WW Chapter 21: Revolution, Socialism and Global Conflict

Fidel Castro

(Source: History.com)

Chapter 21: Revolution, Socialism and Global Conflict

The Rise and Fall of World Communism

1917-present

Although communism may have started as a good idea, an more popular alternative to the inequitable capitalist model of economics, in practice, it still grants power to a few that make decisions for many.  John Dalberg-Acton may have said it best in a letter to the clergy as far back as 1887, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" (https://acton.org/research/lord-acton-quote-archive.)  He was right then, and he is right today.

The echoes of the French Revolution still reverberated in Russia and China when revolutionaries ousted those in power in favor of a Marxist ideology.   Russia did it in a single year (1917) and things went rather badly for the Romanov family.  China's revolution was much more gradual, and wasn't fully realized until 1949.  Both were ultimately to end up with paranoid governments that were more than willing to execute their political challengers and anyone that did not support the party.

In the end, communism was a failure in bothe nations, but I'm not so sure that I can fault the idea as much as I can the implementation of it in these cases.  A collective movement is a powerful force when individuals believe.  The Army, the church and Spock (in the Wrath of Khan - but I digress) rely on abandoning invidual needs for a greater good.  When applied to a centrally planned economy though, the collective breaks down rapidly.  People respond to incentives.  At some level theere is someone making decisions for the state, deciding what is best for the state - and making sure that individuals carry out the mission.  And it certainly broke down in the case of Russia and China.

The world's communism experiement did leave a wake though.  15 new and separate states expressed their soveriegnity in the Russian empire, China became a world economic power and Feminism got a shot in the arm from the communists fair and equal treatment of women.  Judging a movement at a single point in time without the benefit of a bigger picture can be mistake.

So the next time Bernie Sanders wants to open education up freely for all and extend medicare to the entire population - don't be too quick to cry socialism.  It might not be such a bad thing in the big picture.