ABSTRACT
There is an interesting resemblance between the communist theory of the State held by reactionaries like de Maistre, and that of Marx and his disciples. Each holds that the subordination, and even suffering of the masses, is a necessary result of social organisation, and each holds out a prospect of greatest benefit. The analysis by which the communists have reached this place has at least the merit of simplicity. Capitalist society, they argue, the deliberate exploitation of labour by the capitalist. The chief means by which it main; in its organisation is the State and all countries; urges Bukharin; the State is merely union of the master class. The union so composed has, says the communist, broadly two aims. It seeks, first, to secure the capitalist class in possession of the means of production. The second aim is to compete with other States, which, similarly, are organisations of the master-class for a larger share of the results of the productive system.
