ever, democracy and capitalism--to date, at least--have proved durable because most of the people are relatively satisfied with it. They were not satisfied with the tyranny of the British monarchy before the American Revolution and rejected it in favor of constitutional democracy.
Communism was born in the theories of Marx and Engels and in the application of those theories by Lenin in Russia. In the ideal form, communism was seen by the Russian revolutionaries as an antidote to the repression, injustices, inequalities and corruption of the czar's reign:
Communism's domination of much of the history of the twentieth century was largely rooted in its role as the timely "grand oversimplification." Locating the origins of all evil in the institution of private property, it postulated that the abolition of property would permit the attainment of true justice and of the perfection of human nature.
The contribution of Marx to communism included a critique of capitalism and its negative effects, and a solution to those problems in communism. Although some early twentieth century advocates of communism argued that this political ideal included democracy, Lenin did not see democracy as desirable or possible, at least in the beginning:
The Bolshevik leader of the more radical faction of the Russian Marxists made no bones about his intentions. In pamphlet
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