Ever since the Cold War, Americans have held the word "Communism" to have many negative connotations. Our country has been focused on preventing the spread of that evil form of government. Wars were fought in foreign lands; American lives were lost protecting the world from Communism. Many Americans would be horrified, then, to find that the righteous system of Capitalism actually incorporates many Communist ideas. In fact, many of Karl Marx's radical ideas have reached the most fundamental establishments in the greatest Capitalist government; the government that did everything in its power to prevent the seeds of Communism from taking root in other countries; the United States government.
The government Karl Marx envisioned has never seen the light of day. The Communist governments we're all familiar with, such as the ones in China and the former USSR, never came close to achieving true Communism. They can be better described as dictatorships, rather than governments for the people. As such, the United States was correct in preventing their control over the world. However, as a result of the use of the label "Communism," many Americans have equated this noun with "dictatorship." "To be Communist is to be in favor of a totalitarian government," they say. This simple prejudice lead to the age of McCarthyism, which destroyed the lives of supporters of Marx's ideas. So has Marx's Communism survived? Then and now, several of the United States' government agencies are intrinsically Communist, taking their foundations almost directly from The Communist Manifesto.
One of the most radical ideas proposed by Marx in his Manifesto was that of "A heavily progressive or graduated income tax." (Marx 230) A progressive income tax is one that taxes the public based on their income; people with higher incomes are taxed more than those with lower incomes. On February 12, 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was added to the United States Constitution. It states, "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." Before this Amendment, the United States only levied regressive taxes, such as property and sales taxes, which still persist. After the Amendment, the tax rate was progressive; 1 percent of all income up to $20,000 was to be paid to the government, and this rate rose to 6 percent after $500,000. Over the years, it has become increasingly progressive, with 15 tax brackets of differing incomes and rates. This system was designed to take more from those who have more, and redistribute the income to those who have less. Later, Social Security would formalize this through the direct redistribution of income. These ideas are obviously Communist in nature, as they attempt to close the financial gap between the so-called bourgeois and proletarians.
Another of Marx's main Communist ideas focuses on a centralized banking system. While our individual banks are run by private organizations, they are heavily regulated by the Federal Reserve Board, also founded in 1913. It was founded "to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system." (Board) This Board is close to what Marx described as a "national bank with State capital," but fails to meet the requirement of having "an exclusive monopoly." (Marx 230) Still, this organization significantly influences the economy of the United States, from issuing currency to setting the interest rate on its loans, which affects all national banks directly.
Marx also argued for "centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state" (Marx 230). Until very recently, the government supported heavily regulated or legally monopolized communication and transportation systems. Again, while these systems weren't technically "in the hands of the state," they were the closest private organizations can come to being government agencies. In the early twentieth century, the principal that the telephone company "would operate most efficiently as a monopoly providing universal service" (Brief) was at first accepted informally, and then legislatively, by the United States government. "Government regulation, 'provided it is independent, intelligent, considerate, thorough and just,' was an appropriate and acceptable substitute for the competitive marketplace" (Brief). Many cities incorporate a city-wide, publicly owned transit system; such as a bus or subway line. For example, October 27, 1904, marks the day the first subway line was opened in New York City.
Finally, the most humane of his suggestions concerns the role of children in society. We've come far from the atrocities of child labor witnessed by Marx in the mid 1800s, although advances were not made swiftly. He called for "free education for all children in public schools" (Marx 230) as well as an end to child labor. A shift to public schools started in the 1800s, but this shift was quite gradual. Special education programs only began to receive federal funding in 1887, and even that was considered to be unconstitutional. Federal school lunch programs, the National School Lunch Act of 1946, and federal school aid law, all help to further a child's ability to experience "free education." Part III of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 makes it illegal to employ anyone under the age of 14, and then only if it's for a nonhazardous, non manufacturing job. Hazardous employment was then reserved for those over 18 years old, unlike the common employment of children in their early teens, and younger, during the 19th century. The reforms Marx lists for children have been extensively realized by the United States government.
Those that disagree that Capitalism has accepted forms of Communism are quick to point out that Marx's most radical idea, in fact the basis for Communism, is the abolition of private property. Surely, these people must have been unaffected by zoning when they last purchased land. Zoning, or the division of land for specific purposes, was made constitutional in 1921. It requires land owners to get permission, from the government, relative to the use of their property. While this is hardly the abolition of private property, it still rings of the type of governmental control suggested by many of Marx's ideas. Further, Capitalism is defined by private property, and the abolition of which would redefine our government as Communist.
Many also point out that communication and transportation systems have, beginning in the '70s, been fairly deregulated. This only came about with the advent of newer technology; technology not encompassed by many of the regulation laws. For example, the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, was left in charge of the regulation of communications. As new technology emerged, such as satellite networks and microwave transmissions, the FCC began to ease it's acceptance of the AT&T monopoly. These new technologies were affected first, with the FCC granting competition against the telecommunications giant. However, our practical choices for telecommunications companies are still few, despite the fact that this de-regulation occurred some 30 years ago. Others cite the example of the deregulation of airlines; however the use of airlines as mode of transportation is far smaller than the use of forms of public transportation: only 559.7 million domestic airline passenger trips were reported by the Air Transport Association in 1998 (Air); compared with over 8 BILLION passenger trips on United States public transportation systems, as reported by the American Public Transportation Association for the same year (Public).
Marx's Communist ideas have indeed survived. They are an influence all around the world, but particularly in United States government. Progressive income tax; centralized banking, communication, and transportation systems; freedom of education and abolition of child labor are all readily apparent in our country, despite that Capitalist and Communist governments are inherently opposites. Although "Communist" governments are on the decline around the world, some of the best examples of communism can be found right here, in the United States.
Air Transportation Association - Industry Information. 21 July 2000. Air Transportation Association. http://www.air-transport.org/public/industry/16.asp
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 13 Oct. 2000. The Federal Reserve Board. 14 Oct. 2000 http://www.federalreserve.gov
Brief Corporate History of AT&T, A. 2000. AT&T Corp. 17 Oct. 2000. http://www.att.com/corporate/restructure/history.html
Marx, Karl. "The Communist Manifesto." A World Of Ideas. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford, 1998. 212-232.
Public Transportation Ridership Statistics Index. 17 Oct. 2000. American Public Transportation Association. 17 Oct. 2000. http://www.apta.com/stats/ridershp/index.htm