This is the second of my letters dealing with the ideology of such past and present regimes such as the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact Nations, Communist Yugoslavia and Albania, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Castor's Cuba, etc., along with various fringe elements on the American Left of our nation's political spectrum.
The first letter of my series of letters was printed in the Oct. 3 edition of the Times-Union, which listed 23 out of the 72 sources of information that readers of the Times-Union can use for their own research. This particular letter will begin listing some of the summary of the common characteristics of communism.
Before I begin, the following should be noted: First, each of these characteristics have been practiced in one form or another before being molded together in a common belief system from the mid 19th to mid-20th century by several infamous historical figures such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. Second, this is a preliminary list subject to future revision if necessary. Third, the previously mentioned past and present communist regimes were never able or willing to fully implement all of these characteristics. Fourth, if a person, political party or government strongly believes in implementing or has implemented most or all of these characteristics, then they are communist in nature.
Common Characteristics of Communism:
I. World Revolution as Foreign Policy.
1. In their quest to liberate the downtrodden masses from their elitist capitalist oppressors and establish egalitarian utopian societies throughout the world, Communist regimes have lead or supported revolutionary movements that seek to overthrow the governments and societies of non-communist countries, establishing social republics in their place. Once most or all of the world comes under the domination of communist regimes, they would be eventually merged into a single globe-spanning Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of Earth.
** This ultimate goal of communism, however, was thwarted by the following:
1. Fundamental weaknesses of communism leading regimes to either collapse or forcing them to begin a reform process.
2. Nationalistic rivalries between major communist regimes.
3. The natural tendency of stronger countries, even communist ones, to engage in imperialism by dominating weaker countries.
4. Petty ideological bickering over communist theory and practice throughout the worldwide communist movement.
5. The gradual erosion of support or neutrality from the general population in communist countries.
6. The active resistance of the international Cold War anti-communist coalition led by the United States.
The remaining characteristics of communism will follow at later dates.
