What is communism?

Question

hey i need to know what communism is in LAYMAN'S terms. please explain it to me like you're writing a Communism for Dummies book....

Answer 1

In ideal society without exploitation or inequality, where all pitch in to do their work and receive a fair share of food or other goods. Karl Marx defined it as "from each according to ability, to each according to need".

In reality, there are several ways to implementing it.

1. a small group of people who all know each other's needs and abilities. There are religious communities like that in California or among Amish. It works fine, but they have to trade with capitalist in the outside word for things they cannot make themselves (tools & machines, medicine, legal services)

2. Government control over everything, like in Soviet Union, N.Korea and Cuba. It does not work so well since government officials tend to serve their own interest, and workers are not "socially conscious" enough to do their best for the abstract common good.

3. In the future, there might be a way to set up some supercomputer to replace government planners. But then you'll still have the fallible people programming the computer. :)

Answer 2

Under Communism, (in THEORY) everyone is equal, there is no such thing as rich & poor. All industry is owned by the government, which means it belongs to the people. Everyone has at least the basic necessities, and things are weighed against individual benefit, towards the greater good for the masses.

This is in theory. Unfortunately humans are too corrupt to make it work.

Answer 3

Communism/Socialism: The equal distribution of poverty.

Capitalism: The unequal distribution of wealth

Answer 4

Everyone gets the same $. Idea is that everyone's equal and the state only exists to keep it that way, but they would get the same as everyone else. Communism, however, would mean the end of Batman.

Answer 5

communism is extreme socialism.
the government controls everything, economy, for example. the government in a way "takes care" of the people. land, products are given evenly to the people.