Marx’s ‘Despotic Inroads’ Resurface

For more than a century, people living under communism warned the world about its authoritarian side long before today’s politicians started talking about it.

Story Snapshot

Founders of communism called for state control and “despotic inroads” on property nearly 180 years ago.
Historic communist regimes built one-party states, state-run economies, and tight control over information.
Modern debates often blur the line between communist dictatorships and today’s “democratic socialism.”
Bernie Sanders says he rejects Soviet-style authoritarianism, but critics say he ignores earlier warnings.

What Marx and Engels Actually Wrote About Power

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto” in 1848, laying out the basic plan for a communist society. They called for the abolition of private property and for centralizing major economic tools, like credit, transport, and communication, in the hands of the state. In one key passage, they wrote that the new ruling class would need “despotic inroads on the rights of property” as it took over production. That language showed early on that force and top-down control were built into the theory itself.

The manifesto pictured a “proletariat organized as the ruling class,” using state power to seize capital and reshape society. Marx and Engels believed this harsh phase would be temporary and would end in a classless, free society. But giving one class total power, even for a time, opened the door to abuse. Later communist leaders used these ideas to justify one-party rule and crushing dissent. That pattern fueled fears that communism in practice tends toward authoritarian control.

How Real-World Communist Regimes Worked

Twentieth-century communist governments turned many of those early ideas into hard reality. Historical research shows these regimes often featured a single ruling party, a state monopoly on violence, and tight control over media and information. Countries like the Soviet Union and Mao-era China built economies on state ownership of major industries and punished independent business or speech. Former insiders, dissidents, and victims later testified about secret police, labor camps, and show trials, documenting how power was used to silence opposition.

Scholars note that communist systems were usually “de jure or de facto one-party regimes” led by Marxist-Leninist parties. Political power stayed inside a small ruling circle, with little room for free elections or checks and balances. These structures matched the fear many Americans have today: that extreme central control, even in the name of equality, ends up serving a narrow elite. For citizens on both the right and the left, those histories look a lot like the deep, unaccountable “elite” class they worry about in modern government.

Is Communism Always Authoritarian? The Ongoing Debate

Modern thinkers still argue over whether communism itself must be authoritarian. Some academic and online discussions say communism, in a broad sense, can take democratic or even anarchist forms. They point to small-scale experiments in worker cooperatives or local communes where people share property without a strong state. Supporters claim the problem lies not in the idea of shared ownership, but in the way big states and party bosses twisted it when they took power during the last century.

At the same time, political science studies highlight that actual communist regimes have been “leftist authoritarian regimes” and a rare type among autocracies. These findings suggest that once communism scales up to a national level, it tends to use heavy control to manage the economy and stamp out rivals. That record makes many Americans doubt promises that “this time” central planning will stay democratic. For people tired of being ruled from above, the gap between theory and history feels like one more elite excuse.

Where Bernie Sanders Fits in the Story

Senator Bernie Sanders presents himself as a democratic socialist, not a communist, and says he opposes Soviet-style authoritarian rule. In a 2019 interview, he asked, “Is it your assumption that I supported or believe in authoritarian communism that existed in the Soviet Union? I don’t. I never have, and I opposed it.” His policy ideas focus on things like universal healthcare and more worker ownership inside a democratic system, not on creating a one-party state or banning private business outright.

🚨 NOW: The Democratic Socialists of America are filing plans to ABOLISH the presidency and judiciary as we know it, ABOLISH the Senate, DEFUND the Pentagon and grant 100% amnesty to every illegal alien

Their plan is to implement COMMUNISM. That's what Bernie Sanders wants!… pic.twitter.com/71cNgOmZrC

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 10, 2026

Sanders has also warned that the United States “must not move toward authoritarianism,” arguing that his agenda is meant to strengthen democracy, not weaken it. Critics, however, say his language about autocracy can sound like a new discovery while ignoring a long line of witnesses who already exposed the dark side of communist power. That clash reflects a deeper frustration shared across the spectrum: many Americans feel leaders selectively use history, warning about some threats while downplaying others, to push their own political brand.