| − | '''Communism''' is a [[political]] system based on [[Karl Marx]]'s proposed establishment of a "classless society" by means of eliminating [[private property]]. However, no Communist country has ever achieved its stated goal of creating a classless society (often called "small-c communism"); each has been dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''. According to scholars, in less than the past 100 years, governments under the banner of communism have claimed between 40,472,000 and 259,432,000 lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, who first coined the term democide (death by government), estimates that communism killed between 40,472,000 and 259,432,000 lives.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref> | + | '''Communism''' is a [[political]] system based on [[Karl Marx]]'s proposed establishment of a "classless society" by means of eliminating [[private property]]. However, no Communist country has ever achieved its stated goal of creating a classless society (often called "small-c communism"); each has been dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''. According to scholars, in less than the past 100 years, governments under the banner of communism have claimed between 40,472,000 and 259,432,000 lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, who first coined the term democide (death by government), estimates that communism killed between 40,472,000 and 259,432,000 lives between the years 1917 and 1987 and his "mid" estimate was that communism killed approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref> |
| | Today, it continues to rule over one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref> | | Today, it continues to rule over one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref> |