Capitalism is an “economic system and mode of production” (source) that is multifaceted and has existed/exists in various forms. Across the types of Capitalism that we have, the similar characteristics that have come to characterize this system are the accumulation of wealth, production for exchange, private ownership of production, wage labor, investment for profit, and means for controlling resource allocation. (source) Communism, in contrast, is a system specifically characterized by having the means of production at all levels being wholly owned and operated by society overall. This means that it is all about serving and benefitting the larger whole and is decided by the whole, with full participation by every member of society without exclusion. It would “replace competition with association” (Engels, pg. 91)
By and large, comparing the positive and negative aspects of the two systems, I find the application of these labels so fluid and contextually and historically subjective. As such, I feel that each aspect can effectively cut both ways, being at times (or from particular perspectives) positive (even if only in theory) and at others negative. For example, a positive of capitalism could be how under capitalism, in theory, “competition leads to innovation and more affordable prices.” (source) However, we have seen how in practice this can often prove untrue. The markets are flooded with examples of how competition can lead to copy-catting without a thread of improvement or progress instead of true innovation, and still have little impact on the affordability of the products. Especially as competition often leads to price cutting in the production and materials area which, in turn, leads to more disposable products that have to replaced more often. So the supposed savings are lessened when looked at over the life span of the product. Granted this is not a truism that is always the case, but it is enough.
There are some blatant negatives that cannot necessarily be sugar-coated into positive clothing. For instance, as Louis Blanc defined the system as “the appropriation of capital by some to the exclusion of others” (source), we see how there is always a side that loses out and will be denied resources, wealth, and/or more under a system like this that is crafted on the very notion of exclusion. Capitalism is also about the concentration of capital (source) which majorly factors into the exclusionary aspect of said system, and this problematically establishes a cycle of impoverishment and privilege that is hard to break society out of.
For communism, while there are some ideas that sound very positive and feel like their applications would push society more towards a true democratic framework underpinned and supported by a truly egalitarian foundation, we see how getting to that point from where we are at now would be highly problematic and would be more than likely, violently resisted here in the U.S. For example, while it would dismantle our current systems of production and property privatization (and overall ownership) (Engels, pg. 91), there are many other internal and external systems that this would throw into upheaval. And where Capitalism’s “profit motive” posits that businesses will always set out with a goal of improving their own status and gains (source), Communism would seek to have all businesses serving ends decided upon by the masses and so they would all end up seeking to improve the status and gains of the whole society. Again, from where we are now, and with the deeply ingrained biases we have conditioned into our psyches, not sure these decisions would be completely thought out from a perspective of full inclusion and appeasement of the whole as they are intended.
Also, for me personally, I see Communism’s dissolution of all religions (Engels, pg. 99) as a positive as organized religions are so often toxic and wielded as systems of control for the masses. However, I understand that, again, where we are now, and how woven the very concept of religion has become with our society, such a dissolution would be hard to achieve and would possibly only come with a violent repression that is always a negative. So again, I feel it is so easy to see the positives and negatives of many of the aspects of each system.
