User:BostonMA/Sandbox

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1 Communism
2 First Paragraph Cleanup
3 2nd attempt
4 Mahound article
5 See also
6 References
7 See also

[edit] Communism

[edit] First Paragraph Cleanup

The current text reads:

"Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production. As a political movement, communism seeks to establish a classless society. A major force in world politics since the early 20th century, modern communism is generally associated with The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, according to which the capitalist profit-based system of private ownership is replaced by a communist society in which the means of production are communally owned. According to Marxism, this process may be initiated by the revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeoisie, then passes through a transitional state period marked by the preparatory stage of socialism known as the dictatorship of the proletariat. Pure communism which is stateless has never been implemented, it remains theoretical: communism is, in Marxist theory, the end-state, or the result of state-socialism. The word is now mainly understood to refer to the political, economic, and social theory of Marxist thinkers, or life under conditions of Communist party rule. Other thinkers that were predecessors or contemporaries of Marx, such as several anarchists, called themselves communist, but had alternate methods to Marxism to reach a classless society."

"Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production."

The political movement is not based upon common ownership, the theoretical social system is. Propose this be changed to:

"As a political movement, communism seeks to establish a classless society."

Redundant if change above is made.

A major force in world politics since the early 20th century, modern communism is generally associated with The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, according to which the capitalist profit-based system of private ownership is replaced by a communist society in which the means of production are communally owned.

Run-on sentence. Also sets up the premise that what comes later is based upon the Communist Manifesto, making it difficult to write correctly about the dictatorship of the proletariat or Leninism. Propose change to the following:

A major force in world politics since the early 20th century is a branch of communism associated with the names of Marx and of Lenin. Class struggle plays a central role in the theory of Marxism. The establishment of communism is viewed as the culmination of the class struggle between the capitalist class (the owners of capital) and the working class. Marx held that society could not be transformed from the capitalist mode of production to the communist mode of production all at once, but required a transitional period which Marx described as the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.

According to Marxism, this process may be initiated by the revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeoisie, then passes through a transitional state period marked by the preparatory stage of socialism known as the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Redundant if previous changes accepted.

"Pure communism which is stateless has never been implemented, it remains theoretical: communism is, in Marxist theory, the end-state, or the result of state-socialism."

"pure" communism? A couple things wrong with this. First, this doesn't take into account the claims regarding primative communism, i.e. the claim that "pure" communism did at one time exist. Second, it implies that societies with Communist Party rule are an "impure" form of communism. "State-socialism" in Marxist theory? That I would treat as suspect as original research. Propose change this sentence to:

"The communist society Marx envisioned emerging from capitalism has never been implemented, it remains theoretical."

"The word is now mainly understood to refer to the political, economic, and social theory of Marxist thinkers, or life under conditions of Communist party rule.

Propose changing this to:

"However, Communism (espeically when the word is capitalized) is often used to refer to the political and economic regimes administered by one of the varieties of Communist Party.

Other thinkers that were predecessors or contemporaries of Marx, such as several anarchists, called themselves communist, but had alternate methods to Marxism to reach a classless society."

Hopefully mentioning that there are a variety of movement which call themselves communist in the first sentence is sufficient. I'm also not aware of anarchists contemporary to Marx who referred to themselves as communist. Always ready to learn, however.

Putting it all together:

"Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless, social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and to a variety of political movements which claim such a social organization as their ultimate goal. A major force in world politics since the early 20th century is a branch of communism associated with the names of Marx and of Lenin. Class struggle plays a central role in the theory of Marxism. The establishment of communism is viewed as the culmination of the class struggle between the capitalist class (the owners of capital) and the working class. Marx held that society could not be transformed from the capitalist mode of production to the communist mode of production all at once, but required a transitional period which Marx described as the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The communist society Marx envisioned emerging from capitalism has never been implemented, it remains theoretical. However, Communism (espeically when the word is capitalized) is often used to refer to the political and economic regimes administered by one of the varieties of Communist Party.

[edit] 2nd attempt

Objection has been raised to the preceding paragraph that it over-emphasizes Marxism and Leninism, and under-emphasizes alternate POV's.

"Communism refers to a classless, stateless, social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and to a variety of political movements which claim the establishment of such a social organization as their ultimate goal. Early forms of human social organization have been described as "primitive communism". However, communism as a political goal generally denotes a conjectured future form of social organization which has never been implemented. There is a considerable variety of views among self-identified communists. However, schools of communism associated with the names of Marx and of Lenin have the distinction of having been a major force in world politics since the early 20th century. Class struggle plays a central role in the theory of Marxism. The establishment of communism is viewed as the culmination of the class struggle between the capitalist class (the owners of capital) and the working class. Marx held that society could not be transformed from the capitalist mode of production to the communist mode of production all at once, but required a transitional period which Marx described as the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The communist society Marx envisioned emerging from capitalism has never been implemented, it remains theoretical. However, Communism (especially when the word is capitalized) is often used to refer to the political and economic regimes administered by one of the varieties of Communist Party.

[edit] Mahound article

If you have a problem with this page, please notify me so that we can discuss. The material for this page already exists on Wikipedia in another place, and I believe it is more appropriate within the category --BostonMA ^talk 20:08, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

It would be wrong to characterise me as "having a problem" with the page. Please withdraw that assumption. This page is meaningless without context; it is unsourced; it doesn't appear to be true (I've worked with a guy called Mahound - and yes, that was the spelling, and yes, he was muslim in his heritage). It is effectively empty. It's going to AfD now. ➨ ЯEDVERS 20:20, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Hi Redvers, thank you for responding. I'm sorry if my statement seemed offensive. No offense was intended. The material is sourced, there are references provided. It is also a notable term because it was used in reference to Muhammand. The information regarding this pejorative term is taken from the Muhammad article. It seems to me that if a pejorative term for an individual deserves mention in an encyclopedia, it perhaps deserves mention in an article other than that of the person for whom it is a pejorative. If you believe the pejorative does not belong on Wikipedia at all, please say so, and please mention this also at the Muhammad article. There has been an edit war going on for some time over this issue, and it was my thought (perhaps mistaken) that moving the mention of the pejorative to its own location might help to alleviate that war. If the information is correct, your input at the talk page of Muhammad could be very useful in helping resolve an edit war. Thanks. --BostonMA ^talk 20:24, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Mahound was a term used in the past - mostly by Christians - to villify Muhammed. The term has been claimed to be a synonym for "the prince of darkness".^[1] The term was used by William Shakespeare in Hamlet: And As You Like It(1832) and Dante in the Divine Comedy.

[edit] See also

Non-Islamic views of Muhammad

[edit] References

^ Watt, Montgomery,Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press, 1961. fromm pg. 229 [Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press, 1961. from pg. 229.]