Communism: A History written by Richard Pipes was published by Random House LLC on November 6, 2001. It has 175 pages with 157 pages of actual reading on communism, excluding the preface. Pipes is a Jewish Polish-American, that specializes in Russian history, his work is most prominent in the Soviet Union. He was educated at Muskingum College, Cornell University, and Harvard University. He began teaching at Harvard University in 1958, retiring in 1996. Within this time he was the director of…
Throughout history there have been hundreds of people who have fought for all kinds of human rights. Some of them took action by appealing to violence, others did it by just communicating a specific concern through literature, music or art. Diego Rivera, for example, was one of Mexico’s greatest social realistic muralists and is currently considered as one of Los Tres Grandes among Mexico’s mural painters (Aldama). Although his paintings had a great success in Mexico, he also had an impact in…
The rise of Russia as a socialist, totalitarian nation under Josef Stalin would not have been possible without Vladimir Lenin’s economic and social policies. After the revolution in 1917, Lenin led the communist, Bolshevik party that controlled Russia. It will be argued that Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP) was an instrumental step in the foundation of totalitarian Russia. It will be shown through the increased economic stability, the introduction of laws to gain further dictatorial control of…
Franz Kafka’s writing in The Metamorphosis challenges the notion that women have been seen as inferior to men for a long time in most countries and cultures. In the middle of the story, the protagonist Gregor’s sister comes to power as he is feminized. The book maintains this theme of gain and loss of power. The first sentence of the book is of the most shocking, starting the story with Gregor’s realization that he has transformed into a “monstrous insect” (3) overnight. As Gregor loses all…
Richard Robbins in his book “Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism” describes capitalism and its effects on society. In Chapter two, Robbins theorizes that the “anatomy of the working class” under capitalism can be described by its important characterizations. I will discuss the characterizations: segmentation, discipline, and militant to reveal what they mean for the working class and their significant role in capitalism. To begin, capitalism imposed and reinforced segmentation as a…
Significant Symbols in Animal Farm George Orwell was inspired to create a novel called Animal Farm, in the year of 1945. In the novel, Orwell uses satire to describe what life was like during the Russian Revolution. The novel contained many different symbols to represent the Russian Revolution. In the allegorical novel, it is viewed for the rise and decline of socialism in the Soviet Union. George Orwell incorporated symbols into his novel that are significantly related to what happened…
The proponents of this theory such as John Hobson and Vladimir Lenin believed that the primary intention of imperialism “was the search for investment opportunities.” They said that “super-profits” were present in less developed states due to the abundance of resources, cheap labor and scarce capital. Because…
The Russian and Iranian Revolutions have very similar causes: an ignorant leader. In Russia, the Tsar was taking Russia into a dead end. His first mistake was to take personal control over the Russian army, which lead to the people blaming the Szar for every defeat that occurred in World War 1 (Class Discussion). Following WW1, the loss of precious resources and the sacrifice of countless lives lead to Russia to be in a state of extreme famine and poverty (Jerry and Ziegler, 1). The crumbling…
As the first socialist country in the world, Russia had a lengthy and tough time to change and develop the country in 1917. The Russian Revolution of 1917 covers the major events such as the February Revolution and the October Revolution that result in the established of the Soviet Union. The Russian Revolution caused the encounter of labors and people. Their sacrifices and protests eventually made the revolution come true. Since the socialist government overthrew the czarist government, there…
Many Americans despised Karl Marx as soon as his political theory gained international attention. However, some did support Marx’s theory, even while it was considered radical. Those defined as some include world-renowned playwright, Arthur Miller. In his famous play, Death of a Salesman, the main character, Willy Loman, and his family fail to achieve the American dream. In Miller’s opinion, the Loman family’s vision of the American dream is unrealistic in a Capitalist society, but their vision…