what is communism ? what is the big difference between communism and capitalism ?

Answer 1

each one have its advantages and disadvantages


communism have many advantages

[Production and consumption in common]
Of these different tendencies two, before all, merit our attention. One is the increasing difficulty of determining the share of each individual in modern production. Industry and agriculture have become so complicated, so riveted together, all industries are so dependent one upon the other that payment to the producer by results becomes impossible the more industry is developed, the more we see payment by piece replaced by wages. Wages, on the other hand, become more equal. The division of modern bourgeois society in classes certainly remains and there is a whole class of bourgeois who earn the more, the less they do. The working class itself is divided into four great divisions:

[1] women,
[2] agricultural labourers,
[3] unskilled workers, and
[4] skilled workers.

wages within each of these classes tend to become more equal

The Individual in a Communist society]
The Communist state is an Utopia given up already by its own adherents and it is time to proceed further. A far more important question to be examined, indeed, is this: whether Anarchist or Free Communism does not also imply a diminution of individual freedom?

As a matter of fact, in all discussions on freedom our ideas are obscured by the surviving influence of past centuries of serfdom and religious oppression.

Economists represented the enforced contract (under the threat of hunger) between master and workingman as a state of freedom. Politicians, again, so called the present state of the citizen who has become a serf and a taxpayer of the State.


that is the most features of communism

Thus we have arrived at the following conclusions: Attempts at Communism have hitherto failed because:

[1] They were based on an impetus of a religious character instead of considering a community simply as a means of economic consumption and production,
[2] They isolated themselves from society,
[3] They were imbued with an authoritarian spirit,
[41 They were isolated instead of federated,
[5] They required of their members so much labour as to leave them no leisure time, and
[6] They were modelled on the form of the patriarchal family instead of having for an aim the fullest possible emancipation of the individual


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

Advantages of Communism
Communism is an internally stable economic system, in that those that participate benefit and those that don't are culled - creating an incentive to participate.
Communism requires common goals and agreed upon rules/laws to allocate responsibilities and resources. If successful, this leads to a spirit of sharing builds stronger social communities, creating a stabler economy.
Due to their sense of cooperation, healthy communistic systems are very efficient at distributing resources within their localized areas - particularly in times of need.


Disadvantages of Communism
Large or geographically broad populations tend to be diverse, making it difficult to maintain a common goal or set of rules for shared effort and resources.
Large, diversified societies tend to gravitate towards systems of heirarchy, reducing the perception of fair distribution of work and resources - which can destablize a communistic society.
Allowing an influx external culture increases the likelyhood of destablizing the homogeneity of the society. As such, communistic systems tend to block out external cultures and exclude outside competition, weakening the system's ability to learn from, or compete with, external economies.


capitalism

Critique: Capitalism
Capitalism is based on the Darwenian concept of survival of the fittest. While I am aware of no nation that practices a pure form of this economic system, several Western countries use a form of capitalism the core of their economies. Scaled-down examples of capitalism are flea markets, bazzars and black market trading.

Properties of Capitalism
Social/cultural rules and political laws define the environment.
Supply and demand provide environmental pressures.
Those that best "fit" that environment survive and maintain the rules/laws.
Those that can't/don't thrive in the system, and otherwise lack participation, are culled.
Successful capitalistic systems tend to be open and competitive.
A healthy capitalistic system results in economic incentives.


Advantages of Capitalism
Capitalism is an internally stable economic system, in that it is consistent with human behavior. People understand that life is not fair - there's no "free lunch". You have to work to survive, and only the lucky who manage to thrive within the socio-economic matrix make it to the top. As long as there is a belief/hope that one can advance in the system, there is an incentive to participate.
Capitalism is also externally stable, in that survival in a capitalistic system requires innovation and flexibilty to keep up with the changes in supply and demand. Such a system is generally prepared to deal with the influx of competition from external sources.
Large populations are likely to be diverse, which is beneficial to healthy capitalistic systems.
Large, diversified societies tend to gravitate towards heirarchical social systems; capitalism easily adapts to such structures.
Disadvantages of Capitalism
It is not acceptable in most modern societies to allow portions of their population to be "culled".
Those in power tend construct rules that limit diversity and competition, thereby weakening the flexibility and strength of the system as a whole.
Vast imbalances in opportunity encourages revolt, which disrupts and destablizes the system.
Remedies for Capitalism
Create secondary social mechanisms to support those that do not "fit" in the socio-economic system.
Encourage the inclusion of all members of the population to compete, and open up competition to external markets, in order to maximize diversity and flexibility.
Educate the elite to the systemic benefits of resource distribution, and encourage incentives for such distribution.

Answer 2

Communism is supposed to be a class-less society, where all the means of production (land, factories, etc.) are owned by the citizens and the workers, and each person has a vote in how their workplaces and communities are run. It's supposed to be where instead of everyone working for personal profit, they're working for the benefit of society as a whole.

In reality, communism is accomplished by the government controlling everything, including the means of production. The government is supposed to be representitive of the people (although it usually is not). Although the government-run businesses are usually not operating at any kind of profit. Instead of people choosing where to work, how to work, etc., in a communist country, the government dictates this. The government in a communist country decides on what to produce, how much to produce, and where to produce, based on a series of plans (called 5-year plans), and all wages and prices are set by the government as it sees fit.

Capitalism is a society where nobody is told what to produce by any government authority. Capitalism is a system where people are working because they want to make a profit, without the government interfering in people's affairs. In capitalism, goods are produced to satisfy the needs of others because people will make a profit off it.


Basically, the two systems are opposite. The visible difference, is that in communism, the government has major control over your day-to-day life, and it is based on a system of guarentees - planned prices & wages, stability, etc. On the other hand, capitalism is based on individual freedom to do what you want, but one cannot rely on any guarentees. In the end, communism can generate laziness (because people will get paid no matter what) and communism is usually very inefficient and requires a lot of resources to come up with these plans and making sure they're actually enforced.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, most countries these days are capatalist countries, with some government interference/regulation - a sort of mixture between the two. In most developed nations, prices and wages are not set by the government (other than a minimum wage), and people are free to conduct business as they see fit.

Answer 3

With Communism, the State (ruling party) controls production & distribution goods. They dole them out in a manner in which they feel is equitable to all. This is a lousey form of government. Although it seems good on the surface, Communism, as well as Socialism incourages mediocraty. It doesn't matter how much effort is output, you get no reward for going "above & beyond."

Capitalism is based on private ownership. There is no limit to what return you can receive for your efforts. Those who put out the effort are usually rewarded. The downside is that those at the bottom have a harder time existing in a Capitalistic system, but they are usually there because of choices they have made during their lifetime.

Answer 4

Oh my...
Communism, in short, is centralized and state controlled economy. All laws, local and foriegn commerce, social programs, military etc are controlled from 1 central group or committee. Every citizen exists to serve the collective there are no individual rights nor private ownership of anything.
Businesses are controlled by the government and are thus owned by the government.
If you are born and raised under communism you have no freedom to choose your career, it is selected by a government official.
Historically, this system fails miserably due to the financial weight of the resulting beaucracy.
Capitism is nearly the opposite, where ownership is the crux on which the whole systems runs. People in the free market have the say on what stays or goes by purchasing power alone.
Government regulations tend to burden this time of system by limiting its potential growth and pace. Taxation, a primary means of control, takes money out of the system and this money has no opportunity to gain value over time and is then re-distrbuted through social programs.

judging by the answers I've seen... public education glosses over the severe penalties of communism and neglects to mention the benefits of capitalism.

Answer 5

I just learned about all this in world history class. Communism is where all the people work together under government rule. Everyone owns property together, and they redistribute property so everyone kinda has an equal amount. It's what Russia did and also China under the Mao leadership. Capitalism is what the U.S. has. It is private ownership of goods and services, where the people work privately to produce things for the economy and not everything is government regulated.

Answer 6

Communism is where everyone is equal. No differences no matter how smart or dumb...

Capitalism: By luck, hard work or education you will seek your own level of financial independence where in Communism Everyone is suppose to work for the state with no differences...

Answer 7

Communism is a fantasy that cannot become a reality when you factor in human pride and stupidity! Capitalism is a simple fact of life based on human pride and stupidity!

Answer 8

Communism is a fairytale told by Marx where each person creates as much as they can and each person uses only what they need.
Communism fails because of greed
Capitalism is a system that harnesses greed to thrive, but greed is also the downfall of this system

Answer 9

Communism is red, capitalism is red white and blue. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 10

Communism is an historical state of being where the issue of man exploiting man (or woman) has been addressed and eliminated. The manner of achieving this state of being was theorized by Karl Marx. The attempts at implementing this state of being have, to date, met with little success.

Capitalism is an historical state of being where the issue of man exploiting man (or woman) has not been addressed. Attempts at implementing this state of being have been wildly successful.

Answer 11

Very little difference. Much depends on the profile of those in power, whether or not the wealth is spread or hoarded.
Communism is the misguided notion that you can reward people who choose to do nothing to make their lives better the same as those who are working to make society better.