The Communism of Idea: Revolt, Rebellion & Revolution

Communism, through its demand for a classless society that retains the right to equal opportunities, is often deigned a godless political thought by many. Although atheism is irrevocably tied up with the ability to secure equi-opportunism, I believe that the concept of god itself has less to do with the establishment of classes within the society, wherefrom, truly, does spring the localisation of profit. The sweat shed by a man in a day’s work is what makes or breaks the value of money. It is the work of an individual, physically and mentally, with an inherent acceptance imbued of the consequences of his actions, and the decisions he makes as part of a society as regards those consequences, constitute the most fundamental cogs of the industry. By the introduction of money (as a commodity in itself), one form of labour became comparable against another, and the importance of the labouring paled, whereas, simultaneously,  the ‘class’ of the labourers emerged. Classes, thus, were born from the moment man began to differentiate between different groups of people, and thereby began to classify them, based on the quantity of money that flowed in and out of their hands as compared to the most prevalent amount. Money, therefore, had replaced the sweat on a man’s brow and the skill of his fingers with just a mathematical figure; with the advent of such differentiation, quality became a subject of comparison and consequently dwindled. This apparent desecration began to, in the eyes of the citizens of the state, obscure justice itself. Now, in the event that when a man desires for an object, which may be of any form or function, and when another specific intention, on behalf of anyone else, hinder his path towards the acquiring of that object, then he will, based on his personal experiences, deduce that something is wrong, and whatsosever it may be, will call for a protest in order to make the wrong known, as well as to right the wrong. In the event that the act of wrongdoing masks the effective functioning of such an organ as the state (in the form of the unbiased justice it promises), the act of protest will eventually snowball into a collectivistic movement – with, necessarily, greater organisational skill – leading to revolt and rebellion. The basis for such an action lies in the sense of betrayal that, in turn, arises from conflicting decisions of the state. Although the consequences for a society that has chosen to build itself upon the sensible judgement as to the quality of a man’s work, and not upon such a thing as money, may be construed as Utopian, the rebellion itself will represent the quest for an Utopian world if ever the cause demands it. In such a case, if the rebellion is succesful, it also poses the risk of evolving (or, perhaps, decaying) into a revolution that has both cause and effect centered around Utopian ideals. I say decaying because if a revolution seems intent on justifying Utopia, it will by no means rule out the justification of atrocities in order to attain such a goal. The moralities involved in such conjectures will be left destitute of reason and logic. Subsequently, in the case of a tyrannical revolution, morals lose a greater chance of being abandoned in favour of the pursuit of illusory visions. Whether these morals are constructed via pragmatic experiences or via religious beliefs doesn’t make a difference. Therefore, in the rise of communism through a struggle, religious beliefs play no role whatsoever – in other words, communism cannot be employed as a mask to offend religious sentiments, nor can anti-communist thinkers use the political thought to defend them. The only place wherein communism can be considered godless, however, is in the case when, in demanding for a classless society, man demands for a god who is equal to all and does not, inherently, abide by the classwise division of the peoples, nor by the forsaking of opportunities to a few and shelving them for the more blessed. It is only because of the absence of such a god that communism maybe considered atheistic.    

Something About Sweden

There’s something about Sweden that keeps you indoors and looking at the overcast skies with dull wonderment. The sun is not to be seen much, and it is almost always snowy – at least, now in January. Why would people want to live so close to the geographic North Pole is beyond my limited imagination, but now that they are here, they seem to be having a good time out of it. They never do come out, unless for the occasional dog walking and, of course, going to school or work. I’m here spending a vacation with my parents and today’s the last day of the holidays before I head back to the bleak brilliance of sandy Dubai. In fact, at the beginning, Sweden portended a welcome change from the heat and the sweat, and most importantly, the sand which was everywhere – especially in my mouth during sandstorms. I’m someone who appreciates the calm and the serene – especially when the people are everywhere around you but find it good enough to mind their own business. You see, I come from India, and in India, the concept of privacy exists only in bathrooms (at least, the non-public ones) and the trial rooms in clothes stores. The people are not to blame though: there’s no space. But here, it’s the exact opposite. I liked it at first. It was like I was living in a Christmas greeting card.

Moderately high buildings rise solemnly around our house, which is on the outskirts of the Uppsala Kommun, and a well groomed road partitions the scene outside our window symmetrically; it’s like looking into a rectangular kaleidoscope. Being so high up on the latitudes, sunrise and sunset are only separated by a few hours. However, that doesn’t seem to bother anyone. There lingers a dense sensation of expectation in the gusty wind: it is as if someone up there is expecting that everyone down here go about their work as if nothing has happened. Or maybe it’s just me. But I’m new to “this place” and that’s how “this place” makes me feel. I do confess I’m not much of a traveler and traveling to loads of places in a short span of time does season one to develop a tolerance for the strange, right? Anyway, one other thing I was noticed was this: a traffic jam is said to happen when there are more than 3 cars on the road! And these are all the reasons I want it to snow so much. The precipitation is all that tells me that I am not actually trapped in a lifeless greeting card. Well, that and the occasional sighting of the moon.

It’s snowing now.

I’m not mad.

Perhaps you just have to get the knack of it all. The knack of minding your business for a while. Sweden is an excellent opportunity to rediscover oneself. There is nothing much to do otherwise. The countryside, which seemingly lies past a clearly marked border a small distance from our house, seems to say this: “I will shut up, and I will have everyone else shut up. All I want from you is your true self.” Sweden is the retrospection that speaks through its silence.

The voice of Sweden is quite loud in international diplomatic and economic circles, or so I hear. I wonder why Norway and Finland are silent, though. The population of this country is less than Mumbai in India, but I don’t think I’d like to see this place crowded. Some cities and towns have that aura, you know, that they need to be crowded to come alive. New York has that, although I’ve never been there, and so does Chennai. That’s what makes or breaks those places; otherwise, they would stand like defunct movie sets on redundant beaches. But Sweden – the whole country and not just some of its cities – is a poignant assertion of its independence. There is a way in which the people carry themselves, a pride that is immediately palpable but not so immediately ostentatious. As much as I say that this place is a greeting card, the above facts make it a seemingly benign place. If Sweden were a live person, then it would be a middle-aged man with a sardonic brown beard, long wavy hair, and the air of of someone you don’t want to mess with – probably like Lionel Luthor in ‘Smallville’ except for the villainy. A benign Lionel if you will.

And it doesn’t stop there. The Swedish, at first sight, come across as very tolerant people, which they are. Their acceptance of the changes around them is admirably large, and their further willingness to adapt to it instead of remaining behind is the giant on whose shoulder they stand. To say it short, Sweden is the embodiment of the belief one should have in oneself. And I’d rather be mad and right in such a country than sane but wrong somewhere else, for in all the rightness that this country promises, it also gives me a chance to spend a few days without hearing of bloodshed.

It promises me hope.