In this past weekend’s reading, the first two chapters of
the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engels argue that capitalism is doomed to fail. The class
antagonism between the proletariat and bourgeoisie
will become so great that the proletariat will rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie.
This will then give way to class equality.
I’m
not going to contend whether communism is a practical economic system or a
legitimate political ideology, but I will argue that communism will never be
successful in the United States, despite Marx’s and Engel’s belief that it will.
First
off, I don’t see how an open revolution by the proletariat would ever occur.
The U.S. government would never let that happen and, I believe, would resort to
extreme measures if required to maintain order. Say 25,000 people marched into
a city and started wreaking havoc, destroying businesses, and upturning cars, I’m
very confident in the police’s ability to halt this activity, even if it would
require tear gas and rubber bullets.
Also,
most people are relatively content with the economic system of the United
States. Sure, it may cause unrest here and there, but it’s not on a widespread
scale. If it were widespread, I would think the Communist Party of the United
States would actually be on the election ballot. (As an interesting aside, the CPUSA supports the Democratic Party)
Lastly,
communists are generally regarded with disdain in our society. Our society was
founded upon the idea of class mobility and working for what you want, but communism
and class-equality demolishes those ideas. People move to the United States
because it’s the ‘land of opportunity,’ not the ‘land of economic equality.’ I
see no plausible way communists could mobilize enough supporters to pose any
legitimate threat.
In
conclusion, I can't imagine how the capitalist United States will ever devolve into
a communist United States. Especially with the fear and resentment of the
former Soviet Union, communism is scary to most Americans (despite what we fear
is not entirely what Marx and Engels were arguing). Open revolution would never
continue for any meaningful amount of time and the capitalist system seems to
be maintaining order just fine.
Hey Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with that the United States will NEVER convert to communism because of the negative connotation of communism. When people in America hear or learn that a country is communist, they automatically think that they're our enemies Also, I disagree with Marx that class inequality leads to social change. I believe, however, that class inequality is what makes capitalism better than any other type of social system because it pushes and motivates people to work harder and to move up in society.
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument that the United States will never embrace a communist system or the idea of communism, but I have to qualify that statement. The majority of the United States' population recognizes that capitalism is both the most practical and fruitful, as well as just economic and social system. Like you and Mark have both said communism has such a bad connotation in our nation and one of our country's principles is freedom in your economic endeavors and the right to earn what you make. So I agree with the two of you in that regard, and obviously hold the idea of communism in great disdain.
Here is where I disagree with the statement that communism is impossible in the United States of America. Marx talked about the probable steps en route to a communist revolution and the United States already exhibits many of these characteristics. The first is the abolition of private property, which we see in our property taxes. We can purchase land as citizens but we always have to pay property taxes on that land to the government and if we don't the government would take our land away, making us merely renters or lessees of the government's land. The second is the heavy progressive income tax. We have a system of tax brackets where the highest earners pay more in income taxes than the lowest earners. I am not agreeing or disagreeing with our income tax policy, that's just how it is. The third is the abolition of rights to inheritance. Currently the estate tax is 35% of all inheritance over $5,120,000. Starting January 1, 2013 the inheritance tax increases to 55% on everything inherited over $1 million. We see the 4th Marxist step of confiscation of the property of all rebels and emigrants in IRS confiscation of property without due process. We have the Federal Reserve which exhibits the 5th step of centralization of credit by means of a national bank. The 6th is the centralization of communication and transportation. We have the United States Postal Service which is controlled by the federal government and state governments run toll roads within each state. The 7th step is the state appropriation of manufacturing and agriculture. The agricultural industry has been greatly infiltrated by the federal government in the form of price controls on crops and farming subsidies. The explanation of the 8th and 9th steps is very long and I have already rambled so I will skip to the 10th step which is free education for children. This we obviously have in public school systems.
I know that in principle the United States will always have a capitalistic, free market mind set. However, it is a little troubling to see how many Principles of Marx we have already instated as law and practice in our country. Let me know what you think!
Connor Townsend
Connor, the points you make about the U.S. exhibiting characteristics of communism are overstated.
Delete1. Property taxes do not eliminate private property. We still own the land and its rights, not the government.
2. The U.S. does not have a "heavy" progressive income tax. Sure it's progressive, but compared to other countries in the world, the U.S. has one of the lowest rates. (See here: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/numbers/international.cfm)
3. Again, just because something is taxed does not mean its rights are abolished.
4. Uh, this is a valid point, but I don't see how this is communist (not arguing with you, but with Marx)
5. There are banks other than the Federal Reserve where you can obtain a loan. There is not total centralization.
6. USPS is not the only means of communication. There is UPS, FedEx, the Internet, cell-phones, etc. Just because there are tolls are on a road does not mean the government controls all means of transportation. They don't control all airplane, car, and train companies.
7. Manufacturing is not mainly controlled by the government. Agriculture has been affected, but not controlled.
8/9. -
10. True.
Reading the past two comments, I agree more with Ryan but I do agree with a few of the points that Connor makes, but I do not believe we are moving towards a communist state/ever could. It is true that many of the policies we put in place (like the progressive tax system and free public education) do seem as if they are consistent with the communist ideology. However, in the case of the progressive tax system, even though the rich are taxed more this does not mean incomes across classes are equal. In other words, even though some of the richest people pay higher taxes than members of the middle class, it is not the case that these rich people are taxed so much that their wealth falls to the level of members of the middle class.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am trying to say by way of this example is that communism is not built on having a few policies like this that aim to somewhat calm the inequality between citizens, while having other policies in place to allow for economic advancement. This would be an extremely half-hearted version of the communist policies that Marx envisioned. Communism requires a full fledged destabilization of the class system our nation follows, and unless we ever realize a "classless" society we are not even close to the realization of communist ideas. Moreover, we are not very close to communism at all when you look at our nation. As Ryan said in the original post this is considered a land of economic opportunity. And as long as that notion is even partly true, the United States cannot be considered anything close to communist, in my opinion.
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Most people will agree that the United States will never resort to communism. The biggest reason is that there is such a negative connotation placed on communism. Notice how I said that it is the biggest reason, and not necessarily the best. The average American tends to attribute communism with a totalitarian government (e.g. USSR, North Korea, etc.). This is not what Marx and Engels envisioned. The Cold War and the Red Scare have solidified Americans' negative views of communism, and not many people would pick up the Manifesto to discover the actual meaning of communism.
A more logical reason for the opposition of communism in the United States is the fact that capitalism is adaptive. The system pays attention to workers' rights (e.g. no sweatshops). It also responds accordingly to workers' demands (e.g. labor unions, minimum wage, etc.). Because of this, a giant revolt of the masses among the working class is unlikely to happen.