Essay, Research Paper: Communism

Communism"A specter is haunting Europe the specter of Communism." This was the opening line of Karl Marx's 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' when it was published in 1848. Today, with the apparent failure of so many Communist experiments, the Marxian statement might be rewritten: "A specter is haunting Communism the specter of capitalism." ( Communism, World Book encyclopedia, p891)Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin, and the other people that theorized Communism never explained in detail exactly what kind of system they wanted to establish. Their goal was a society in which the workers, not the capitalists (land, factories, machinery owned privatedly) , owned all the means of production specifically land, factories, and machinery. To reach communism, a transition period was needed, during which the government controlled the economy. Lenin, when he came to power in Russia in 1917, was inexperienced at organizing and running an economy. He was forced to experiment. Everything he tried failed, and in the process the workable economy of Russia was nearly demolished. Then he died in 1924, before a workable system could be set up. It was left to Joseph Stalin, which came after Lenin, to create the Communist state. Under him, the transition period became permanent (What is communism, FILM). Stalin was very ruthless and a successful cruel ruler. He created in the Soviet Union a state in which the government controlled everything all agriculture, all industry, the arts and sciences, sports, entertainment, the media, and religion. The government decided what should be produced, how much, and at what price. All wages and prices were subject to government control. Hospitalization, education, housing, and pension plans were all guaranteed by the state, as were jobs. The people, in turn, gave up every of freedom. To make sure that his commands were obeyed and that no one disagreed with him, Stalin employed a vast network of secret police. A large system of prison camps was built to accommodate all who were accused of overthrowing the state ( Communism, World Book encyclopedia, p891).
. In other words, a business must know what it can afford in relation to expected income. Prices are calculated in relation to supply and demand. Under Communism, there was no market to set prices. Supply was determined by the government, regardless of demand. Everyone was forced to work, so there was no competition for jobs. The true costs of production were not known. Wages were completely arbitrary, as were prices of goods ( Communism, World Book encyclopedia, p891)Why it FailedCommunism is not an economic system its simply the age-old system of political control of everything. The result was predictable, great wealth for the few and poverty for the rest. The failure of Marxism was perdicted by economist Ludwig von Mises in 1922 in his book Socialism . He was the first to explain Communism s basic flaw, it had no means of economic calculation. An economy is a price system. A business must know the prices of everything like raw materials, machinery, rental of buildings, labor, inventory, overhead, shipping, and more. A business must know what it can afford in relation to expected income. Prices are calculated in relation to supply and demand. Under Communism, there was no market to set prices. Supply was determined by the government, regardless of demand. Everyone was forced to work, so there was no competition for jobs. The true costs of production and goods were not known ( Communism, World Book encyclopedia, p891).