The communism is a political movement that promotes the formation of a society without social classes, where the means of production are commonly owned. This implies that private ownership of these media would not exist, which would bring power to the working class.
In its ultimate goal, communism seeks the abolition of the State: if there is no private ownership of the means of production, there is no exploitation. Therefore, the state organization would not be necessary.
The foundations of communism were developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels at the end of the 19th century in books like “Capital”. In the 20th century, the Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin set out to put these theories into practice, based on his own interpretation.
Communism has received criticism from different sectors. There are those who consider that a classless society is impossible (always some group will hold power; in the case of communism, it would be bureaucrats). On the other hand, many believe that capitalism and its desire for profit is the only system that promotes economic development.
Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime
Throughout history there have been various communist governments; Undoubtedly, one of those who has stood out negatively for its genocidal policies and unconstitutional programs was the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, who ruled Romania between 1945 and 1989 and was violently overthrown by the popular revolution; It is worth mentioning that Romania was the only country in Eastern Europe that managed to get rid of its leader through force.
A few decades later, Ceausescu’s communism was classified as illegitimate and criminal; Despite how obvious this statement may be, Romania was the first former member of the communist bloc to take this step, and it did so after an intense investigation by historian Vladimir Tismineanu in which crimes and abuses of the dictatorship.
During the mandate of Nicolae Ceausescu the most disadvantaged classes were the poor, who condemned to hunger, cold, lack of health resources and education suffered a devastating annihilation; Furthermore, extermination policies were implemented for all those who opposed the regime, torturing and murdering them indiscriminately.
The acceptance of crimes by the current Romanian government is not, as many have believed, an anti-Romanian stance, but the desire to cleanse the past, to condemn those who have behaved unconstitutionally in order to walk clean towards a more real democracy. It is worth mentioning that not long ago this country has been accepted to be part of the European Union.
Differences between communism and socialism
Although they are often used synonymously, it should be noted that communism and socialism are not the same.
While communism proposes radical measures for the expropriation of individual property to be exploited by the State and its consequences are real; the socialism is a doctrine, does not propose effective measures of change but a plan for economic economy based on democratic ownership and collective administrative control of production systems, with control of political structures by citizens.
Both ideologies are based on a series of writings and studies developed throughout history by various thinkers; thus, communism relies on the ideas proposed by Carl Marx and Friedrich Engels while socialism does so on those embodied by Henri de Saint-Simon and Carlos Fourier (although they also had Marxist ideas).
It is worth mentioning that despite the fact that many assure that socialism is the phase prior to communism, some political currents categorically separate them, placing socialism in a limit closer to democracy and communism, close to authoritarian and unconstitutional regimes.
