Here are the ten pillars of the Communist Manifesto, measures which Marx himself admitted were “despotic inroads on the rights of property” and “appear economically insufficient and untenable”, but were necessary and unavoidable in order to make “further inroads upon the old social order”.
I have analyzed these as well, from the point of view of the following four political ideologies: National Socialist, Democratic, Republican and Libertarian. Since there are only 10 points, each is assigned a value ranging from zero to 10, otherwise, the analytical process is much as before.
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
None of the four ideologies examined are willing to go to this extreme. National Socialists are the most openly enthusiastic about commandeering private property, while Democrats and Republicans have claimed 31.1 percent of the nation’s land for the government between them. Democrats, however, are greater proponents of property use regulations. Libertarians oppose government ownership of land.
6 (6) National Socialists
5 (5) Democrats
4 (4) Republicans
0 (0) Libertarians
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
This one is not very difficult. I haven’t done much research on National Socialist tax rates, but knowing their overall philosophy of the State I’ll give them a conservative 5. If anyone has solid information, please let me know. Democrats score a perfect 10, Republicans favor lower taxes in general, but will usually raise them as well rather than cut spending. Libertarians oppose all income taxes.
10 (15) Democrats
05 (12) National Socialists
06 (10) Republicans
00 (00) Libertarians
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Certainly these were not recognized in the case of Jews and enemies of the Nazi State, as proved by property that is still getting back to its rightful heirs sixty years later. I’ll need to dig up their inheritance laws too. Democrats are much stronger proponents of the estate tax, whereas this is one tax that the Republicans have actually managed make progress towards abolishing. Libertarians oppose inheritance taxes.
05 (20) Democrats
07 (19) National Socialists
00 (10) Republicans
00 (00) Libertarians
I’ll finish this later, as I have to see a television set about a soccer game. But you can have a look at the rest of the Communist platform and draw your own conclusions in the meantime.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.