Communism

:This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. For issues regarding Communist organizations, see the Communist party article. For issues regarding Communist Party-run states, see Communist state.

Early Communism

The notion of communism - the idea of a classless, stateless and moneyless society based on communal ownership of the means of production, stretches far back in Western thought long predating Marx and Engels. Some have even traced communist ideas back to ancient times, such as in Plato's The Republic; or (perhaps with more justification) in the life of the early Christian Church, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (see Christian communism).

Related Topics:
Plato - The Republic - Acts of the Apostles - Christian communism

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In the 16th century, English writer St. Thomas More, in his treatise Utopia, portrayed a society based on common ownership of property, whose leaders administered it through the application of reason.

Related Topics:
16th century - Thomas More - Utopia

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Several groupings in the English Civil War, but especially the Diggers (or True Levellers) espoused clear communistic, but agrarian ideals. (Cromwell and the Grandees' attitude to these groups was at best ambivalent and often hostile – see Bernstein's classic book 'Cromwell and Communism').

Related Topics:
Diggers - True Levellers - Bernstein

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Criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Enlightenment era of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau. "Utopian socialist" writers such as Robert Owen are also sometimes regarded as communists.

Related Topics:
Enlightenment - 18th century - Jean Jacques Rousseau - Utopian socialist - Robert Owen

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Some believe that early communist-like utopias also existed outside of Europe, in Native American society, and other pre-Colonialism societies in the Western Hemisphere. Almost every member of a tribe had his or her own contribution to society, and land and natural resources would often be shared peacefully among the tribe. Some such tribes in North America and South America still existed well into the twentieth century.

Related Topics:
Europe - Native American - Colonialism - Western Hemisphere - North America - South America

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Karl Marx saw communism as the original state of mankind from which it arose, through classical society, and then feudalism, to its current state of capitalism. He then proposed that the next step in social evolution would be a return to communism, but at a higher level than when mankind had originally practiced primitive communism.

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In its contemporary form, communism grew out of the workers' movement of 19th century Europe. At that time, as the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for creating a new class of poor, urban factory workers who toiled under harsh conditions, and for widening the gulf between rich and poor.

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