Karl Marx once compared his ideal communist society to that of a beehive.
The people of the communist society were to be worker bees. They were to have no incentive to work as hard as they possibly could other than to improve the beehive – their society – and satisfy the queen bee – the communist government. In a perfect world a communist government would drive a utopian society, but as the world saw in the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990’s, communism is the force behind something quite the opposite: a dystopia. But what is it that makes a communist society a dystopia?
Marx put his work into writing in 1848 with the publication of The
Communist Manifesto along with Friedrich Engels. This book explains the basic economic and social philosophies of communism. The authors state that in order to create this “utopia” they call communism, the existence of classes in society must completely come to an end in order to avoid “class struggles.” The idea of private property was to be completely abolished, therefore all land and other property was in possession of the government. A largely important piece of this book was also explaining to the reader that it was in each individual’s best interest to spread the word of communism around Europe, for it was in Europe’s best interest to exist as a communist state. The lack of classes and private property may very well produce a utopian society if it were not for the reality of human nature. This concept of human nature is the road that paves way for a utopia to make a 180-degree turn to a dystopia in the economic sense.
The first behavior that makes communism an economic dystopia is the abolishment of classes. In plain terms, this means that the separations between the proletariat – the working class, the bourgeois – the middle class, and the elite class were to be completely obliterated. The Soviet Union successfully advanced the proletariat by demanding an increase in industrial output, as well as making private entities a democratic environment, where employees and employers had equal say.
Factory workers and the owners of the factory were now on the same level.
As stated earlier, this system is not completely impossible. It is the sheer existence of human nature that breaks this system at the seams. When workers and owners are placed at the same level, the incentive for quick, efficient, and meaningful production is tossed to the wayside, for there is no fear of being fired or replaced. Along with the abolishment of classes came equal salary among workers – the so-called “distribution of wealth.” This concept is disastrous. Unskilled factory workers and highly trained doctors were issued equal rights and benefits. A young, intelligent man in the communist society had absolutely no incentive to become a doctor instead of a factory worker. Even though there was a surplus of factor workers, the production was abysmal due to this lack of incentive, creating a shortage of food and other goods, along with a shortage of skilled labor. This shortage within a stagnant economy is a key component as to what makes a communist society, such as the Soviet Union, a dystopian society.

The poor nature of the economy under the communist regime only accounted for half of what makes this government a dystopia. The other half, and quite possibly the more important, is the social factors of communist government and what makes society dystopian.
In dystopian novels we see constant censorship and surveillance of citizens by the government. These actions were no work of fiction for the communist regime in Soviet Russia. In an article published in 2001 by Valeria Stelmakh titled
“Reading in the Context of Censorship in the Soviet Union,” Stelmakh states, “…the regime’s attempts to forestall the impending collapse and the stabilize the situation included strengthening censorship and other repressive measures. At this time, the society has been living under an almost complete blockage on information combine with a sophisticated system of misinformation and total censorship” (Stelmakh,
144). The author roles out the definition of a dystopian government in this writing.
Censorship, oppressiveness, the providing of false information, and the prevention of outside information penetrating the heads of citizens is textbook dystopian behavior by the government. The Soviet Union often burned books that promoted ideas of the West. History was many times rewritten to provide the false sense that fabricated facts were in deed real. Oppression came in many forms. The most prominent form was political oppression.
Members of Soviet society that were suspected of supporting a political or economic philosophy that was inconsistent with that of the state were to be punished. This is made evident by Leon Aron in a 2011 article titled “Everything
You Think About the Collapse of the Soviet Union is Wrong,” Aron states, “After 20 years of relentless suppression of political opposition, virtually all the prominent dissidents had been imprisoned, exiled, forced to emigrate, or had died in camps and jails” (Aron). Many were punished by coming out and stating their views against the state, but many stayed quiet despite their anti-communism views. In the same 2011 article, Aron states, “At the end of 1989, the first representative national public opinion survey found overwhelming support for competitive elections and the legalization of parties other than the Soviet Communist Party” (Aron). Unlike in the
United States, where two prominent political parties compete to provide better social and economic wellbeing for its people, the Soviet Union had a single party. On top of the lack of diversity of parties, the sheer existence of another party was illegal, notwithstanding the desire for additional political parties by the people of
Soviet Russia.
The behaviors of a communist government such as the Soviet Union cause it to act as dystopian. Key characteristics of dystopian society are the presence of scarcity, economic turmoil and/or stagnancy, governmental oppression, and the fear of this government. The tragic flaw of the economic fundamentals of communism was the failure to recognize the tendency of human nature to work hard and efficiently when given an incentive. The government failed to provide that for the
Soviet people. This lack of incentive in the factories paved way for a shortage of industrial goods, while the lack of incentive in the farms proved disastrous for the

advancement of agriculture. Those who stood out against the government were punished and/or killed for their beliefs, which then caused other members of society who shared believes with those prosecuted to live in silent fear of the communist regime. The Soviet Union collapsed more than two decades ago, but the knowledge that this government modeled a utopia and turned dystopian so quickly makes one wonder, what do the bees know that we don’t? How can the smartest animals on the planet destroy a utopia in half a century, while mindless insects have operated cooperatively under this regime for millions of years, and when will we figure it out?