The Ideology of Communism

Communism was an all-encompassing system of beliefs. It purported to offer a key to understanding social development. It had authorities whose word could not be questioned, and whose interpreters and guardians acted also as gatekeepers, deciding who ‘belonged’ and who did not. Today, when the international communist movement has largely ceased to exist as such, it is hard to recapture the immense strength which its members drew from the consciousness of being soldiers in a single international army, operating, with whatever tactical multi-formity and flexibility, a single grand strategy of world revolution.

Adapted from the book "The Rise and Fall of Communism" by Archie Brown. Chapter 6 "What do we mean by Communist System"