Leninism

In the 20th century, the world saw the development and incorporation of a host of new political, social, and economic systems throughout the world; some of the most confusing of these are Leninism, Socialism, and Communism. The first of these - Leninism - is a political theory about how a society can go about making the transition from capitalist structures to socialist ones; it provides the framework for a communist society, one that is most likely achieved through a political, social, and economic revolution.

The roots of this theory can be traced to Vladimir Lenin, and he himself developed the ideas from the teachings of Karl Marx. Ultimately, Leninism is based on a few key concepts about who should hold power and how that power should be organized. The core of this is what became known as the dictatorship of the proletariat - the working class should hold political power and production should be transferred from private ownership to ownership by the people or collective. Equally important is the need for unity and obedience to party decisions; the idea of democratic centralism, then, held that the party would discuss an idea using the principles of free speech until a decision was made. Once a conclusion had been agreed to, everyone was expected to accept and abide by it without question. A final component of Leninism was the fight against those cultural institutions that created what was called a false consciousness. To that end, a goal of Leninism is to educate the masses separate from such institutions as religion and to encourage the rejection of the norms and mores that foster class conflict.