this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
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Even the idea that someone living in the roman empire could be a communist is ridiculous.
Why?
The word "Communism" wasn't coined until the 1800s, so technically there would have been zero communists in ancient Rome. That doesn't mean that the concepts weren't around; broadly speaking, egalitarian socialism has been a precept of many societies and religions for millennia.
Can a thing only exist once it has been named?
Because communism as a concept was created in the 19th century by Karl Marx. There can't be any communists before that because how could you even be a follower of an idea/ideology/concept before it was inventet? There also can't be any christians before Jesus lived or Buddhists before Buddah
When people say "communism" they mean the principles of communal ownership and shared property. Not the specific philosophy of Karl Marx (that would be Marxism).
It is possible for someone to hold those ideal, and even live by them, before the term is coined.
If christianity had ideals other than "live like jesus", it would be possible to follow those before he existed too.
I think it makes sense to use the correct words, esp. if you're using loaded words like communism or fascism. So the early christians (and many before and afterwards) were trying for a spiritual and communal life in a small group of believers. Like monks do. But that is not what most people are thinking when they are talking about communism.
Do you not think a community where each provides as his ability to everyone as is his need is communism? It certainly sounds like it to me.
At least the deal, if not what had been observed. It seems ridiculous to me to insist a thing cannot exist before it has been described by someone. Retro-actively we can classify a philosophy by how it's ppopinents insisted people behave.