...Communism: A Review of an Ideology Raymond Castaneda English 228: Fall Session 2012 The purpose of this essay is to explain how unsuccessful Communism is ideologically in part due to its’ economic shortcomings. For ages, mankind has been in search of a perfect society, a utopia; a society, in which no suffering exists, and everyone is happy. In writing, they are common, from the City of Atlantis to the Garden of Eden. However, there are no utopias, none for which anyone can provide proof of. For better or worse, there have been men who have attempted to bring about these utopias in the form of egalitarian societies. Some of these societies have aimed at removing the differences in social class and material wealth between people in an attempt to establish a utopian society. For example communism which was based on a Marxist utopian ideology, has proven to be ultimately a flawed principle and regime. In recent times, so called utopian societies were identified as either socialist, or communist. True communist societies have aimed to be egalitarian, and perhaps even utopian. While the effects of communist and socialist regimes are not confined to one single aspect of human life, this essay focuses on the economic effects of communism. Unfortunately, they have not succeeded in either; instead these societies have resulted in poverty, violence, and overall failure . Modern communism cannot be explained without first defining it, as there have been many historical and contemporary...
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...A point in history known as a turning point is an event or period of time that influenced history significantly. The 20th century was full of turning points that have had multiple effects on their nations and the world in general. Communism is an economic system that exploded during the 20th century. The two most notable nations that used communism, were China and the Soviet Union. Karl Marx conceptualized communism during the Industrial Revolution. He and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto, that explained how it worked. Marx believed there would be a “working class revolution”, where the poorer working class would violently overthrow the upper and middle classes. They would then reinvent their country, and use communism as the...
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...The Cold War and its policies had detrimental fallout effects on the American people. From the 1950s-1970s, people could see the shifting of cultures resulting from government policies and necessary adjustments to American life resulting from the Cold War. The Cold War would transform the future for America in many ways, including the religious boom, the staggering increase in defense spending, and the pushing of government control and propaganda due to ignorance and discrimination. The Cold war distorted America forever, instilling a fear of communism that would last to this day, making Americans want to try and rid the world of this evil. America, especially from the 1950s to the 1970s, main goal was to rid the world of communist control....
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...The United States, although they believed that they were doing the right thing by freeing Korea of communism, ended the war without a victory. President Truman said that there was, “no substitute for victory,” against communism, and that no victory would be equivalent to a loss (History.com Staff, 2009). Communism was not the only threat that the US was worried about. North Korea and Soviet Russia were both testing out destructive weapons, which made them dangerous. According to History.com, “They were sure that such a war would lead to Soviet aggression in Europe, the deployment of atomic weapons and millions of senseless deaths” (History.com Staff, 2009). Additionally, the war outlined a very important concept, that a war is not won by good intentions. Simply being right does not mean one will win, and being wrong does not mean one will lose. This event had impacted Canada in a surprisingly positive way. The Canadian army, more specifically the light infantry, was a key factor in blocking...
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...March 15, 2012, I landed in Vladivostok, Russia. I was amazed by the diversity and fast growth of the city since my last visit in 2006. Everything has changed the population has quickly grown, and people from around the world are visiting this place that is economically expanding. I seen family, friends, and professionals, which all knew my academic intentions. I talked a lot about social work and counseling, and more specifically: what would they do in times of crisis? Would they seek help? Where? I interviewed a few people of different age brackets, and they all had the same thing to say, for some odd reason; grab a bottle, head over to your best friends house, that is our therapy session. From this I became very interested in one underdeveloped and not heavily researched topic: psychotherapy and counseling in Russia. Introduction It is rather difficult to understand the status of psychotherapy in Russia nowadays, without background information on its history and culture. Russia among other nations has a long history of war and revolutions, which impacted every sphere of life for their populations. Different nations fell under the umbrella of the former “Soviet Union”, which is why Russia is such an interesting country to study because of the vast diversity. Along with diversity the most interesting part researching Russian Psychotherapy is that it is rare and has many limitations because of the past ideology. History Russia is a very interesting nation consisting...
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...suffered from economic, social, and political problems before the idea of Communism (Beck et.al, pg. 443). Poverty levels skyrocketed during the early 1900s in Russia after being involved in wars such as the Bolshevik Revolution (History.com Staff). Russia was disunified and looked into the idea of Communism after past wars (The Bolshevik Revolution). Russia rose to Communism because of past Russian warfare, an immense backlash of laborers, and its unstable society. Past Russian warfare hurt the country economically and politically. The Bolshevik Revolution was initiated from a revolt against the Tsar Nicholas II government (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). Tsar Nicholas II sent 11 million peasants...
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...Government would lead to a more democratic Russia. However in deposing the Provisional Government, the October Revolution had removed any such hope. The totalitarian Government of the Communist Party continued and intensified many aspects of the Tsarist regime including use of the secret police and an intolerance for opposition and democracy in general. The communist regime were just as authoritarian as the Tsars before them. In terms of ideology the fall of Tsarism in 1917 was a significant event as Tsarist belief in total control and centralisation of power was replaced by the Provisional Government, who had introduced liberal reforms and aimed for a democratic Russia. Ideology came to have a far more significant impact under the communists. It was not completely absent under Tsarist rule as the Russification policy of Alexander III shows, however it had virtually no effect in comparison to Stalin’s purges. Even though the ordinary Russian citizen initially saw little difference between Nicholas II and the new Provisional Government, the authoritarian regime of the Tsar had not simply been exchanged for another in the short term. However in the long term Lenin’s Bolsheviks had seized power in the October Revolution. This was a significant turning point as the totalitarian Government of the Communist party were little different to the autocratic regime of the Tsar to some extent, especially under Stalin. His version of communism differed from that of Lenin before him which...
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...classes dedicated to the change brought about by the end of World War II. Between 1945 and 2018, the world has seen the rise and fall of communism governments, has witnessed countries formed and others torn apart. The world has seen empires fall and superpowers rise to take their place, only to become locked in the ideological Cold War that left all in fear of nuclear war. No country remained unaffected by the conflict of the United States (US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Consequently, Cold War politics continue to affect modern the actions and reputations of countries globally even long after its end in 1989. The Cold War refers to the...
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...Rise and Fall of Soviet Russia Notes The Soviet Union started in 1917 and was led by a man named Vladimir Lenin with several other men. This group of men was known as the Bolshevik Party. They were sick of the tyranny from Tsar Ruler Nicholas the Second. (A Tsar or Czar was a totalitarian ruler of Russia which linked back to the 1500’s to Ivan the Fourth or better known as Ivan the Terrible) Lenin was fed up with Nicholas’ tyranny so he went to Karl Marx for guidance. Karl Marx or the Father of Communism was the man who came up with the idea of communism. What Karl basically said to Lenin was “All men were born free, but society has cut to such a state where majority is in chains. If people would treat people like people and we all shared...
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...Democracy Vs. Communism Following WWII Following World War II, the Western World was once again in disagreement. However, the disagreement following World War II was not based on countries, but instead on political ideologies. Democracy was supported by the West against communism which was supported by Russia and Eastern Europe. To determine the better of the two systems, the US and the USSR engaged in a 30 year, largely non-violent war to be the best. The winner would be the country to decide the political ideologies of the countries freed during World War II as well as throughout the rest of the world. The USSR emerged from World War II as a world power, and through the next three decades engaged in a battle with the Western World to spread communism, forcing eight Eastern European nations as well as other Asian and Middle-Eastern countries to remain communist until the end of the century. World War II left the USSR as a world power but in a state of complete disarray, leaving the USSR to rebuild and expand their own government beliefs. During the war, the USSR faced the most civilian and military casualties out of any other nation by far. Through the course of the war, 19 million soldiers were killed, with over 5 million civilian casualties, resulting in a total loss over almost 13% of the USSR's population. An additional 5 million prisoners of war, political enemies, and people that had committed crime were in forced labor camps. They were forced to harvest natural resources...
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...To what extent was America's involvement in the Vietnam Conflict the result of the wrong judgments of American policymakers? Abstract In this paper, I will discuss the policy of America during the Vietnam conflict and how this resulted in the unnecessary Vietnam War. I will discuss why the U.S. thought the domino theory would suit the American policies during this time period. Also, I will analyze why the domino effect was not suited well for America. America thought that if communism were to takeover Vietnam, then it would eventually leak out into the surrounding region. This was incorrect and in this paper, I will discuss why it was invalid information. This paper will also examine why American policymakers exaggerated the stakes of the Vietnam War and why this led to unnecessary involvement in the Vietnam conflict. Even as the US realized that the stakes had been exaggerated and that the domino theory was implausible, they continued their involvement in the war. As for sources, I will utilize the sources provided for us by the teacher. These sources are Chapter 10 from LeFeber and History in Dispute: Was US intervention in Vietnam justified? These sources will help me explain why the US’ tried to base their policies off of the domino theory and why this was not the best policy. Also, I will conduct my own research using the online database JSTOR. I will also utilize the Pentagon Papers, a source I found online. Together, all these sources will help me formulate and discuss...
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...1947-1991 was waged around the policy of containment, the democratic idea to limit communism to the areas already under Soviet control. President Truman of the United States passed the Truman Doctrine whose foundation was in containment. America’s fear of communism was so great they implemented their policy across the globe. Throughout the Cold War, the United States never had physical confrontation with the Soviets, but America fought to end the spread of communism in China, Germany, Cuba, Guatemala, Korea, and Vietnam. The communist ideals of Karl Marx inspired revolutionaries in Russia, such as Vladimir Lenin, and his socialist reforms began to spread across Eastern Europe and Asia in the 1920s. Chinese...
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...In November 1920 the Bolsheviks were in control of most of the tsar. The projected outcome of the Civil War in Russia was quite obvious. Although the Kronstadt Rebellion was largely unsuccessful it had effected the faith the world has in the Bolshevik revolution and it has a large effect in the way Lenin was going to approach War Communism. The continuous fighting from 1914-1920 robbed the country of able-bodied farmers and workers. The cities of northern Russia were depopulated by as much as 24% month by month with the winter of 1920-1921 being on the hardest . The War Communism in 1921 had a large social impact on its residents in Kronstadt. The sailors were not the only ones being pushed to their limits by it. On January 22, the...
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...Communism, just the mention if the word brings fear to the heart. Thoughts of dictatorship, control, persecution, and socialism fill the mind. Communism ruled the eastern half of Europe for about seventy years. Westerners wondered what really was taking place in the region. The Iron Curtain separated the eastern half of the continent from the rest of the world. A war for power and control was taking place. Socialism was drilled into the inhabitants of the dictator controlled countries. But, in 1991 it was said to have fallen. The Soviet Union did fall, but communism has not completely faded away. It has a lasting impact on the people that lived through it. The first communist international organization was founded in about 1836 by a group of German workers. Communism, a branch of socialism, envisages a society where there is equality for all people. The equality is achieved by distributing equal wealth to all the members of the society; thus making everyone at par with the other. The father of communism Karl Marx and Friedrich Angels, changed the political sphere of the world. Some regarded communism as a Utopian idealism that can never be attained in a society while its proponents believed that it was the answer to all their miseries and sufferings. The communist supporters believed in declaring an open war on their opposition, and this is clear from the most popular last lines of the manifesto: "The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that...
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...A Revolution Of the Peasants, For the Peasants Decades passed in Russia in which the peasants just wasted away, lying in suppression at the bottom of the social and economic pyramids. “Russian society at the end of the late 19th century was strongly hierarchical. Tsarist political structures, religious and social values, rules governing land ownership and Russia’s legal code all reinforced the nation’s social hierarchy, defining position and status and restricting social mobility (movement between the classes)” (Llewellyn, Rae, and Thompson). This massive and mistreated peasant class was also kept very separate from the outrageously wealthy upper classes: “The royalty and aristocrats in the Russian economic system lived away from the peasants...
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