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1 Chapter 1 : Nikolai Bukharin and Evgenii Preobrazhensky: The ABC of Communism The ABC of Communism (Russian: РРбукРкоммунРРмРAzbuka Kommunizma) is a book written by Nikolai Bukharin and Yevgeni Preobrazhensky in, during the Russian Civil War. Production unde communism We have seen why the destruction of the capitalist system was inevitable. It is now perishing under our very eyes. It is perishing because it is affected by two fundamental contradictions: That is why it was inevitable that this machine would break down sooner or later. It is evident that the new society must be much more solidly constructed than capitalism. As soon as the fundamental contradictions of capitalism have destroyed the capitalist system, upon the ruins of that system there must arise a new society which will be free from the contradictions of the old. That is to say, the communist method of production must present the following characteristics: In the first place it must be an organized society; it must be free from anarchy of production, from competition between individual entrepreneurs, from wars and crises. In the second place it must be a classless society, not a society in which the two halves are at eternal enmity one with the other; it must not be a society in which one class exploits the other. Now a society in which there are no classes, and in which production is organized, can only be a society of comrades, a communist society based upon labour. Let us examine this society more closely. The basis of communist society must be the social ownership of the means of production and exchange. Machinery, locomotives, steamships, factory buildings, warehouses, grain elevators, mines, telegraphs and telephones, the land, sheep, horses, and cattle, must all be at the disposal of society. All these means of production must be under the control of society as a whole, and not as at present under the control of individual capitalists or capitalist combines. We mean that ownership and control is not the privilege of a class but of all the persons who make up society. In these circumstances society will be transformed into a huge working organization for cooperative production. There will then be neither disintegration of production nor anarchy of production. In such a social order, production will be organized. It is obvious that so comprehensive an organization presupposes a general plan of production. If all the factories and workshops together with the whole of agricultural production are combined to form an immense cooperative enterprise, it is obvious that everything must be precisely calculated. We must know in advance how much labour to assign to the various branches of industry; what products are required and how much of each it is necessary to produce; how and where machines must be provided. These and similar details must be thought out beforehand, with approximate accuracy at least; and the work must be guided in conformity with our calculations. This is how the organization of communist production will be effected. Without a general plan, without a general directive system, and without careful calculation and book-keeping, there can be no organization. But in the communist social order, there is such a plan. Mere organization does not, however, suffice. The essence of the matter lies in this, that the organization shall be a cooperative organization of all the members of society. The communist system, in addition to affecting organization, is further distinguished by the fact that it puts an end to exploitation, that it abolishes the division of society into classes. We might conceive the organization of production as being effected in the following manner: Here we have organization, but we also have the exploitation of one class by another. Here there is a joint ownership of the means of production, but it is joint ownership by one class, an exploiting class. This is something very different from communism, although it is characterized by the organization of production. Such an organization of society would have removed only one of the fundamental contradictions, the anarchy of production. But it would have strengthened the other fundamental contradication of capitalism, the division of society into two warring halves; the class war would be intensified. Such a society would be organized along one line only; on another line, that of class structure, it would still be rent asunder. Communist society does not merely organize production; in addition, it frees people from oppression by others. It is organized throughout. The cooperative character of communist production is likewise displayed in every detail of organization. Under communism, for example, there will not be permanent managers of factories, nor will there be persons who do one and the same kind of work throughout their lives. Under capitalism, if a man is a bootmaker, he spends his whole life in making boots the cobbler sticks to his last ; if he is a pastrycook, he Page 1

2 spends all his life baking cakes; if he is the manager of a factory, he spends his days in issuing orders and in administrative work; if he is a mere labourer, his whole life is spent in obeying orders. Nothing of this sort happens in communist society. Under communism people receive a many-sided culture, and find themselves at home in various branches of production: This will be possible when all the members of society have been suitably educated. Under com munism, it is no longer the individual manufacturer or the individual peasant who produces; the work of production is effected by the gigantic cooperative as a whole. In consequence of this change, we no longer have commodities, but only products. These products are not exchanged one for another; they are neither bought nor sold. They are simply stored in the com munal warehouses, and are subsequently delivered to those who need them. In such conditions, money will no longer be re quired. What sense is there in such a method of distribution? At first, doubtless, and perhaps for twenty or thirty years, it will be necessary to have various regulations. Maybe certain products will only be supplied to those persons who have a special entry in their work-book or on their work-card. Subsequently, when communist society has been consolidated and fully developed, no such regulations will be needed. There will be an ample quantity of all products, our present wounds will long since have been healed, and everyone will be able to get just as much as he needs. Today, for example, no one thinks it worth while when he wants one seat in a tram, to take three tickets and keep two places empty. It will be just the same in the case of all products. A person will take from the communal storehouse precisely as much as he needs, no more. No one will have any interest in taking more than he wants in order to sell the surplus to others, since all these others can satisfy their needs whenever they please. Money will then have no value. Our meaning is that at the outset, in the first days of communist society, products will probably be distributed in accordance with the amount of work done by the applicant; at a later stage, however, they will simply be supplied according to the needs of the comrades. It has often been contended that in the future society everyone will have the right to the full product of his labour. It would never be possible to realize it fully. For this reason, that if everyone were to receive the full product of his labour, there would never be any possibility of developing, expanding, and improving production. Part of the work done must always be devoted to the development and improvement of production. If we had to consume and to use up everything we have produced, then we could never produce machines, for these cannot be eaten or worn. But it is obvious that the bettering of life will go hand in hand with the extension and improvement of machinery. It is plain that more and more machines must continually be produced. Now this implies that part of the labour which has been incorporated in the machines will not be returned to the person who has done the work. It implies that no one can ever receive the full product of his labour. But nothing of the kind is necessary. With the aid of good machinery, production will be so arranged that all needs will be satisfied. But if there will be no classes, this implies that in communist society there will likewise be no State. We have previously seen that the State is a class organization of the rulers. The State is always directed by one class against the other. A bourgeois State is directed against the proletariat, whereas a proletarian State is directed against the bourgeoisie. In the communist social order there are neither landlords, nor capitalists, nor wage workers; there are simply people - comrades. If there are no classes, then there is no class war, and there are no class organizations. Consequently the State has ceased to exist. Since there is no class war, the State has become superfluous. There is no one to be held in restraint, and there is no one to impose restraint. But how, they will ask us, can this vast organization be set in motion without any administration? Who is going to work out the plans for social production? Who will distribute labour power? Who is going to keep account of social income and expenditure? In a word, who is going to supervise the whole affair? It is not difficult to answer these questions. The main direction will be entrusted to various kinds of book-keeping offices or statistical bureaux. There, from day to day, account will be kept of production and all its needs; there also it will be decided whither workers must be sent, whence they must be taken, and how much work there is to be done. And inasmuch as, from childhood onwards, all will have been accustomed to social labour, and since all will understand that this work is necessary and that life goes easier when everything is done according to a prearranged plan and when the social order is like a well-oiled machine, all will work in accordance with the indications of these statistical bureaux. There will be no need for special ministers of State, for police and prisons, for laws and decrees - nothing of the sort. The State, therefore, has ceased to exist. There are no Page 2

3 groups and there is no class standing above all other classes. Moreover, in these statistical bureaux one person will work today, another tomorrow. The bureaucracy, the permanent officialdom, will disappear. The State will die out. Manifestly this will only happen in the fully developed and strongly established communist system, after the complete and definitive victory of the proletariat; nor will it follow immediately upon that victory. For a long time yet, the working class will have to fight against, all its enemies, and in especial against the relics of the past, such as sloth, slackness, criminality, pride. All these will have to be stamped out. Not until then will all the vestiges of the capitalist past disappear. The proletariat itself will become mingled with all the other strata of the population, for everyone will by degrees come to participate in the common labour. Page 3

4 Chapter 2 : The ABC of Communism by Nikolai Bukharin Supported war-communism and spoke about the depreciation of the currency as a factor leading to the abolishment of classes. Resisted NEP and was removed from the secretariat. In he criticized the attempts to create greater equality in the countryside, and this led to his break with Bukharin. We hope this will be of interest to students of marxism and other people coming into contact with communist ideas for the first time. Class society is thousands of years old. Basically class society exists when one part of society exploits, robs and cheats the other part. In class society one part of society works for another part who own the conditions, or means of production. In simple terms class society is the form taken by the exploitation of the many by the few. Class society is basically about the exploitation of the many by the few. It is organised exploitation and robbery of the working people for the benefit of the few. We can say quite definitely that class society is synonymous with exploitation, i. When classes are formed, when exploiters and exploited become a feature of society, when one part of society lives by exploiting, robbing and cheating another part of society, they cannot do so without force, that is, a means of coercion. In a society founded on exploitation and robbery, that is to say class society, the state emerges out of the contradiction between the robbers and the working people. Thus the exploiters use the state to keep themselves in power. The role of the state in this case is to suppress, curb the resistance of the working people to exploitation which they face daily. The state, therefore, is a machine for the domination of one class by another class. In a society divided into exploiters and exploited, into robbers and their victims, i. Capitalist society is the latest, and Marxists believe, the last form of exploitation. Like previous class societies, such as slave society or feudal society, capitalism is also based on the exploitation of the many by the few. Under capitalism, like former class society, one part of society lives by exploiting, and robbing the other part of society. The essence of capitalist exploitation is that workers are only paid for part of the labour service they provide to the capitalist employers. The other part of the labour provided goes unpaid. The proceeds from this end up in the pockets of the capitalists. In the historical sequence of things communist society comes after capitalism. The basic difference between capitalism and communism is that in a capitalist society the few exploit and rob the many, i. In this society the state actually defends the robbery and exploitation of the working class people by the capitalists. It is therefore called a capitalist state. In a communist society people do work, but they work for the community themselves instead of working for a class of exploiters and robbers. In a communist society one section of society does not live by exploiting and robbing another section. In a communist society productive property comes under social ownership and serves the interest of all the members of society, not just a few. Communist society, that is when people work for the community instead of a robber class, as under capitalism, is divided into two stages: The first, lower stage of communist society is usually called socialism. This is the stage of communist society as it emerges from capitalist society, its traditions and habits. At the socialist stage of communist society people take from society the equivalent of the amount of labour they give to it minus deductions for the common good. When there is no more capitalism, that is, when people no longer work for exploiters and robbers, but instead work for the community, profit will also cease to be the goal of production. A period of transition is needed to make the change from a society based on robbery and exploitation to a society where people no longer exploit other people. Many if not the majority, of those who live by exploiting the working people, will resist the change to a society where people simply work for the community. If they are able to, they will do everything to undermine the new society. What they fight for is a return to the old society based on exploitation and robbing the working people. In order to stop these enemies of the people from achieving their selfish aims, they must be resisted and fought. Iron dictatorship against the counterrevolutionaries is called for. This dictatorship is against those who support robbing and exploiting working people. Those who oppose the dictatorship of the working people against the robbers and exploiters are in fact servants of the latter. The dictatorship of the proletariat itself will fade away when exploitation and robbery are things of the past. The Communist Movement, which exists in every country, is a political movement made up of all those people who are against a society based on one group, or class of people living by the exploitation of another Page 4

5 group or class. In short, Communists are against societies based on robbery and exploitation. In the struggle between communism and exploitation, Communists follow the teachings of Karl Marx,, whom they regard as the father of modern, scientific communist ideas. A notable ally of Marx was Frederick Engels. Marx taught that the forms of society were determined by the level of development of the productive forces it contained. What Marx argued was that as the productive forces developed, they broke down the old forms of society. That is to say the new productive forces begin to clash with the old forms of society. The growing contradiction between the new and the old eventually erupts into revolution. The revolution leads to a new society adapted to the new level of the productive forces. For instance, feudalism gave way to capitalism. Eventually capitalism must give way to communism, which is the most rational, most modern adaptation to the new, enormous productive forces which now exist in the world. The present contradictions in the world cannot be resolved by capitalism. For many capitalists war is good business, so is the environmental destruction of the planet. The old society proves the point of Marx that it no longer deserves to exist when it uses the colossal productive power at its disposal, science and technology, to make wars and impose incalculable misery on humanity, misery imposed by the few on the many. Lenin described revisionism as the struggle against Marxism within the Marxist movement itself. The revisionists strive to revise Marxism in the direction of serving the interest of the capitalist class, who want the working people to continue working for exploiters. Revisionists are the ideological representatives of the bourgeoisie in the communist movement. In short, revisionism is the bourgeoisie inside the communist movement. They seek to undermine the principles on which the Marxist-Leninist movement is founded. What the revisionists seek more than anything else is to remove Marxism-Leninism from the leadership of the communist movement. The struggle against revisionism is therefore a class struggle; it is the highest form of the ideological struggle against the bourgeoisie because in this case their representatives disguise themselves as communists. The former Soviet Union is a good example of this. In this case, after the death of Stalin, the Soviet revisionists, the servants of the capitalist class, concealing themselves behind a communist mask, gained control of the leading positions in the Communist Party and state and opened the door to the restoration of capitalism. Stalin was continually denounced by the revisionists as the people were returned to exploitation and robbery. The supporters of imperialist exploitation will do everything in their power to preserve exploitation and robbery. This means doing whatever is necessary to oppose Communism. Acting through the revisionists, the supporters of capitalist exploitation seek to gain control of the Communist movement and use it to serve their own class interests. The revisionists, the concealed representatives of the capitalist class in the Communist movement, must be unmasked and driven out of our movement. Social Democracy is the ideology of class collaboration. It is a petty-bourgeois ideology in the working class movement. The adherents of this ideology use the support of the working class to defend capitalism. The historical role of the representatives of Social Democracy is to defend capitalism by making certain concessions to the working class where this is possible. Social Democracy is therefore a petty-bourgeois movement that preaches class collaboration to the working class. Lenin defined Imperialism as monopoly capitalism, the highest and final stage reached by capitalist society. In the imperialist epoch, giant transnational corporations dominate the world economy. Originating in the developed capitalist countries, these giant companies are able to rob and exploit the poor countries. They make superprofits and use part of this to create and bribe an upper section of the working class, who come to form a labour aristocracy, which renounces the revolutionary struggle against capitalism. Imperialism facilitates the domination of the working class movement by the gang of class collaborators who lead the Social-Democratic movement, which we have seen defends capitalism by making some concessions to the working class. Imperialism makes it possible for these Social-Democratic people to hold back the working class from destroying capitalism by revolution, although capitalism is now a threat to humanity and the planet we live on. Imperialism, because it makes life easier for large masses of people in the advanced capitalist countries, is one of the main factors holding back the world revolution against capitalism. However, imperialism is nearing its end. This was signalled by the war, which led to the Russian revolution of, and subsequent events. Marxism-Leninism teaches that the downfall of imperialism will usher in the world revolution. Marxists put forward the slogan: But this is no sentimental slogan, pious dream or wish. This slogan reflects the actual state Page 5

6 of the present day world economy, which is based on interdependence. The world economy forms an uneven integral unity. Take for example the construction of a motor car, it is made up of hundreds or thousands of components which are imported from different countries. This is internationalism; countries trading with each other. Proletarian internationalism is a slogan, which expresses objective reality. Lenin argued that true internationalism is fighting for the revolution in our own countries. Only in this way can we really support the revolutions in other countries. Bureaucracy, it is often said, can be a good servant but a bad master. The Russian socialist revolution certainly raised the issue of bureaucracy in the communist movement, as the writings of Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky show. While both Lenin and Stalin recognised that the struggle against bureaucracy was a long-term affair, Trotsky put forward a pseudo-left, i. By a pseudo-left slogan we mean a slogan, or policy which on the surface seems left and rather militant, but in its content would serve the interest of the enemies of communism, i. However, on the basis of social ownership of the means of production the contradiction between the bureaucracy and the working class was not irresolvable, or rather could be resolved without revolution, which often entails civil war. For Marxist-Leninists there are two basic types of contradictions, namely: Page 6

7 Chapter 3 : Now and After - Wikipedia The abc's of unamerican villainy are just as sickening and distasteful as when they were first scrawled out by the first godless Socialist. Irredeemable and jealous, this 'book' is a masterpiece illustration of everything that is wrong with Communism. It was a short book with the basic ideas of communism. Most socialists and communists today still use this book to help them understand politics and economics. Many non-communists read it too, even if they do not agree with everything in it. Karl Marx said that for society to change into a communist way of living, there would have to be a period of change. During this period, the workers would govern society. Marx was very interested in the experience of the Paris Commune of, when the workers of Paris ran the city following the defeat of the French Army by the Prussian Army. He thought that this practical experience was more important than the theoretical views of the various radical groups. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a worldwide socialist movement called Social Democracy. It was influenced by his ideas. They said that the workers in different countries had more in common with each other than the workers had in common with the bosses within their own countries. They got rid of the temporary government of Russia, which was formed after the February Revolution against the Tsar Emperor. In reality, the country never became communist in the way that Marx and Engels described. In the late s, China also had a revolution and created a new government with Mao Zedong as its leader. In the s, the island of Cuba had a revolution and created a new government with Fidel Castro as its leader. At one time, there were many such countries, and it seemed as though communism would win. But communist party governments forgot to use democracy in their governments, a very important part of socialism and communism. Because of this, the governments became separated from the people, making communism difficult. This also led to disagreements and splits between countries. By the s, one-third of the world had overthrown capitalism and were trying to build communism. Most of these countries followed the model of the Soviet Union. Some followed the model of China. The other two-thirds of the world still lived in capitalism, and this led to a worldwide divide between capitalist countries and communist countries. This was called the " Cold War " because it was not fought with weapons or armies, but competing ideas. However, this could have turned into a large war. During the s, the United States and the Soviet Union were competing to have the biggest army and having the most dangerous weapons. This was called the "Arms Race". President Ronald Reagan called communism the " Ash heap of history ". Since, when the Berlin Wall was torn down, most countries that used be communist have returned to capitalism. Communism now has much less influence around the world. In, the Soviet Union broke up. Most of these people are in China. There are also communist movements in Latin America and South Africa. Disputes[ change change source ] Many people have written their own ideas about communism. Vladimir Lenin of Russia thought that there had to be a group of hard-working revolutionaries called a vanguard to lead a socialist revolution worldwide and create a communist society everywhere. Leon Trotsky, also from Russia, argued that socialism had to be international, and it was not important to make it happen first in Russia. Trotsky was made to leave the Soviet Union by Stalin in, and then killed in This scared many people, and lots of communists argued about whether this was right and whose ideas should be followed. Mao Zedong of China thought that other classes would be important to the revolution in China and other developing countries because the working classes in these countries were small. Today the Chinese government is still ruled by the Communist Party, but they actually have what is called a mixed economy. They have borrowed many things from capitalism. The government in China today does not follow Maoism. However, revolutionaries in other countries like India and Nepal still like his ideas and are trying to use them in their own countries. Term usage[ change change source ] The word "communism" is not a very specific description of left-wing political organizations. Many political parties calling themselves "communist" may actually be more reformist supportive of reforms and slow change instead of revolution than some parties calling themselves "socialists". Many communist parties in Latin America have lost many members because these parties do different things than what they promised once they get into power. This means it was more reformist than the socialist party. Page 7

8 Many communist parties will use a reformist strategy. They say working-class people are not organized enough to make big changes to their societies. They put forward candidates that will be elected democratically. Once communists become elected to parliament or the Senate, then they will fight for the working class. This will allow working-class people to change their capitalist society into a socialist one. Symbols and culture[ change change source ] The color red is a symbol of communism around the world. A red five-pointed star sometimes also stands for communism. The hammer and sickle is a well-known symbol of communism. It was on the flags of many communist countries see top of article. Some communists also like to use pictures of famous communists from history, such as Marx, Lenin, and Mao Zedong, as symbols of the whole philosophy of communism. A song called The Internationale was the international song of communism. It has the same music everywhere, but the words to the song are translated into many languages. The Russian version was the national anthem of the Soviet Union from until The hammer in the flag represents the struggle for the workers. Both of them crossing shows their support for each other. There is also a special kind of art and architecture found in many communist and former communist countries. Art done in the socialist realism style, such as plays, movies, novels, and paintings show hard-working, happy, and well-fed factory workers and farmers. Movies, plays and novels in this style often tell stories about workers or soldiers who sacrifice themselves for the good of their country. Paintings often showed heroic portraits of the leader, or landscapes showing huge fields of wheat. Stalinist architecture was supposed to represent the power and glory of the state and its political leader. Some non-communists also enjoy this kind of art. Chapter 4 : The ABC of communism ( edition) Open Library Two classic Russian Communist texts are presented together in this single volume. First published in and respectively, Programme of the Russian Communist Party and ABC of Communism were created as popular introductions, explanations, and commentary for the masses on the new party. Today. Chapter 5 : An ABC of Communism The Espresso Stalinist the abc of communism a popular explanation of the program of the communist party of russia Bukharin, N. and E. Preobrazhensky Published by University of Michigan Press (), (Ann Arbor, Michigan) (). Chapter 6 : The ABC of Communism - Wikipedia The fundamentals of the theory of historical materialism are explained for students from various working class parties. The textbook this year for this serie. Chapter 7 : Communism - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The ABC of Communism should, in our opinion, be an elementary textbook of communist knowledge. Daily experience of propagandists and agitators has convinced us of the urgent need for such a textbook. There is an unceasing influx of new adherents. Page 8