Essay Introduction

In this brief analysis, F. A. Harper connects the definitions of socialism and communism to the realities of the American economy in 1950. He uses statistical data to visualize the extent of government ownership of wealth and government control through licensing, illustrating how far the United States had moved toward the "common ownership" principles that define the Soviet system.

The Communist Idea

Part III

SOCIALISM has been defined as governmental ownership or control of the means of production.

And communism, in this and most other respects, is the same thing as socialism. Marx was a Socialist by his own definition. Russia, after the communist revolution, became the U.S.S.R.—the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Invasion of the United States by communism, as thus defined, is evidenced in different ways. Among them are the following:

GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF WEALTH (Land Excluded) Source of data: Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. XII, p. 535; National Bureau of Economic Research, 1950. Statistical Research by F. A. Harper.

(The original text includes a chart showing Government Ownership in U.S.A. rising from a low percentage in 1929 to approx 23% in 1946.)

GOVERNMENT LICENSING "Practically every business, large or small, is affected by some form of governmental licensing control. A license is a permit or authorization to engage in some business or activity."

Source: Small Business and Government Licenses, U.S. Department of Commerce, p. 1; United States Government Printing Office, 1950.

About the Author

F. A. Harper, former professor of marketing at Cornell University, has been on the Foundation staff since it began operations in 1946. "The Communist Idea (Part III)" was first published in 1950.

Attribution

Harper, F. A. "The Communist Idea, Part III." In Essays on Liberty, Vol. 1, 99. Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., 1952.