Primitive communism and egalitarian society

Presentation
on
 Primitive Communism and
Egalitarian Society.

Outline
Introduction
Definition of primitive communism
Characteristics of primitive communism
Marxist theory of primitive communism
Definition of egalitarian society
Origin of egalitarian society
Economic feature in egalitarian society
Modern egalitarianism theory
Conclusion

Definition of primitive communism
 Primitive communism refers to the collective right to
basic resources, the absence of hereditary status or
authoritarian rule, and the egalitarian relationships
that preceded exploitation an economic stratification
in human history.

Origin of Social Communism
 In political and social sciences, communism (from Latin
communis, "common, universal") is the philosophical, social,
political and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate
goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a
socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of
the means of production and the absence of social classes,
money and the state.
 Communism is a political system that comes from the Latin
meaning “common.” Based on the collective ownership of the
production of goods, communism rejects individual ownership
of industry, and promotes the manufacture of goods in order to
satisfy the basic needs of the economy and the people.

History Of Primitive Communism
 Karl Marx and Engels were inspired by Lewis Henry
Morgan’s description of communism in living that
characterized the Iroquois Nation of North America. The
speculative evolutionary history by Lewis highlighted the
liberty and equality among the ancient people that was
evident in the family setting of the Iroquois Nation. Engels
transformed this idea into an evolutionary theory with a
publication “the Origin of the Family” in 1884.

 He argued that transition from traditional modes of
production to subsequent production involved a
change of production for domestic or family use to
production for sale or exchange and a transformation
from communal family relations to an individual
family as the main economic unit. Marx and Engels
expanded the use of communism to include not only
hunters and gatherer but also subsistence agricultural
communities.

Characteristics of primitive
communism
 Full democracy: This is because about all members
of the society had to make decision to arrive at the
solution regardless of there sexes.
 Lack of specialization: This is because all people in
the society are supposed to do all jobs together
jobs include tool making, gathering fruits,
preparing shelter and hunting.
 Absence of exploitation: The communal societies
has neither exploiters or exploited .

 Shifting Cultivation: Primitive economic organizations
were of the subsistence type. That is, they fall into the
broad category of production-consumption economies.
One important reason for this is the absence of
technological aids in their attempts to exploit nature, as is
illustrated by shifting cultivation. Shifting cultivation
means that the same plots of land are not cultivated for
long and that cultivator’s move from one plot to another.
The reasons for doing so are understandable. The
decreasing yield of land as a result of continuous
cultivation can be counteracted through proper maturing.
But maturing represents a rather advanced scientific level
of cultivation.

 Hunting and gathering: Hunting gathering societies
hunt animals and gather plants as their means of
survival . Hunter gathers move about a great deal in
search of food, but they cover only a small area .
Because their food sources are so limited . Usually
men were hunting and women were gathering.
 No economic surplus: All production was for keeping
members of the societies alive on daily basis.

Low level of development : Low level of development; this
is because there was no surplus.
 No private ownership: No private ownership of means of
production this means that the means of production such
as land, tools and weapons belong to the community.
Shared property: there is no concept of ownership beyond
individual possessions. The tribe shares everything in order
to ensure its survival.

The Evolution Of Primitive Communism
 The rise of social class society has changed the human
history. The communal ways of organizing society have
since changed. Humans have moved from a society of
equality and communal living to one characterized by
oppression and exploitation. The agricultural revolutions
around the world have transformed most hunter-gatherers
to farmers. The need for a political structure to advance the
affairs of the communities has brought about significant
changes to communal leadership and decision making.

Marxist theory of primitive
communism
 Marx’s initial drive to create the basic tenets of communism
began in the middle of the 19th century as he observed the
existing capitalist system being used as a tool by the
bourgeoisie to enslave the working class or proletariat. He
believed that capitalism was an antiquated system that fed
on the working class and increased the gap between rich
and poor. Capitalism, in Marx’s eyes contributed to the
degradation of society and needed to be replaced.

 Primitive communism was a concept put forward by Karl Marx.
He proposed that the traditional hunters and gatherers were
based on egalitarian social relations and common ownership .
The First Stage: is usually called primitive communism. It has
the following characteristics.
 The primitive communism stage most likely begins soon after the
dawn of humanity itself, at the stage where fire is developed, and
communal living therefore becomes more convenient. Primitive
communist societies tend to be very small, consisting of a
maximum of a few hundred members, with size being dependent
upon the environment. In this stage humanity does not differ
from any other animal group, in that it has not yet found ways to
bend nature to its will.

 “The ancient communal and State ownership which
proceeds especially from the union of several tribes into a
city by agreement or by conquest" . During this stage, the
concept of private property begins to develop: "With the
development of private property, we find here for the first
time the same conditions which we shall find again, only
on a more extensive scale, with modern private property.
On the one hand, the concentration of private property...;
on the other hand, coupled with this, the transformation
of the plebeian small peasantry into a proletariat"

 His well-known tome, The Communist Manifesto,
published in 1848 and written with Friedrich Engels sought
to outline the basic faults of capitalism and educate readers
on the principles of communism, Marx’s solution to the
perceived problem of a free market society. The manifesto
contained ten steps, known as the Ten Planks were
intended as a test to determine if a society had successfully
become a communist state. The manuscript led to the
banishment of Marx, his wife, and children from both
Germany and France, and he lived the remainder of his
years in London beginning in 1849.
.

 This stage ends with the development of private
property, especially with the development of large-
scale agriculture. This in turn produces productive
property, such as cattle and slaves.

social class in communism
 The members of the communist party are supposed to make
the working class realize that the capitalists exploit them,
and get them to revolt. Members of the communist party
have to convince the people to form the ideal communist
state and have to fight against the capitalists with all
possible means. Marx and Lenin knew that the ideal state
couldn't be created in one day. For some time, the
communist party would have to rule the state to subdue the
last capitalist resistance, to re-educate the people, and to
convince them to become useful members of society.
This gives the communist party absolute power in the
communist countries, and, like Acton said: power tends to
corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 According to communist theory, there are two main social
classes: First there is the working class, consisting of the
workmen and laborers who are exploited by their capitalist
bosses. Then there is the bourgeoisie, the capitalists. They
just profit from the work of their employees and are seen as
the enemies of the working class. They should be
extinguished or re-educated. In the ideal communist
society there are no classes anymore. Everybody works, not
for the money, but to be a useful member of society.

Perceived Benefits of Communism
 1. Theoretically a communist society promotes the equality
of all people. Classes do not exist in a communist system,
and therefore all citizens are equal. This eliminates the class
struggle that Marx believed caused numerous conflicts
including shortages and war.
 2. Communist ideology seeks to eliminate child labor and
encourage education for everyone. Each child is entitled to
an education under communist principles.
 3. Communism supports a lack of competition, which
originates within its beliefs in equality for everyone

 4. While communism does not support private industry, it
does support the role of the worker. Under the communist
system, every member of society is given a job. The
government owns all production and can therefore employ
each member of society. In a capitalist economy,
employment ebbs and flows. Lack of employment can lead
to poverty, lowered self-esteem, and substance abuse. In a
communist system, all citizens are provided work.
.

 “An egalitarian society is one in which there are as
many positions of prestige in any given age, sex and
grade there are person capable of filling them.”
Definition of egalitarian society

Origin of egalitarian society
 Egalitarianism (from French égal, meaning 'equal') – or
equalitarianism– is a school of thought that prioritizes
equality for all people. According to the Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Egalitarian doctrines maintain
that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social
status. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the
term has two distinct definitions in modern English:either
as a political doctrine that all people should be treated as
equals and have the same political, economic, social and
civil rights; or as a social philosophy advocating the
removal of economic inequalities among people, economic
egalitarianism, or the decentralization of power. Some
sources define egalitarianism as the point of view that
equality reflects the natural state of humanity.

Economic feature in egalitarian society
 Pastoralism refers to owning domesticated animals
for production, transportation, or slaughter, as well
as successfully stealing horses, and maintaining a
herd of livestock.
 Generosity refers to displaying kindness through
throwing feasts, giving gift, self search depreciation,
distributing resource or property among the group,
and providing voluntary assistance in economic
activities .

 Technology refers to demonstrating a proficiency in
specialized manufacturing of tools or functional products
such as, arrows, crafted tools, canoes, etc,. As well as
displaying superior mechanical skills.
 Hunting refers to demonstrated competence in hunting by
reliably providing protein from wild game for distribution.
 Exchange refers to maintaining exchange relationships
with kin, friends or allies, formal gift giving between
families during visits and maintaining debts stored
through property loans, and success in trading.

 Wealth refers to culturally specific luxury good such as rare
or liquidable assets through travel or trade, owning a high
quality dwelling, owning symbolically or economically
valued items, or slave ownership.
 Horticulture refers to success in growing food, producing
surpluses of staple crops consistently yielding good
harvests, proficiency in gathering wild plant foods, skill in
tree felling, and maintaining productivity in cultivation.

Political feature in egalitarian society
 Geographic knowledge refers to knowing the homeland
well being able to predict or identify resources, traveling to
foreign land pioneering new territory, processing
knowledge of the outside world, traveling in dangerous, life
threatening condition successfully, the ability to influence
outsider for group interests, and maintaining or
establishing inter-group political relations.

 Kinship marriage refers to maintaining kin alliances, the
ability to influence and organize distant kin, supporting
extended kin in single household marriage for kin alliance,
maintaining marriages in the interest of kin group, having
many wives or dependents and marriage exchange.
 Oratory skill refers to being able to organize a large group
of individuals under a common goal, ability to clearly and
eloquently communicate to a crowd.

 Dispute settlement refers to the ability to resolve conflicts
including miming and comedy to displace tension
mediating fair discourse between individual, or having
demonstrated successful in group or out group resolutions.
 Warfare refers to being a natural leader in battle, displaying
courage on the battlefield, having successfully killed
enemies, demonstrating a willingness to go to war and
returning alive.

Ritual feature of egalitarian society
 Augury refers to being able to predict events or catastrophes, the ability
to interpret dreams, and the foreseeing the future and foreseeing
success.
 Shamanism prefers to successfully healing diseased individuals,
possessions of supernatural spirits, application of medicinal plants or
magical surgical techniques the use and application of magic for
healing purposes, or manipulation of spirit world.
 Ceremony refers to displaying ritual leadership or experience,
completion of initiating ceremonies associated with puberty of age-set
requirements, completion of cultural ceremonies related to the
situations or needs, membership in elite or secret societies, or the
ability to transfer ritual or ceremonial knowledge .

Personality feature of egalitarian society
 Self-control refers to maintaining reservation and control
through tense situation not displacing anger, taking a peaceful
approach to many situations, and activel avoiding conflict.
 Aggressiveness refers to the ability to express opinion ideals
vehemently when necessary, being able to express discontent
without reservation, being forceful in aggressiveness with others
and gaining respect through aggressiveness displays.
 Intelligence to being quick witted and able to make good
decisions on the spot, being knowledgeable on a variety of
subjects, and displaying contextual knowledge or educational
knowledge.

Modern egalitarianism theory
• Modern egalitarianism is a theory that rejects the classic
definition of egalitarianism as a possible achievement
economically, politically and socially. Modern
egalitarianism theory (or "new egalitarianism") outlines
that if everyone had the same opportunity cost, then there
would be no comparative advances and no one would gain
from trading with each other. In essence, the immense
gains people receive from trading with each other arise
because they are unequal in characteristics and talents—
these differences may be innate or developed so that people
can gain from trading with each other.

Primitive communism and egalitarian society

Primitive communism and egalitarian society

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