WHAT IS COMMUNISM?
At its core, communism is an ideology of economic equality through the elimination of private property. The beliefs of communism centre on the idea that inequality and suffering result from capitalism. Under capitalism, private businesses and corporations own all the factories, equipment and resources, called ‘the means of production’. These owners, according to communist doctrine, can then exploit workers, who are forced to sell their labour for wages.
The working class, or proletariat, must rise up against the capitalist owners, or bourgeoisie, according to the ideals of communism, and institute a new society with no private property, no economic classes and no profits. Communism differs from socialism, though the two have similarities. Both advocate economic equality and state ownership of various goods and services. Socialism usually works through the existing democratic structures of capitalist countries; most capitalist countries have some socialist characteristics.