The 10 planks of communism and the 45 communist goals in 1963

Chapter II of the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels lists 10 planks of communism.  The 10^th plank proclaims “free education for all in public schools.”

In 1963, a US Congressman read out a list of the “current communist goals” for America.  The 17^th on the list was: “Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.”

Do you recognise any of these planks and goals being implemented in your country?

The Communist Manifesto is a political pamphlet that was published in 1848 and was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It outlines the principles of communism and serves as a call to action for the working class to overthrow the capitalist system. It serves as a foundational text of Marxist theory and has had a profound influence on political movements and revolutions around the world.

10 Planks of Communism

Chapter II of the Manifesto sets out the Communist Party’s programme and its commitment to the revolutionary transformation of society. The abolition of private property and the establishment of a classless, stateless society are the ultimate goals of the proletarian revolution. Marx and Engels also discuss the relationship between the communists and the proletariat. The proletariat is the social class of wage-earners. They argue that communists are the purest representation of the proletariat.

In this chapter, Marx and Engels emphasised that the communist party differs from other working-class parties only in its internationalist perspective, seeking to unify proletarians across national boundaries.  Today, we frequently refer to internationalists as globalists.

Further reading: Internationalism, Encyclopedia, The Nineteenth-Century Origins of Internationalism, Yale University Press and Liberal Internationalism, Britannica

At the end of Chapter II is a list of 10 communist steps, the 10 planks of communism, that Marx and Engels thought would be applicable in “most advanced countries” to bring about socialist dictatorship.  These planks are not necessarily intended to be implemented simultaneously, but rather as a gradual process towards a communist society.

1. Abolition of private property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. This plank advocates for the redistribution of land ownership and the use of land rents for public benefit.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. This plank proposes a tax system where higher-income individuals contribute a larger share of their income to the government.

3. Abolition of all right of inheritance. This plank seeks to eliminate the transfer of wealth and property from one generation to the next, aiming to break the cycle of inherited privilege.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. This plank advocates for the seizure of assets from individuals who leave the country or engage in rebellion against the government.

5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state. This plank proposes the concentration of banking and credit systems under government control.

6. Centralisation of communication and transport. This plank advocates for government control over infrastructure and communication networks.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state. This plank seeks to expand state-owned industries and manufacturing facilities.

8. Equal liability of all to labour. This plank proposes that all individuals, regardless of social class, be subject to forced labour or communal work.

9. Abolition of all right of inheritance. This plank reiterates the abolition of inheritance rights, aiming to eliminate social and economic disparities.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. This plank advocates for free, compulsory education for all children, with the goal of creating a uniform and socialist-minded population.

Do you recognise any of these planks of communism being implemented in your country?

Further reading:

• The “10 Planks” of the Communist Manifesto, Conservative USA,
• The Ten Points Of Marxism, Heidelblog, 14 February 2014
• Marxism Lives, Mises, 1 January 1998
• A Comparison of Corbyn’s Manifesto and the 10 Planks of Communism, The Bernician, 17 May 2017

45 Communist Goals for America

On 10 January 1963, US Congressman Albert S. Herlong. Jr. from Florida read the list of 45 ‘Current Communist Goals’ for America into the Congressional Record. The list is attributed to Cleon Skousen, researcher and author of ‘The Naked Communist’.

1. US acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. US willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the UN.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the UN.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the UN.
11. Promote the UN as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the UN as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centres compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the US Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programmes or organisations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasise the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralised control over any part of the culture, education, social agencies, welfare programmes, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioural problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasise the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use [“]united force[“] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalise the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

Do you recognise any of these communist goals being implemented in your country?

Further reading: 45 Communist goals for America, Blaze Media, 1 March 2018

Featured image: Friedrich Engels (left). Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (1848; The Communist Manifesto) (middle). Karl Marx (right). Source Britannica

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