Communist Manifesto vs. Animal Farm

Itong agiw-tala ay para kay Karlee na sa pagkakaalam niya ay ipinangalan kay Karl Marx. Gustong gusto kasing inuulit ulit  ng aming kapitbahay na si Caroline ang alamat ni Karlee. Pero si Karlee, tila hindi  natutuwa. 

"Why did you name me after Karl Marx?"
"And what do you know about Karl Marx?" 
"He was a communist!"
"Was he?“

Si Karl Marx ang pangunahing may akda sa Communist Manifesto pero kilala siya bilang philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, journalist at iba pa, maliban sa pagiging komunista.  Binigyang kahulugan ni Marx ang komunismo sa paglalathala ng Communist Manifesto para sa mga manggagawa at komunidad noong 1848 . Pananaw niya  ang pamununo at pagbibigay kakayahan ng mga proletariat   o manggagawa na mapasakanila ang mga ari-arian na ginanagamit sa pangkabuhayan at paggawa katulad ng mga lupain  at makinarya.  Halimbawa, ang mga magsasaka ay mapasakanila ang mga lupang sinasaka nila at ang mga mangingisda naman ang mapasakanila ang mga sasakyang pandagat na ginanagamit nila upang sila'y makapamalakaya. 

Pero noong 20th century, nagkaroon ng mga bagong interpretasyon ang komunismo na salungat sa pananaw ni Karl Marx.  Noong 1917, sinaklaw ni Vladimir Lenin ang Russian Empire na  pinamumunuan ng Tsar. Si Lenin ay pinuno ng Bolshevik Party, isang pangkat ng tinawag na Russsian Socialist-Democratic Party. Si Lenin ang naging unang pinuno ng Union of Socialist Soviet Republics na kinabibilangan ng 15 bansa tulad ng Russia, Georgia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania at Estonia. Nabuwag ang USSR noong 1991. 

Noong 1949, si Mao Zedong, isang komunistang rebolusyonaryong Intsik ay naging unang pinuno ng People's Republic of China at tinagurian ding pinuno ng Communist Party ng Tsina. Noong 1950, ang North Korea ay naging Democratic Republic of Korea matapos  makipag-alyansa sa USSR at People's Republic of China. Habang nakikipag-alyansa ang North Korea at China sa USSR, libu-libong mga Amerikano naman ang pinagbibintangang mga komunista ni Joseph McCarthy, isang Amerikanong senador. Ang komunismo sa America ay tinaguriang McCarthyism at ito ay nauukol sa mga mga salang espionage, subversion at treason at wala itong kinalaman sa pamumuno at pagkakaisa ng mga manggagawa.

Salungat din sa mga teorya ni Karl Marx ang uri ng pamumuno  ng dating USSR o ang   kasalukuyang Russian Federation na pinamumunuan ni Vladimir Putin. Ang komunismo ay hindi katumbas ng totalitarian rule na kung saan ang ekonomiya, paggawa at pangkabuhayan ay kontrol at tila pag-aari ng pinuno ng bayan. 

Pinadali ni George Orwell ang pagpapaintindi  sa konsepto ng komunismo sa pamamagitan ng kanyang maikling nobelang pinamagatang "Animal Farm". Ang alegorya ay nagsimula sa isang pagpupulong na tinawag ni Old Major, isang bulugan sa Manor Farm, ang bukirin na pag-aari ni Mr. Jones, isang human at bourgeoisie o burgis. Ipinamahagi ni Old Major kina Napoleon at Snowball, mga kapwa baboy  ang kanyang panaginip o pangarap para sa isang mundo ng mga baboy na walang taong nang-aapi, kumukontrol at umaangkin sa mga produktong pinagpawisan ng mga hayop.  Hindi nagtagal, pumanaw si Old Major at ipinagpatuloy nina Napoleon at Snowball ang pagpapatupad ng kanilang inspirasyon para sa isang mundong walang mapang-aping mga tao na umaangkin sa mga bagay na kanilang pinaghirapan. Pinalayas si Mr. Jones sa kanyang bukirin at sinakop ito ng mga hayop at pinangalanang  Animal Farm. Naging pinuno sina Napoleon at Snowball a madalas silang magkasalungat.  Nagbuo ng army ng mga tuta si Napoleon. Nagkaroon rin ng mga kanya kanyang katungkulan sa pamunuan ang ilan pang mga hayop. Si Squealer, isang baboy,  ay naatasan sa pagpapalaganap ng mga propaganda. Si Mollie, isang kabayo na may katungkulan ay nahilig sa mga ribbons at sugar at makasarili. Si Boxer naman,  isa pang kabayo, ay laging handang lumahok sa ano mang gawain sa bukirin. Si Clover, kabayo rin, ay tahimik na hindi sumasang-ayon kay Napoleon at si Benjamin, isa pang hayop na donkey o asno  ay cynic naman. Isa sa mga babala ni Old Major ang  hwag sanang gayahin ng mga hayop ang mga masasamang ugali ng mga tao. Sa bandang huli, hindi na makita ang pagkakaiba ng mga pamunuan ng mga hayop sa mga tao, naging mapang-abuso na rin sila. 


Friedrich Engels  wrote the preface of the Communist Manifesto  in London on January 30, 1848 and credited Karl Marx for most of the concepts of the founding documents of communism.  The manifesto which was initially drawn in German was subsequently written in English, French, Danish and Polish editions comes  comes in 4 parts: 1) Bourgeoisie (pronounced as bor-zhwaa-zee) and Proletarians; 2) Proletarians and Communists; 3) Socialist and Communist Literature; and 4) Positions of the Communists in relations to the various Opposition Parties.

In Section 1, Marx described the conflicts between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie are the rich capitalists who control and own  the means of production such as factories, heavy machinery and agricultural land  cast  power over  the proletariat or  workers whom they employ and tend to exploit for their own profits.  The conflict is further discussed in Section  2 wherein  the rich capitalists accuse the workers of taking over the means of production and putting them in the hands of the community. This is where the concept of communism comes in. In communism, the community solely owns the means of production. Capitalism, as opposed to communism, is a political system in which a country's leadership and industry are controlled by private ownership for profit. The immediate aim of communism is the formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow the bourgeois supremacy and the conquest of political  power by the proletariat.

Section 3 presents different concepts of socialism under three major concepts. These are 1) reactionary socialism; 2) conservative or bourgeois socialism; and 3) critical-utopian socialism and communism. Reactionary socialism constitutes feudal socialism, petty bourgeois socialism and German "true" socialism. Conservative socialists include economists, philanthropists, humanitarians, organizers of charity, members of societies of the prevention of cruelty to animals and advocates of the working class. Critical-utopian socialism and communism seems to be the ultimate vision for  socialism and communism when workers or the proletariat will work with political parties that will "support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things" (page 63). The Communist Manifesto concludes with a worldwide cry for all workingmen of all countries to unite.

Karl Marx defined socialism and communism in favor of workers and communities in the middle of nineteenth century. Since then as a political and economic theory of groups and and social organizations, socialism and communism have been variously interpreted. In 1917, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, a faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party seized control of the Russian Empire and became the dominant political power Russia. The Bolshevik Party became the Communist Party and Lenin became the leader or the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR). In 1949, Mao Zedong, a Chinese communist revolutionary became the founding father of the People's Republic of China and ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China. In 1950, North Korea officially known as Democratic Republic of Korea and  with the USSR and the People's Republic of China as allies invaded South Korea. At about the same time in the US, thousands of Americans were being accused as communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Communism in US famously known as  was being associated to espionage, subversion and treason.
Nowadays, socialism is being associated  to either "free stuff", medicare for all, student loan forgiveness or Venezuela's collapse.  USSR had since became the Russian Federation following an unsuccessful coup by with  the Communist Party in late 1991. Contrary to what Karl Marx espoused, then USSR and the present Russian Federation has always been under a totalitarian rule where a single leader or party possesses supreme or absolute government power. As for China, the country up to this day is still dominated by the Communist Party but had since transitioned  from centrally-planned system to a more market-oriented economy.  The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more popularly known as North Korea and led by its supreme leader Kim Jong-un is listed as a communist and socialist state under a totalitarian dictatorship.

My simplistic understanding of communism is  based on George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm". The short novel is an allegory depicting pigs as the proletariat and humans are the bourgeoisie. Old Major, a prize-winning boar gathers  Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer, his fellow pigs  for a meeting and tells them about  world ruled by animals with no human beings to oppress and control them.  Old Major passes and the three pigs stages animal revolt. Mr Jones, the owner of the Manor Farm is chased out of his own farm and Snowball and Napoleon emerge as leaders and take over the Manor Farm which they rename Animal Farm. Snowball, as a privileged leader and educator is later challenged and over thrown by Napoleon who tries to stay in power by training a personal army of puppies and relying on his loyalists: Squealer who becomes  his minister of propaganda. The allegory illustrates what happens in emerging factions. There are rules that would be initially be broken by the leaders and later be justified, there are dissenting opinions coming from the likes of Clover, a horse who silently questions Napoleon and cynics like Benjamin, the cynical donkey. In the long run, leaders abuse their power become themselves the oppressors and declare: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."