Of Inequality And The Social Contract, By Jean-Jacques Rousseau

In his books “The Discourse of Inequality” and “The Social Contract” Jean-Jacques Rousseau supported ideas such as the abolition of private property, the unnaturalness of inequalities or the government by the common people (Delaney). 150 years later, ideas of the same nature were stated in the “Communist Manifesto” of Karl Marx, the book which led to the Russian October Revolution in 1917(Trotsky). Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher who lived in the 18th century (Enlightenment). He was among the first ones to think of a government where the people, not the sovereign, were in power, and he influenced a lot the french revolution (Delaney). The Russian October Revolution is a communist revolution which occurred in 1917. In February …show more content…
Communism is a form of government based on total equality, where everyone shares their profit for the common good. This system is based on the ideas of Karl Marx, a german philosopher who wrote the “Communist Manifesto” in 1848. There were actually two revolutions that happened in Russia in 1917, but the most famous one occurred in October 1917, and established a communist government in Russia. The revolution started in February 1917, for many reasons. First, the government in power at that time was very impopular. The czar’s authoritarian and reactionary policies were criticized, corruption was everywhere in the administration, and the inneficiency of the system was unbearable. Then, there were also economical reasons. Russia’s implication in World War 1 ruined the country, as the investment needed caused a great financial struggle. The war also had another bad effect on the country. Russia’s army was not technologically up to date, and it struggled to maintain its positions. Therefore, the moral of the armies and of the citizen was very low, and the time was opportune for a revolution. In February, the czar was forced to abdicate, and was later killed. A provisional government was established, but the real power belonged to the soviets, councils formed by ordinary workers who thought that the power should belong to the working class. In april, Lenin, …show more content…
Communism is strongly based on the abolition of private property, as property is believed to be a factor leading to inequality. But Rousseau also defended the unnaturalness of property, he argued that it was not normal, since when humans are born, they don’t have anything, and there is no reason that there should be people that then own more than others. He thought that in order to come back to a true state of equality, property should be