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Thena
ARCHIVES *NATIONAL SERVICE RECOROS AND
(b) Its Philosophy of the State.
It has been shown that, according to Marx, the mode of pro-
duction determines the type of State. In primitive times, nearly
everything was held in common by man; the concept of private property
as we know it today is the product of a long process of evolution.
When orivate ownership came into being, property relations were cre-
ated, and classes arose consisting respectively of owners and non-
owners of the means of production. When conflicts of interest between
these classes had reached the point of danger of revolt by the ex-
ploited class, it became necessary for the exploiting class to develop
an organ of power to maintain "law and order", that is, to maintain its
own position. This organism is the State.
The purpose of the State is thus the protection of private
ownership and its function is the attainment of that purpose by for-
cibly maintaining the proletariat in a position of economic slavery.
Since Communism regards the State as arising from the need of
the exploiting class to protect itself against the exploited class,
Communist philosophy anticipates that when private property and classes
have been abolished and the ideal Communist society has been achieved,
the State will no longer have any function to perform and will simply
"wither away".
As is true of other aspects of Communist philosophy, the
philosophy of the State is open to criticism as being contradicted by
historical record. Furthermore, it seems to be based upon the error
-11-
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"ocrText": "Thena\nARCHIVES *NATIONAL SERVICE RECOROS AND\n(b) Its Philosophy of the State.\nIt has been shown that, according to Marx, the mode of pro-\nduction determines the type of State. In primitive times, nearly\neverything was held in common by man; the concept of private property\nas we know it today is the product of a long process of evolution.\nWhen orivate ownership came into being, property relations were cre-\nated, and classes arose consisting respectively of owners and non-\nowners of the means of production. When conflicts of interest between\nthese classes had reached the point of danger of revolt by the ex-\nploited class, it became necessary for the exploiting class to develop\nan organ of power to maintain \"law and order\", that is, to maintain its\nown position. This organism is the State.\nThe purpose of the State is thus the protection of private\nownership and its function is the attainment of that purpose by for-\ncibly maintaining the proletariat in a position of economic slavery.\nSince Communism regards the State as arising from the need of\nthe exploiting class to protect itself against the exploited class,\nCommunist philosophy anticipates that when private property and classes\nhave been abolished and the ideal Communist society has been achieved,\nthe State will no longer have any function to perform and will simply\n\"wither away\".\nAs is true of other aspects of Communist philosophy, the\nphilosophy of the State is open to criticism as being contradicted by\nhistorical record. Furthermore, it seems to be based upon the error\n-11-"
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