whole. In the video, communism is presented as the end goal of a progression from capitalism through socialism, influenced by the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. The script discusses how modern interpretations of communism are often a blend of Marxist theory and Leninist practice, as seen in the historical Soviet Union and the current state of the People's Republic of China.

💡Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and the creation of goods and services for profit. The video script contrasts capitalism with communism, highlighting capitalism's focus on private property and the accumulation of capital by individuals, which Marx criticized for leading to wealth disparity and exploitation of laborers, as exemplified by the Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age in the United States.

💡Socialism

Socialism is an economic and political system where the means of production are owned or regulated by the community or state, often aiming to distribute wealth more equitably among citizens. The script describes socialism as an intermediate stage between capitalism and communism, where the government plays a larger role in wealth redistribution and control of major industries, moving away from the stark inequalities of capitalism.

💡Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a 19th-century philosopher and economist known for his critiques of capitalism and his development of communist theory. The script references Marx's work, particularly the 'Communist Manifesto,' as foundational to the understanding of communism, emphasizing his views on the exploitation of labor and the need for a classless society.

💡Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and the leader of the Bolshevik Party who played a key role in the establishment of the Soviet Union. The video script discusses Lenin as the first to implement Marx's ideas concretely, leading the Bolshevik Revolution and shaping the practical application of communism through what is known as Leninism.

💡Private Property

Private property refers to the ownership of assets and resources by individuals. In the context of the video, private property is a central aspect of capitalism, which Marx criticized for leading to wealth concentration and exploitation. The script illustrates this with the example of land ownership and its impact on laborers who must work for the landowners.

💡Labor Unions

Labor unions are organizations that represent the collective interests of workers and negotiate with employers for better wages, working conditions, and rights. The script mentions unionization as a step towards socialism, where workers begin to organize to counteract the power imbalance with capital owners and seek fair treatment.

💡Wealth Redistribution

Wealth redistribution is the process by which wealth is transferred from the wealthy to the less wealthy, often through government policies and taxation. The video script describes wealth redistribution as a key principle of socialism, aiming to reduce wealth disparity and promote a more equitable society.

💡Vanguard Party

The Vanguard Party, as discussed in the script, is a concept from Leninist philosophy where a single political party leads the way in guiding society through the stages of economic and social development towards communism. This party is meant to maintain a constant state of revolution and act in the best interest of the people, though the script also raises questions about the accountability and effectiveness of such a system.

💡People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China is the largest existing state that is officially communist, though its economic practices have diverged significantly from traditional communist theory. The script points out the complexity of China's political and economic system, noting that while it is governed by the Communist Party, its economic practices have capitalist elements and that it exhibits both state control and market mechanisms.

💡Utopian

Utopian refers to an ideal or perfect society, often considered unrealistic. In the video, pure Marxism is described as a utopian vision of a society where everyone is equal, has access to abundant resources, and can pursue diverse interests without class distinctions. The script contrasts this with the practical implementation of communism, particularly as seen in Leninist states.

Highlights

Introduction to the topic of communism and its definition.

Communism as a progression from capitalism through socialism, as viewed by Karl Marx.

Karl Marx's critique of capitalism and the accumulation of private property leading to wealth disparity.

The concept of laborers being exploited for low wages due to competition and the control of capital owners.

Marx's perspective on the lack of meritocracy in wealth inheritance and its societal implications.

The historical context of the Industrial Revolution and its impact on Marx's views on capitalism.

The theoretical transition from capitalism to socialism involving labor unions and wealth redistribution.

The role of the government in socialism, including control of production factors and wealth redistribution.

The theoretical communist state as envisioned by Marx: classless, stateless, and with equal ownership.

Vladimir Lenin's practical implementation of communism through the Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union.

The concept of the Vanguard Party in Leninist philosophy as a guiding force for societal progression.

The tension between Marxist utopian ideals and Leninist practical governance within a communist state.

The current state of China as a communist country with elements of both capitalism and authoritarian control.

Comparison of economic and political systems across different countries on a spectrum of democracy to authoritarianism.

The complexity of defining and understanding communism in the modern context, especially in China.

The potential for confusion due to the varying degrees of capitalist and communist elements in different countries.

The conclusion summarizing the key points discussed about communism, socialism, and capitalism.

Transcripts

Thought I would do a video on communism

just because I've been talking about it a bunch in the history

videos, and I haven't given you a good definition of what

it means, or a good understanding of what it means.

And to understand communism-- let

me just draw a spectrum here.

So I'm going to start with capitalism.

And this is really just going to be an overview.

People can do a whole PhD thesis on this type of thing.

Capitalism, and then I'll get a little bit more--

and then we could progress to socialism.

And then we can go to communism.

And the modern versions of communism

are really kind of the brainchild

of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Karl Marx was a German philosopher

in the 1800s, who, in his Communist Manifesto and other

writings, kind of created the philosophical underpinnings

for communism.

And Vladimir Lenin, who led the Bolshevik Revolution

in the-- and created, essentially, the Soviet Union--

he's the first person to make some of Karl Marx's ideas

more concrete.

And really every nation or every country

which we view as communist has really

followed the pattern of Vladimir Lenin.

And we'll talk about that in a second.

But first, let's talk about the philosophical differences

between these things, and how you would move.

And Karl Marx himself viewed communism

as kind of a progression from capitalism

through socialism to communism.

So what he saw in capitalism-- and at least this part

of what he saw was right-- is that you

have private property, private ownership of land.

That's the main aspect of capitalism.

And this is the world that most of us live in today.

The problem that he saw with capitalism

is he thought, well, look, when you

have private property, the people who start accumulating

some capital-- and when we talk about capital,

we could be talking about land, we

could be talking about factories,

we could be talking about any type of natural resources--

so the people who start getting a little bit of them--

so let me draw a little diagram here.

So let's say someone has a little bit of capital.

And that capital could be a factory, or it could be land.

So let me write it.

Capital.

And let's just say it's land.

So let's say someone starts to own a little bit of land.

And he owns more than everyone else.

So then you just have a bunch of other people

who don't own land.

But they need, essentially-- and since this guy

owns all the land, they've got to work on this guy's land.

They have to work on this guy's land.

And from Karl Marx's point of view, he said, look,

you have all of these laborers who don't have as much capital.

This guy has this capital.

And so he can make these laborers work

for a very small wage.

And so any excess profits that come out

from this arrangement, the owner of the capital

will be able to get it.

Because these laborers won't be able to get

their wages to go up.

Because there's so much competition for them

to work on this guy's farm or to work on this guy's land.

He really didn't think too much about, well,

maybe the competition could go the other way.

Maybe you could have a reality eventually where

you have a bunch of people with reasonable amounts of capital,

and you have a bunch of laborers.

And the bunch of people would compete for the laborers,

and maybe the laborers could make their wages go up,

and they could eventually accumulate their own capital.

They could eventually start their own small businesses.

So he really didn't think about this reality

too much over here.

He just saw this reality.

And to his defense-- and I don't want

to get in the habit of defending Karl Marx too

much-- to his defense, this is what

was happening in the late 1800s, especially--

we have the Industrial Revolution.

Even in the United States, you did

have kind of-- Mark Twain called it the Gilded Age.

You have these industrialists who

did accumulate huge amounts of capital.

They really did have a lot of the leverage

relative to the laborers.

And so what Karl Marx says, well, look,

if the guy with all the capital has all the leverage,

and this whole arrangement makes some profits,

he's going to be able to keep the profits.

Because he can keep all of these dudes' wages low.

And so what's going to happen is that the guy with the capital

is just going to end up with more capital.

And he's going to have even more leverage.

And he'll be able to keep these people on kind of a basic wage,

so that they can never acquire capital for themselves.

So in Karl Marx's point of view, the natural progression

would be for these people to start organizing.

So these people maybe start organizing into unions.

So they could collectively tell the person who

owns the land or the factory, no, we're not going to work,

or we're going to go on strike unless you increase our wages,

or unless you give us better working conditions.

So when you start talking about this unionization stuff,

you're starting to move in the direction of socialism.

The other element of moving in the direction of socialism

is that Karl Marx didn't like this kind

of high concentration-- or this is socialists in general,

I should say-- didn't like this high concentration of wealth.

That you have this reality of not only

do you have these people who could accumulate all

of this wealth-- and maybe, to some degree,

they were able to accumulate it because they were innovative,

or they were good managers of land,

or whatever, although the Marxists don't

give a lot of credit to the owners of capital.

They don't really give a lot of credit

to saying maybe they did have some skill in managing

some type of an operation.

But the other problem is is that it gets handed over.

It gets handed over to their offspring.

So private property, you have this situation where it just

goes from maybe father to son, or from parent to a child.

And so it's not even based on any type of meritocracy.

It's really just based on this inherited wealth.

And this is a problem that definitely happened in Europe.

When you go back to the French Revolution,

you have generation after generation of nobility,

regardless of how incompetent each generation would

be, they just had so much wealth that they were essentially

in control of everything.

And you had a bunch of people with no wealth

having to work for them.

And when you have that type of wealth disparity,

it does lead to revolutions.

So another principle of moving in the socialist direction

is kind of a redistribution of wealth.

So let me write it over here.

So redistribution.

So in socialism, you can still have private property.

But the government takes a bigger role.

So you have-- let me write this.

Larger government.

And one of the roles of the government

is to redistribute wealth.

And the government also starts having

control of the major factors of production.

So maybe the utilities, maybe some

of the large factories that do major things, all of a sudden

starts to become in the hands of the government,

or in the words of communists, in the hands of the people.

And the redistribution is going on,

so in theory, you don't have huge amounts of wealth

in the hands of a few people.

And then you keep-- if you take these ideas

to their natural conclusion, you get

to the theoretical communist state.

And the theoretical communist state

is a classless, and maybe even a little bit--

a classless society, and in Karl Marx's point of view-- and this

is a little harder to imagine-- a stateless society.

So in capitalism, you definitely had classes.

You had the class that owns the capital,

and then you had the labor class,

and you have all of these divisions,

and they're different from each other.

He didn't really imagine a world that maybe a laborer could

get out of this, they could get their own capital,

then maybe they could start their own business.

So he just saw this tension would eventually to socialism,

and eventually a classless society where

you have a central-- Well, he didn't even

go too much into the details but you have kind of equal,

everyone in society has ownership over everything,

and society somehow figures out where

things should be allocated, and all of the rest.

And it's all stateless.

And that's even harder to think about in a concrete fashion.

So that's Karl Marx's view of things.

But it never really became concrete

until Vladimir Lenin shows up.

And so the current version of communism

that we-- The current thing that most of us view as communism

is sometimes viewed as a Marxist-Leninist state.

These are sometimes used interchangeably.

Marxism is kind of the pure, utopian, we're eventually

going to get to a world where everyone is equal,

everyone is doing exactly what they want,

there's an abundance of everything.

I guess to some degree, it's kind

of describing what happens in Star Trek, where everyone can

go to a replicator and get what they want.

And if you want to paint part of the day,

you can paint part of the day, and you're not just a painter,

you can also do whatever you want.

So it's this very utopian thing.

Let me write that down.

So pure Marxism is kind of a utopian society.

And just in case you don't know what utopian means,

it's kind of a perfect society, where you don't have classes,

everyone is equal, everyone is leading these kind

of rich, diverse, fulfilling lives.

And it's also, utopian is also kind of viewed as unrealistic.

It's kind of, if you view it in the more negative light, is

like, hey, I don't know how we'll ever

be able to get there.

Who knows?

I don't want to be negative about it.

Maybe we will one day get to a utopian society.

But Leninist is kind of the more practical element of communism.

Because obviously, after the Bolshevik Revolution, 1917,

in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union gets created,

they have to actually run a government.

They have to actually run a state based

on these ideas of communism.

And in a Leninist philosophy-- and this

is where it starts to become in tension with the ideas

of democracy-- in a Leninist philosophy,

you need this kind of a party system.

So you need this-- and he calls this the Vanguard Party.

So the vanguard is kind of the thing that's leading,

the one that's leading the march.

So this Vanguard Party that kind of

creates this constant state of revolution,

and its whole job is to guide society, is to kind of almost

be the parent of society, and take it from capitalism

through socialism to this ideal state of communism.

And it's one of those things where

the ideal state of communism was never--

it's kind of hard to know when you get there.

And so what happens in a Leninist state is

it's this Vanguard Party, which is usually called the Communist

Party, is in a constant state of revolution, kind of saying,

hey, we're shepherding the people to some future state

without a real clear definition of what that future state is.

And so when you talk about Marxist-Leninist,

besides talking about what's happening

in the economic sphere, it's also

kind of talking about this party system, this party system where

you really just have one dominant party that it will

hopefully act in the interest of the people.

So one dominant communist party that

acts in the interest of the people.

And obviously, the negative here is that how do

you know that they actually are acting

in the interest of people?

How do you know that they actually are competent?

What means are there to do anything

if they are misallocating things, if it is corrupt,

if you only have a one-party system?

And just to make it clear, the largest existing communist

state is the People's Republic of China.

And although it is controlled by the Communist Party,

in economic terms it's really not that communist anymore.

And so it can be confusing.

And so what I want to do is draw a little bit of a spectrum.

On the vertical axis, over here, I want to put democratic.

And up here, I'll put authoritarian or totalitarian.

Let me put-- well, I'll put authoritarian.

I'll do another video on the difference.

And they're similar.

And totalitarian is more an extreme form of authoritarian,

where the government controls everything.

And you have a few people controlling everything

and it's very non-democratic.

But authoritarian is kind of along those directions.

And then on this spectrum, we have the capitalism, socialism,

and communism.

So the United States, I would put-- I

would put the United States someplace over here.

I would put the United States over here.

It has some small elements of socialism.

You do have labor unions.

They don't control everything.

You also have people working outside of labor unions.

It does have some elements of redistribution.

There are inheritance taxes.

There are-- I mean it's not an extreme form of redistribution.

You can still inherit private property.

You still have safety nets for people,

you have Medicare, Medicaid, you have welfare.

So there's some elements of socialism.

But it also has a very strong capitalist history,

private property, deep market, so I'd

stick the United States over there.

I would put the USSR-- not current Russia,

but the Soviet Union when it existed-- I

would put the Soviet Union right about there.

So this was the-- I would put the USSR right over there.

I would put the current state of Russia,

actually someplace over here.

Because they actually have fewer safety nets,

and they kind of have a more-- their economy

can kind of go crazier, and they actually

have a bigger disparity in wealth

than a place like the United States.

So this is current Russia.

And probably the most interesting one here

is the People's Republic of China, the current People's

Republic of China, which is at least

on the surface, a communist state.

But in some ways, it's more capitalist than the United

States, in that they don't have strong wealth redistribution.

They don't have kind of strong safety nets for people.

So you could put some elements of China--

and over here, closer to the left.

And they are more-- less democratic than either the US

or even current Russia, although some people would

call current Russia-- well, I won't go too much into it.

But current China, you could throw it here a little bit.

So it could be even a little bit more capitalist

than the United States.

Definitely they don't even have good labor laws, all the rest.

But in other ways, you do have state ownership of a lot,

and you do have state control of a lot.

So in some ways, they're kind of spanning this whole range.

So this right over here is China.

And even though it is called a communist state, in some ways,

it's more capitalist than countries

that are very proud of their capitalism.

But in a lot of other ways, especially with the government

ownership and the government control of things,

and this one dominant party, so it's

kind of Leninist with less of the Marxist going on.

So in that way, it is more in the communist direction.

So hopefully that clarifies what can sometimes

be a confusing topic.