Recently, Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring high school students to be taught on the “evils of communism”. Communism is a buzzword that has a lot of history that many people don’t talk about. Along with the words Socialism, Marxism, and Anarchism, communism is generally misunderstood. While there are many complex topics regarding this subject, this article will only be providing basic definitions and light history.
What Is Communism
Communism can be described as a few things. The first primarily is as a mode of production. The only definition of communism in this case is a stateless, classless, and moneyless society. Before each of those explanations, an explanation of what a mode of production is should come first. A mode of production is the political and economic structure of a civilization. An example of this is capitalism.
Capitalism and Private Property
Capitalism is defined as the private ownership over the means of production. The means of production are the things that produce things. An example of the means of production are organizations like companies or factories. Furthermore, capitalism is defined by the ability to own private property.
To be clear, people don’t share toothbrushes in communism. Personal property is still allowed under a communist mode of production, however, owning 70 homes is not. This means that a communist society would have very very few homeless people because the housing market is a big part of the homeless issue.
A Stateless Classless Moneyless Society
Furthermore, communism is a moneyless society and that means that the things typically money is used for are distributed with no cost. Food, water, and housing are entirely free in a communist mode of production. Moreover, a communist mode of production is stateless. A communist definition is a bit different than other definitions of statehood.
While generally, a state is considered a governmental entity with a monopoly on violence the Marxist definition adds a bit more to it. A Marxist would say that the state is a “ tool of class dominion”. What this means is that the state is seen, by a Marxist, as the means by which one class oppresses another. In a communist mode of production, there is no police or military, because, to a Marxist, they serve the interest of the class that owns the state.
Finally, the reason why there is no police or military is because it isn’t needed. The police serve as a great example of an “arm of the state”. The rich use the police to fight back against workers and socio-economically oppressed identities when they begin to stand up for themselves. A historical example of this is the fact that the police have been union busting since the 1800s and police were used against the civil rights movement.
Class Defined
Class is defined, in Marxist ideology, as a certain relation towards the means of production. If one privately owns the means of production, then one is a capitalist. If one does not own the means of production, but rather works on it, then that person is a part of the capitalist class.
Put simply, the workers of Subway who don’t own the store are workers. The members of the board of directors qualify as a part of the capitalist class, and the franchise owner of one subway is a part of the petit capitalist class. The important part here is that class itself, and therefore class conflict is abolished in communism. There are no working-class people or any capitalists.
To be clear, people aren’t all made to do the same things under a communist mode of production but rather are free to explore their artistic passions. People only work enough to make sure society is still running and then do whatever else they want for the rest of their day. Under communism, a 10-hour work week is most likely all that is necessary.
What’s the Difference
This is the general definition of communism, and what it generally looks like. From this definition of a “stateless, classless, and moneyless” society, it is clear that no nation in the last 2000 years has ever fit this specific definition. However, according to Marxist theory, there are two stages of communism. The first stage is called socialism
The difference between capitalism, socialism, and communism is simple. Capitalism is when rich people own everything, socialism is when the working class owns everything and communism is when everyone owns everything. Marxism is the ideology that Friedrich Engels synthesized through the political, economic, and philosophical works of both himself and Karl Marx.
Why Does Ron DeSantis Care?
With all this information in mind, why would anyone, more specifically republican governor Ron DeSantis, be anti-communist? Ron DeSantis wants to misinform working-class children about communism. The reason why is that if the youngest generation is starting to see the ills of capitalism. If they begin to see alternatives, then the capitalist class will have a problem on their hands.
Put simply, communists are revolutionaries, and in a time of great social strife and wealth inequality young people becoming fed up with the system. Revolutionaries changing the world in favor of the working class is not profitable. Therefore, Ron DeSantis is on the side of bigotry, hatred, intolerance, and privilege, so it makes sense he wouldn’t be a communist.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources
USAToday: Gov. DeSantis signs bill requiring teaching of history of communism in Florida schools by Douglas Soule
Lenin, V. I., & Kopito, J. B. (2021). The state and revolution. Dover Publications, Inc.
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Mark Surman’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of Aki Mykkänen’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Second Inset Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
