Chapter 22 Reflections

                It is interesting that communism bared its philosophy through the use of violence and dramatic revolutions when its foundations reside in the common good among people. As an adopted government strategy, communism supports relying on the neighbor, the other, in order to survive in a system derived from a very simple, basic, rational definition of equality: people are equal and should be treated as such; there is no difference in class. Consequently, this mentality led to the spread of equality among genders as well. Women in communist Russia experienced more rights than could be elsewhere matched. However, in order for Russia to achieve its claimed communist status, neglecting to substantially partake in the initial socialist practice as outlined by the founder Karl Marx, it had to “experience a revolution” (Strayer 660). The necessity for violence and war to force the current government to assuage the demands of the people probably arose from the war time mentality of the global state of the world. Russia’s revolution occurred in 1917, perfectly coinciding with the end of World War I.  The First World War began due heavily to the increased nationalism that spread throughout the countries. Therefore, it is natural to think of a country such as Russia, which did not wage well within the conflicts of the war itself, whose people suffered terribly on account of the poor status in the war, and whose people also rallied on the concept of abandoning individual egos in favor of the national, common imperialistic goal. However their goal was not to divide and conquer, the mentality fostered the growth the Marx’s communist theory, one of equality among people and shared responsibility for survival. For Russia to transform into the Soviet Union now seems almost expected when the factors of the world are accounted for.

                Both communist China and the Soviet Union suffered immense setbacks in their initial attempts at the reformations of their respective countries. A common trait of the people was to suffer deploring famine resulting in a combined loss of roughly twenty six million people due to the countries removal of individual farming abilities and utensils. In most cases, when the government attempted to take an individual’s farm animal, be it a cow, pig, or sheep, the person would rather slaughter the animal than relinquish their possession of it. Therefore, certain people remained steadfast to the underlying capitalist ideal of individual improvement and possession. Naturally, people adhere to this instinctual desire to support themselves and no one else. Even when the communist governments had launched into their full throttle, certain aspects of the government continued to rely on capitalist mentalities. In Russia, during their rapid industrial growth, urban areas were centers for the driven and the intellectual. It was a place of working towards improvement with competitive wages as incentive. In the Soviet Union, “ a highly privileged group of state and party leaders emerged in the Stalin era and largely remained the unchallenged ruling class of the country” not unlike the capitalist driven countries that surrounded the communist Russia (Strayer 672).