America: The Communist Dream

“Communism” has special significance in American parlance.  In reality, the ideology of Communism entails a variety of ideals.  There are “Communist” states, that are self-proclaimed Communists, such as the former Soviet Union, The People’s Republic of China, Cuba, and North Korea.  But Communism is rooted in the writings of Karl Marx, although many can contend that he did not specifically originate the concept itself.  For the intent of this entry, “Communism” means “Marxism” and not the Soviet style of governance.  For this reason, I will refer to the ideology as Marxism, rather than Communism.

If there is any polity in the world that should be ideal for Marxist ideology, it is the United States. Is it because of the proposed socialized health care, like many on the New Right claim?  No.  Is it because of extended government control of the private sector?  No.  Is it because of entitlement programs controlled by the government?  No.  It is precisely the opposite.

Any true Marxist has to acknowledge that Marx did not claim to be a leader, nor did he claim to actually have a solution.  Rather, Marx foresaw a solution.  He claimed to want better treatment for laborers during the Industrial Revolution.  What Marx had foreseen was a society in which there was no more class separation.  No more need for “have’s” and “have not’s.”

Marxist ideology states that human society progresses in phases.  In these phases, Marx foresaw Capitalism growing out of Feudalism.  From Capitalism, he saw Socialism emerge and then finally a Communist State.  I typically contend that the problem in contemporary “Communist” states is the skipping of steps.  They went from pre-Industrial to Socialist, and skip the Capitalist stage.  There is no doubt that contemporary America is a Capitalist state.  What comes from Capitalism is the expansion of capital.  As business grows, it develops a monopoly.  As monopolies expand, the rich become wealthier and labor becomes more laborious.  The reason the Capitalist stage is critical, is because education is needed for labor to continue to be productive.  Although part of that education is propaganda to keep the proletariat under control, knowledge is also imparted on how to utilize capital.  Especially as Capitalism reaches the end phase and has no more room to expand.  The only way to continue to amass capital is by making the proletariat produce more.

This is where America becomes the Marxist ideal.  The wealthy in the United States are becoming wealthier.  The poor are becoming poorer.  And many Americans seriously object to social welfare programs.  The “welfare state” in Europe has keep the proletariat content enough to not want to destroy the system.  Many Europeans are quite happy with their tax money utilized to provide them health care, social services, and infrastructure.  Without discontent, there will be no overthrow of the top 1 percent.

The denial of social programs by the American society is already leading to immense discontent.  As people are unable to realize the “American dream,” they are becoming more discontented.  This comes on top of the high rates of internet use, and flow of information.  As the people become more proficient in learning how the system works, they need the Elites much less.  Keynesian economic levers would simply alleviate social suffering temporarily, but not change the system. There has been no change of power in Europe.  The Monarchy is still in power in England.  They even have a Labour Party with considerable weight in the Parliament.  Is it a coincidence?

The major hindrance to the realization of Marxism in the United States (and the world) is the failure of the proletariat (as a whole) to see the reality of the world around them.  Once people begin to learn a few things, the support for the old guard will begin to crumble.  It seems pretty obvious that people will begin to question the order of society as unemployment stays high and income levels stay low.  What they will realize is the following:

• It has not “always been this way.” As Lukacs mentions in History and Class Consciousness, many proletariat are convinced that the present day capitalist system is “the way it has always been.”  Almost as if there is some natural order to commercialism.  Most people do not even understand that the concept of “private property” is relatively new.
• The opposite of “private property” is not “poverty.” There is a wide range of options, that once people realize, they may learn to have disdain for private property.  Just because everything is not “your’s” does not mean other people can just take everything from you.
• We are social creatures and need to live together. In this vein, we have to share.  We have to cooperate and compromise.  The alternative to this is solitary existence, which homo sapiens sapiens cannot endure.  (Studies have shown, without human contact, a child’s brain cannot fully develop.)
• Those in power are concerned about more than “just money.”  They are in control. The top 1% control the bottom 80%.  They do not want your money.  What can they do with more money?  They want to control you.  They know we need to live in communities, but they are in control of the communities.  The people you are arguing with over what to do on immigration issues are in no more control of you than you are of yourself.

There are more factors, but that is good enough.

These realizations will not come as long as people are content.  There is an ancient African proverb which states:

“The fat slave will claim he is free.”

If governments and the Elite continue to give pittance to the proletariat, the proletariat will not even recognize that they are proletariat.  They will continue to support those in power.  You see this constantly in America.  As we left the Industrial Age and entered the Consumer Age, you see people making basic wages, working long hours to buy expensive products, many of which are designed to cause more consumption.

Dolce & Gabana, Coach, Lucky Brand, Sony, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Lexus, Prada, Fendi – all common words in American vernacular.  Yet, only 1% of the entire nation has over 70% of the wealth, with 19% under them obtaining another 15%.  So, what are the 80% doing?  They are consuming these “designer” products… and if they see their peers with a designer product, they are convinced they want the product as well.  And they are HAPPY to spend so much on these products.  Americans tend to believe they cannot be happy without these things.

This is not to say other industrialized nations do not do their fair share of consumption.  They do.  But they also have high taxes and social programs.  They do not have wants and desire far beyond their means like the average American.  (I’m going to move on before I digress into an anti-Consumer culture tirade.)  Europeans are pretty happy with the systems they have, and the social programs afforded to them.

In the United States, the President proposed Universal Health Care and people marched on the nations capital with loaded weapons.  This is good for Marxism.  The more people see the wealthy getting good medical care, and the working class dying without it, the more likely they are to question if there is another way.

Of course, there is a concern in this.  A very cautionary tale.  When people begin to question the way things are and look for an alternative, there is a “third way.”  This is Fascism.  It is a way to look for a new “way” without tearing everything down.  We can still have people at the top making decisions, but the people will be happy.  And then you have advocates like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, which pretty much state that “too much learnin’ ain’t good.”  If the elite lose power and people like these two are in charge, we would likely be much worse off.

So, the next time you get mad at a Senator for not wanting to extend unemployment because he might miss his basketball game, remind yourself that his actions are GOOD for Marxism.  The next time you are angry that the government failed to regulate an industry that leads to a massive catastrophe (BP Gulf Oil Spill, collapsing mines), remind yourself, this is GOOD for Marxism.  The next time a Congressman or political leader wants to regulate people’s personal lives on a moral basis, and is caught having homosexual sex with a male prostitute, remind yourself this is GOOD for Marxism.

When a country has a government that keeps its people healthy and happy, they are unlikely to question the “natural order.”

A fat slave will think he is free, until he cannot get another KFC Double Down… and will want to know why he cannot have it.

Here are a few books related to the subject:

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