The Freethinker

A brief book review...

This book really answered my questions and gave me a start at understanding Communism and it's ideals. It's a great introduction and gives a perfect overview of this flawed ideology.

It begins with the basics of Communism, such as private land, personal freedom and the differences between Socialism and Communism. It also covers Marx and Engels influences, and how the Communist Manifesto came to be (More so in an abbreviated form, if you wish to know more about the Communist Manifesto, read it yourself).

This is a wonderful book to recommend to any fairly intelligent individual considering the notion that Communism is a beneficial social, political and even religious policy. This book isn't a piece of literature only for the philosopher or genius, but the averagely intelligent fellow can read through this book in a week and get a basic knowledge of Communism.

Viva La Capitalism, my friends.

Memorable quotations from "Communism" by Richard Pipes:

Karl Marx
"It was French radical thinkers of the eighteenth century who first advanced communism programs, calling for the abolition of all private wealth on the grounds that it was the cause of every misery known to mankind. In the words of Morelly, the author of the influential treatise "Le cofe de la Nature", published in 1755:
'The only vice which I know in the universe is avarice; all the others, whatever name one gives them, are merely forms, degrees of it... Analyze vanity, conceit, pride, ambition, deceitfulness, hypocrisy, villainy; break down the majority of our sophisticated virtues themselves, they all dissolve in this subtle and pernicious element, the desire to possess.'
Such economically determined psychology lies at the root of every socialist and communist doctrine."
-Communism by Richard Pipes, Page 9, emphasis added

I find this quote particularly interesting, because the analysts of the eighteenth century (The age of enlightenment) were seemingly trying to find a way to explain what makes mankind "tick". Although, conventional knowledge can never seem to supercede the Lord, it is explained in the Bible, within the first book, why we have the desire to possess and why we wish to be prideful, be deceitful, and partake in other unruly sinful qualities.

Friedrich Engels
"The Marxist concept of social evolution arose under the influence of the Darwinian theory formulated in 1859 in 'On The Origin Of The Species'. Darwin's book depicted the emergence of biological species as due to a process of natural selection that enabled the better to survive in a hostile environment... ...So great was Darwin's influence on Marx that Engels, speaking at his friends' funeral, said, 'Just as Darwin had discovered the law of development of organic nature, so did Marx discover the law of human history.' "
-Communism by Richard Pipes, Page 9, emphasis added

This is an interesting fact to observe that Marx helped to base his concept of the Communist Manifesto from Darwinism. The Nazis also based their racial doctrines from Darwinism.

The book also expands upon the different forms of Communism that have risen from Marx's original Communist theory. He explains Leninism in detail, and how the Communist regime in Russia took different turns while Stalin lead the country, and communism in other countries such as: Cambodia, China, Cuba and Chile. The book also explains the effects of Communism on economies, and how Communism ultimately leads to totalitarianism and fascism.