Communist state

:This article is about one-party states governed by Communist parties. For information regarding communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, or as a popular movement, see the main Communism article.

Criticism and advocacy

:See also: Criticisms of communism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Advocates of communism praise Communist parties for running countries that have sometimes leapt ahead of contemporary "capitalist" countries, offering guaranteed employment, health care and housing to their citizens. Critics of communism typically condemn Communist states by the same criteria, claiming that all lag far behind the industrialized West in terms of economic development and living standards.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Central economic planning has in certain instances produced dramatic advances, including rapid development of heavy industry during the 1930s in the Soviet Union and later in their space program. Another example touted by Communists is the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Cuba. Early advances in the status of women were also notable, especially in Islamic areas of the Soviet Union. See Gregory J. Massell, The Surrogate Proletariat: Moslem Women and Revolutionary Strategies in Soviet Central Asia: 1919–1929, Princeton University Press, 1974, hardcover, 451 pages, ISBN 069107562X. Critics however cite counter-examples: the failure of the Soviet Union to achieve the same kind of development in agriculture (forcing the Soviet Union to become a net importer of cereals after the Second World War), as well as the continued poverty of other Communist states such as Laos, Vietnam or Maoist China. Indeed, they point out that China only achieved high rates of growth after introducing Capitalist economic reforms — a sign, claim the critics, of the superiority of Capitalism.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other claims include generous social and cultural programs, often administered by labor organizations. Universal education programs have been a strong point, as has the generous provision of universal health care. They point out to the high levels of literacy enjoyed by Eastern Europeans (in comparison, for instance, with Southern Europe), Cubans or Chinese. Western critics charge that Communist compulsory education was replete with pro-Communist propaganda and censored opposing views. Critics also note that the Communist states do not compare favourable when comparing states with similar culture and economic development before the Communist takeover. Examples include North Korea vs. South Korea; China vs. Hong Kong and Taiwan; and East Germany vs. West Germany.

Related Topics:
North Korea - South Korea - China - Hong Kong - Taiwan - East Germany - West Germany

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Critics also point out that some Communist states have been involved in the destruction of cultural heritage: Romania (planned destruction of historical centres of most towns — partially achieved in Bucarest), China (repression of Tibetan culture, destructions during the Cultural Revolution) and the Soviet Union (destruction, abandon or reconversion of religious buildings) are the most cited examples.

Related Topics:
Romania - China - Tibet - Cultural Revolution

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also pointed out is environmental disasters which, the critics claim, were due to the Communist governments in place. The most cited example is the disappearance of the Aral Sea in today's Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which is believed to have been caused by the diversion of the waters of its two affluent rivers for cotton production.

Related Topics:
Aral Sea - Uzbekistan - Kazakhstan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Soviet practice of making it illegal to quit one's job, to hire a dissident, or to hire relatives, is regarded by the critics as tantamount to slavery.

Related Topics:
Dissident - Slavery

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Critics also argue that the Communist states corrupted science. One example is censorship and revisionism of history. Others are Lysenkoism and Japhetic theory.

Related Topics:
Science - Censorship - Revisionism - Lysenkoism - Japhetic theory

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many of the Communist states used an extensive network of civilian informants to spy on their own population. Critics argue that this created a society where no one could trust other citizens, who might report real or fabricated criticism of the Communist system to the secret police.

Related Topics:
Informants - Secret police

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another objection is the practice in some Communist states of classifying internal critics of the system as having a mental disease and incarcerating them in mental hospitals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The personality cults of many of the leaders of Communist states and the fact that in some cases the leadership of the state has become inherited has also been criticized.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Critics argue that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Prague spring, and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution were imperialistic wars where military force crushed popular uprisings against the Communist system.

Related Topics:
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - Prague spring - 1956 Hungarian Revolution - Imperialistic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Extensive historical research has documented large scale human rights violations that occurred in these states, particularly during the regimes of Stalin and Mao, but shown to have started immediately after the Russian revolution during the regime of Lenin and to have continued to occur in all communist states during their existence. Most prominent being deaths due to executions, forced labor camps, genocides of certain ethnic minorities, and mass starvations caused by either government mismanagement or deliberately. The exact number of deaths caused by these regimes is somewhat disputed, but extensive historical research shows at least tens of millions (see, e.g., the estimates reached in The Black Book of Communism and the references below). Other widespread criticism concern the documented lack of freedom of speech in Communist Party regimes, religious and ethnic persecutions, lack of democracy and systematic use of torture.

Related Topics:
Stalin - Mao - Russian revolution - Lenin - The Black Book of Communism - Freedom of speech - Persecution - Democracy - Torture

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The restriction of emigration has also been criticized, the most prominent example being the Berlin Wall.

Related Topics:
Emigration - Berlin Wall

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Others find this approach simplistic, noting that executions, forced labor camps, the repression of ethnic minorities, and mass starvation were patterns in both Russian and Chinese history before their respective Communist takeovers. Critics argue that past evils in an old regime cannot be used to justify new ones; otherwise supporters of Hitler could justify his deeds by pointing to past human rights crimes by the German Empire in Africa.

Related Topics:
Hitler - German Empire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many Marxists and some Marxist-Leninists argue that most Communist states do not actually adhere to Marxism-Leninism but rather to a perversion heavily influenced by Stalinism, which sharply diverges in practice from the humanistic philosophy of Marxist revolutionaries. This critique is common amongst social democrats and some critical theorists who hold that Marxism is correct as a social and historical theory, but that it can only be implemented within a multiparty democracy. Trotskyites argue that the bureaucratic and repressive nature of Communist states differs from Lenin's vision of the socialist state. Some Marxists (for example Milovan Djilas, James Burnham) described Communist states as systems in which a new powerful class of party bureaucrats emerged, exercised complete control over the means of production, and exploited the working class. This new ruling class is usually called the nomenklatura.

Related Topics:
Stalinism - Humanistic philosophy - Social democrat - Milovan Djilas - James Burnham - Means of production - Working class - New ruling class - Nomenklatura

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As a defense of Communism, it is sometimes claimed that so-called "communist states" are unrelated (or only distantly related) to an ideal Communist society. Therefore, it is argued, the failings of these states should not be taken as failings of communism per se.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Critics of Communism find fault with this reasoning, noting that this argument cannot be falsified and is therefore not scientific. Were it valid, they argue, it could similarly be applied to capitalism, fascism or other ideologies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~