Ghosts don’t die. The idea of communism has existed since ancient times in Europe and Asia and will continue to do so in the future. It appears in various forms but has the same content: the claim that a peaceful and just social order is possible, governed by the spirit of community and not by competition, that is, a society without private property. Post-Maoist French philosopher Alain Badiou calls this the “communist hypothesis”.
There is even still a communist party. At least that’s what they call themselves and, historically, they were at least part of what they once considered the “world communist movement.” If they are not the power apparatus of a dictatorial ruling caste, as in China, Cuba, or North Korea, then they are more like the terminal moraines of the 20th century. Their world of thought has not changed fundamentally, at least not in India or in France, Austria or Japan. Their politics there are social democratic in the old sense; nowadays it might be said to be socialist. Left wing reformer.
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