Despite its noble goal to build a society free of prejudice, oppression, and discrimination, communism gave birth to an ugly, brutal “new class” — political bureaucracy. The communist dream was based on a great idea of a classless society that was supposed to emerge after industrialization and collectivization in the U.S.S.R. (Djilas, 391). Contrary to that bold assumption, the rise of political bureaucracy resulted in a total obliteration of communist ideals.
Similar to the dominant classes of the past, the communist political bureaucracy obtained power through the destruction of previously existing social structures. However, political bureaucracy was not a logical completion of a new order; instead, it ruthlessly established its own social order (Djilas, 392). As a result, communist countries across the world have become dominated by a cohesive privileged class. Communist revolutionaries fought to strengthen democracy and eliminate exploitation but reached the opposite result. The “new class” has become a tyrannical monster that distorted all noble ideas championed by the communist ideology.
In particular, political bureaucracy twisted the moral ideals of communism on its path to unlimited power. At the beginning of their revolutionary struggle, communist fighters were driven by selfless love, solidarity, and comradeship. Sincerity and cooperative effort was a fundamental principle of life, as communists fought for each other, devoted to their political parties and the cause. Bravery, self-sacrifice, and mutual respect were once highly honored among the communists (Djilas, 392).
However, the rise to the heights of power and the triumph against the hated “exploiting class” completely twisted these communist ideals. Cooperation and collective support degenerated into oligarchic management. Mutual respect mutated into servility and sycophancy as former comrades tasted the fruits of power. Sincerity was commonly replaced with intolerance and hatred toward others, including fellow revolutionary heroes (Djilas, 392). The victories of communist revolutions suddenly brought the worst out of decent, even heroic, individuals.
One might wonder why the communist ideals and people who fought and bled for the communist cause experienced such a rapid and horrible transformation. The answer lies in the nature of the political bureaucracy, the class that emerged after an unsuccessful attempt to pursue an illusion of a classless society. The new class devoured the once brave and noble revolutionaries, who failed to notice how the allure of absolute power consumed them and twisted their ideals.
The victorious communist revolutionaries tried to reshape social structures via the political bureaucracy. Instead, the political bureaucracy reshaped the communist revolutionaries by introducing new rules of social and political life. Essentially, the dominance of the new class divided communist systems into two social strata — the elite members of the political bureaucracy and everyone else. In such circumstances, the positive features of isolated revolutionary movements quickly degenerated into disgusting flaws of human nature. Heroic revolutionaries abandoned their ideals in order to secure a place in the new almighty elite. The illusion of a classless society was left behind and replaced with a rigid hierarchy led by the unstoppable political bureaucracy.
In this regard, one can only feel a bitter irony in how the brave, clever, and decent people guided by good intentions created such a monstrous social unit as political bureaucracy. A classless society was the ultimate goal of communism and its greatest illusion (Djilas, 391). The communists chased their dream, made sacrifices, survived through hardships, and emerged victorious, only to create one of the most vicious examples of an exploiting class. The evil they wished to defeat has turned the communists into its agent, the force of oppression, injustice, and moral decay.
Given the nature of the transformation that happened to communist ideals and communists themselves, one can guess that attaining membership in the new class was associated with questionable behaviors. Those former revolutionary heroes who were unwilling to resort to dirty tactics to secure their place in the political bureaucracy were either killed or pushed aside (Djilas, 392). The road into the elite ranks of political bureaucracy was usually paved with immoral actions. In general, members of communist elites attained their positions in power with deliberate lies, slander, deception, sycophancy, and provocations (Djilas, 392).
Self-centredness, cowardice, and a complete lack of moral principles were perfectly acceptable for making the way into the political bureaucracy and staying in power. Apparently, the dominance of the new class in communist regimes was so strong that total moral degradation was preferable to exclusion from the ruling caste.
In summary, one can claim that communists fell victim to their overzealous desire to eliminate injustice at all costs. In particular, communist leaders attempted to fight fire with fire, trying to establish a classless society by consolidating all power in the hands of a specifically created political class. However, an artificially created abomination devoured its creators, irreversibly twisting their moral ideals. The essence of the communist idea was destroyed once political bureaucracy assumed control over every aspect of life in communist systems. In the end, attaining and keeping a place in the ranks of political bureaucracy became a priority for communists, who had entirely abandoned their noble ideals.
Work Cited
Djilas, Milovan. The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System. Thames and Hudson, 1957.