Star of communism. Why did the communists choose a star as a symbol of the USSR?

Socialism (socialism) is an economic system and social system where the idea of ​​universal equality and justice comes to the fore, there is no class division of society, and where the main features are public property, collective labor and planning.

The history of mankind is not only a history of victories and achievements, but it is also a history of disasters, suffering, cruelty, savagery, hunger, etc. Thus, according to A. Maddison, in Europe for a thousand years from 500 to 1500 there was practically no increase in per capita consumption. The nutritional well-being of the nobility presupposed a half-starved existence for the mob. Therefore, even in ancient times, a dream arose about an ideal, perfect society where justice, equality, happiness, and freedom would reign. Scientific socialism and communism were thought of as antipodes to the market and capitalism. The market system “encourages” hard work, frugality, initiative, honesty, knowledge and “punishes” laziness, passivity, illiteracy, carelessness, that is, it involves economic coercion through competition. F. Hayek, one of the greatest economists of the 20th century, wrote: " One of the most important reasons for hostility to competition, of course, is that competition not only shows how goods can be produced efficiently, but also confronts those economic agents whose income depends on market conditions with a choice: either to imitate those who have achieved great success, or lose part or all of your income". Such an economic system is fair for society as a whole, since it ensures an increase in the efficiency of the economy and the welfare of the majority, but is perceived as unfair by those who lost in the competition. The seller considers the reduction of prices unfair, and the buyer considers their increase; those whose incomes are small, consider high incomes unfair and suspicious. Much less often, people envy intelligence, talent, hard work, knowledge, experience. But the market system is characterized by another kind of injustice: one inherits wealth, intelligence, and beauty from his parents, while others inherit poverty, diseases. It is impossible to completely eliminate such injustice, but it is possible to reduce it and help everyone develop and realize their abilities. But this is not the task of the market, but of the state.

The main features of a socialist society were formulated by the creators of utopian socialism of the late 18th - early 19th centuries A. Saint-Simon, C. Fourier, R. Owen. Their views had a pronounced anti-capitalist, anti-market orientation. The society that, in their opinion, will replace capitalism will have such features as public ownership, collective labor, and planning. This is a classless society, where science and art will be encouraged, philanthropy will prevail, work will become a natural human need, a pleasure. Fourier encountered the idea of ​​competition between people in the labor process. The product will be distributed, according to Fourier, according to labor, capital and talent. R. Owen put forward the principle: from each according to his ability, to each according to his work. They developed a doctrine about socio-economic formations, about the role of class struggle in the development of society, etc.

The theory of scientific socialism of K. Marx and F. Engels did not go further than utopias. But they pointed to the force that would lead to socialism - the proletariat, and to the path of restructuring society - the proletarian socialist revolution. At the same time, the solution to the problem posed by T. More was seen in the high consciousness of the proletariat, which as a class was idealized by Marxists. Therefore, we can say that no scientific theory of socialism, that is, a theory of society, the possibility of the existence of which has been scientifically proven, has never existed. On this occasion, Yu. Burtin wrote in 1989 in the magazine "October" that as soon as Marx and Engels brought the critique of capitalism to the idea of ​​a proletarian revolution and attempted to draw the contours of a society that should arise on this basis, they began to speak without the usual clear clarity and firmness in the voice, somehow more fragmentary and contradictory, indistinct. " Instead of the usual sober realists, we suddenly see before us utopians, whose revolutionary romanticism... involuntarily and imperceptibly turns into its reactionary opposite".

The theory of “scientific” socialism appeals to feelings, but not to reason, and therefore was perceived by those segments of the population who are more inclined to rely on a leader, leader, messiah, and not on themselves. In this theory the messianic element dominates. " The idea of ​​socialism- L. Mises wrote seventy years ago, - at the same time, both grandiose and simple. Indeed, it can be said that the idea of ​​socialism is one of the most ambitious creations of the human spirit... It is so magnificent and daring that it has caused the greatest delusion in society. We do not have the right to casually throw and forget socialism aside, but must refute it if we want to save the world from barbarism.".

From an economic, and therefore from any other point of view, socialism is unfeasible, and therefore utopian and reactionary, because it leads society not to progress, but to chaos, destruction, and regression. Back in the “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” Marx and Engels formulated the basic condition for social progress: the free development of each is a condition for the free development of all. They believed that under socialism this principle would be realized. On this basis, according to Marxists, a kind of intellectual explosion will occur, the development of productive forces will accelerate gigantically and the highest labor productivity, compared to capitalism, will be achieved, the highest level of well-being of the people (all wealth will flow in full flow). " People,- wrote F. Engels, - those who have finally become masters of their own social existence become, as a result, masters of nature, masters of themselves—free.”.

It is obvious that not a single country that has taken the socialist path of development has confirmed these forecasts. On the contrary, after some breakthrough they fell further and further behind the capitalist countries. And the point here is neither a lack of time, nor the ineptitude of the leaders, nor the unpreparedness of the people for a new way of life, but the unattainability of the goals set by the classics with the help of the proposed means. This is the main contradiction of socialist theory. The economy of socialism is based on three principles: public ownership, planned economy, distribution according to work.

Public property cannot but be state property. With her, the owner disappears. Everything is common and everything is nobody's. Her trait is nobody's identity. Everything is controlled by an official who is also not the owner. Therefore, bureaucracy, incompetence, wastefulness are features of this property. All this leads not to progress, but to regression. " There is good reason to fear- wrote A. Marshall, - that collective ownership of the means of production will kill the energy of humanity and stop economic development..."

Planfulness- nothing more than an illusion. After all, planning is possible when solving three problems: 1) measurability of needs; 2) accurate knowledge of the future; 3) the ability to quickly link all manufacturers with each other, calculate all the connections between them in kind, assortment, in real time. It is not difficult to prove that all three of these problems have no solution. A planned economy kills initiative. This is a barracks economy, an economy of scarcity, this is production for production, not for people.

Distribution by labor is possible only if it is possible to measure not the costs of labor or working time, but the labor contribution, which is impossible in principle, since it is assumed that the labor of everyone from the very beginning to the sale of products is directly universal labor. The classics of Marxism, having formulated the principle, in an attempt to translate it into the language of practice, replaced distribution by labor with egalitarian distribution. Thus, polemicizing with E. Dühring, F. Engels in the sixth chapter of the second section of “Anti-Dühring” comes to the conclusion that the problem of wages will be solved by changing it (that is, the builder will work alternately as an architect, then as a wheelbarrow worker) and by the fact that the costs of education will be borne by society, and therefore the more qualified worker himself “has no right to claim additional payment.”

Thus, socialist theory is internally contradictory and practically unfeasible. In practice, in all “socialist” countries there was a restoration of the Asian form of society, but in a socialist verbal shell, implying dictatorship, violence, lack of rights of the masses, stagnation, laziness.

Socialism turned into sociocultural backwardness, poverty, destruction of productive forces, the environment, and man himself for its peoples. Social development, as our historian and political scientist Alexei Kiva successfully defined, took a different path, not as predicted by Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Not through the proletarian revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat and socialism, but through the self-development of capitalism, a society based on private property. Not by denying the market and entrepreneurship, but by developing it by transforming an industrial society into a post-industrial one. Of course, this society has a lot of problems: here work has not turned into pleasure, as the classics thought; here everyone did not become equal, rich and happy. But they have significantly surpassed the former socialist countries in the level of development of science and technology, in the level of well-being, health, life expectancy, in the level of freedom, democracy, and in the field of human rights. " Society,- writes M. Friedman, - that puts equality (i.e. equality of outcome) above freedom will ultimately lose both equality and freedom. But if, in order to achieve this equality, society resorts to force, then all this will destroy freedom, and force, which was used for the best purposes, will end up in the hands of those people who use it in their own interests.".

So, the reason for the destruction of socialism is the lack of viability, the ineffectiveness of this economic system. It was an experiment, obviously doomed to failure. " Lenin is directing Russian history along a false, dead-end path"- wrote G.V. Plekhanov in his political testament, first published on November 30, 1999 by Nezavisimaya Gazeta." Under Leninist socialism, workers from being hired by the capitalist can turn into being hired by the feudal state, and peasants. .. - in his serfs" - this was dictated at the beginning of 1918 " Bolshevism is the ideology of the lumpen“, dictated the dying “pioneer of Marxism” in Russia. The return to the global mainstream of economic development could not be easy or painless: the fall in production exceeded all forecasts. The scale of inflation was enormous, the problem of employment became extremely acute, and income differentiation increased.

Basics of economic theory. Lecture course. Edited by Baskin A.S., Botkin O.I., Ishmanova M.S. Izhevsk: Udmurt University Publishing House, 2000.

Photo: Five-pointed star with an eagle, on a military train carriage, 1905

The five-pointed star became a symbol of Soviet Russia thanks to one of the Bolshevik leaders, Leon Trotsky.
When it was officially approved by the order of the People's Commissar of Military Affairs of the Republic Leon Trotsky No. 321 dated May 7, 1918, the five-pointed star received the name “Mars star with a plow and hammer.” The order also stated that this sign “is the property of persons serving in the Red Army.”

Esoteric version

Trotsky was very seriously immersed in esoteric sciences and knew that the five-pointed pentagram has a very powerful energy potential and is one of the most powerful symbols. It must be said that the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries was a time of triumph of the occult - almost every educated person went through a fascination with mysticism. And the star in those days was a very fashionable symbol.
Since the ancient Sumerians, almost every civilization has used this sign.
The five-pointed star is considered a sign of protection. The Babylonians used it as a talisman against thieves, the Jews associated the five-pointed star with the five wounds on the body of Christ, and the magicians of medieval Europe knew the pentacle as the “seal of King Solomon.”
The communists brought additional meaning to the meaning of this symbol, thus denoting the unity of the world proletariat of all five continents of the Earth, as well as the world revolution.

"Royal" version

The red star was usually called the "star of Mars" after the ancient Roman god of war, Mars. It must be said that this symbol was already used in the Russian army. Nicholas I, by his decree of January 1, 1827, introduced stars on the epaulettes of officers and generals; on April 29, 1854, stars were added to shoulder straps. After the February Revolution, the insignia of military personnel of the Russian Imperial Army was changed and shoulder straps were abolished. On April 21, 1917, by order of the Navy and Maritime Department No. 150 of the Military and Naval Minister of the Provisional Government A.I. Guchkov, shoulder straps were replaced with sleeve insignia and a new cockade was introduced. On it, a five-pointed star was placed above a rosette with an anchor.
Probably, Trotsky's decision to introduce a star in the Red Army was a kind of signal to the tsarist officers. As is known, the Bolsheviks carried out extensive campaigns to attract tsarist military personnel to the Red Army.

Alternative to star

The swastika, the cult of which was very strong in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, could also become a symbol of Soviet Russia. She was depicted on the “Kerenki”, swastikas were painted on the wall of the Ipatiev House by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna before the execution, but by Trotsky’s sole decision the Bolsheviks settled on a five-pointed star. The history of the 20th century has shown that the “star” is stronger than the “swastika”.

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Over the more than one and a half century history of the movement, a number of distinctive signs have developed that make it possible to express the essence of communism in a figurative, laconic form. Communist parties and movements use these symbols or their elements in their symbolism.

Hammer and sickle

The red flag was originally a symbol of the entire labor movement; it was used by both supporters of the Marxist direction in socialism and the anarchist one, representatives of the entire spectrum of the socialist labor movement. After the end of the Civil War in Russia, the red flag became a symbol of Soviet Russia, and therefore anarchists who disagreed with the policies of the new regime gradually abandoned the use of this type of banner, which was used along with the black one, after which the symbolism was demarcated into “communist” (red flag ) and “anarchist” (a black flag, along with which, from the thirties, anarchists began to widely use the black and red anarcho-syndicalist flag, which appeared in the 19th century).

Red Star

The five-pointed red star (a pentagram without an internal pentagon) is a symbol of communism, a symbol of the future. The most famous readings of the symbol are the five inhabited continents of the Earth, as well as the five fingers of the worker’s hand. A lesser-known interpretation is that the five points of the star represent the five social groups leading the nation towards communism: the youth (future generations), the army (defending socialism), industrial workers (produce consumer goods), agricultural workers (produce food) and the intelligentsia (criticize and improve the theory and practice of life to achieve communism).

According to the science fiction writer and publicist Alexander Lazarevich, the appearance of this symbol was greatly influenced by the utopian novel by Alexander Bogdanov “Red Star”, in which the author described a communist society existing on the neighboring planet - Mars. The Red Star among the communists thus became a symbol of a highly developed civilization in scientific, technical and social terms.

In general, this is a symbol, an emblem showing the justice of the coming new world.

Over the more than one and a half century history of the movement, a number of distinctive signs have developed that make it possible to express in a figurative, laconic form the essence and tasks of the builders of communism. Communist parties and movements, as well as socialist states, use these symbols or their elements in their symbolism.

Hammer and sickle

The hammer and sickle is a symbol of Bolshevism, the main Soviet state emblem. The crossed hammer and sickle symbolically reflect the unity of workers and peasants in their peaceful creative work. The symbol was first installed on the coat of arms of the RSFSR in 1918. Initially, in addition to the Hammer and Sickle, a sword was supposed to be used, but Lenin refused to use the sword, saying that the USSR was not going to wage wars of conquest.

Red flag

Main article: Red flag

The color red, as interpreted by the Bolsheviks, is the color of blood shed by the working people in the fight against the exploiters. In an earlier and narrower interpretation, red is the color of the revolutionary struggle, the labor movement, a symbol of the people's shed blood in the struggle for freedom. The history of the red banner goes back to the Middle Ages (8th century AD - “Red Banner Uprising” in Gorgan, Iran 778-779). In the city, the red flag was raised in Paris during the anti-monarchist popular uprising. It becomes a symbol of the modern labor movement (a symbol of the people's shed blood) after the Paris uprising. The legislatively revolutionary Red Banner was enshrined as a state flag, as well as a military flag, by the constitution of the RSFSR in July 1918, although de facto it already performed these functions according to the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee dated April 14, 1918.

The red flag was originally a symbol of the entire labor movement; it was used by both supporters of the Marxist direction in socialism and the anarchist one, representatives of the entire spectrum of the socialist labor movement. After the end of the Civil War in Russia, the red flag became a symbol of Bolshevik Soviet Russia, and therefore anarchists who disagreed with the policies of the new regime gradually abandoned the use of this type of banner, which they used along with the black one, after which the symbolism was demarcated into “communist” (red flag) and “anarchist” (black flag, along with which, from the thirties, anarchists began to widely use the black and red anarcho-syndicalist flag, which originated in the 19th century).

"International"

International Proletarian Anthem, anthem of the communist parties, socialists and anarchists. Lyricist: French anarchist