I think it is important to define communism so that we can understand what makes it evil.

One of the huge flaws of modern communism is the total lack at creating a just, moral, free, or virtuous citizen or nation that is always advancing. Justice, morality, freedom, and virtue are some of the indispensible core qualities that make people and nations just and morally great. Without these core qualities citizens are repressed and oppressed, and society is immoral, unjust, and stagnant – both citizen and nation suffer. Communism does not develop or bring out the best in people or country. On the contrary, within its very DNA it works to devalue, stifle, and undermine the person and society, as the interests of the state are put ahead of the people.

Modern communism creates a controlled prison like environment to keep its citizens under strict control – think of Cuba, North Korea, and Soviet Russia. The main idea is to merely survive, not to advance citizen or society. Under modern communism citizens are not allowed to excel, advance, or develop beyond what the state allows, thus they are unable to fully exercise their God given free will and are prisoners of the state. Tragically, the interests of the state always supersede those of the citizen, thus the citizen is marginalized and devalued.

The word communism derives from the French word commun meaning “common.” In fact, the traditional definition of communism is – the owning and sharing of all property by the entire classless community. While this is true in theory, history teaches us that this does not work and for good reasons.

There are many theories, ideas, formulations, and doctrines directly relating to communism because it keeps evolving over time. However, I am primarily addressing modern communism as seen in many post 19th century examples. Please note these six core characteristics.

At its core modern communism is defined as the political and social system whereby 1) all property, production, and resources are owned and managed through central planning by a 2) totalitarian government that is controlled by 3) one political party 4) unaccountable to anyone, which rules over a 5) classless society 6) who lack many basic human, legal, and civil rights.

Thus modern communism is very different from its pre 19th century formulation. This evolution is proving to be an unacceptable, dangerous disaster that continues threatening or harming the entire world.
These are some of the unethical, immoral, and unjust hallmarks of modern communism.

1 – citizens cannot own property
2 – classless society – pro egalitarianism
3 – a totalitarian state government without any checks and balance, is not accountable to its citizens or anyone
4 – the very serious lack of basic individual liberty, freedoms, human, civil, and legal rights
5 – the very serious devaluation of human life, justice, the rule of law, and morality
6 – nationalization – the government owns and controls all property, resources, and production means

Simply put any political and social system that embodies these traits is evil. This is because communism’s core characteristics are totally unethical, immoral, and unjust as they all work to control, repress, undermine, and devalue people and society in many ways by preventing

1 – any economic development or advancement
2 – any government accountability – citizens can’t trust the government – the government does not represent them
3 – the promulgation of necessary social and legal justice
4 – the promulgation of trust, virtue, ethics, and morality
5 – basic human/civil rights
6 – people from being their best, creative, and achieving their full potential or using their free will
7 – people from exercising their freedom/liberty in choosing their own destiny by using their free will – no freedom of religion
8 – the free and beneficial exchange of ideas and knowledge – no freedom of the press

Additionally, it is well documented that communism uses fear and torture to keep its citizens under constant control. If you misbehave or get out of line the government punishes you including using torture. This is immoral, unjust, and a total abuse of power resulting in the further breakdown of justice, ethics, and morality.

Not long ago there were over a dozen communist countries, with many being a part of the old Soviet Union. Anyone remember the Eastern Bloc? Thankfully, however this number is dwindling and I sincerely hope this trend continues.

Currently these are the 5 remaining communist countries: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Of these only China looks the least communist because their economy is very strong and growing, and because their government seems to be more of a hybrid. However, the Chinese government is, at minimum, still guilty of many egregious human rights violations and censorship.

This is the acid test – ask yourself will you be vacationing in North Korea anytime soon? No – I wonder why. Clearly, China is not North Korea, but just 50 or 60 years ago it was like North Korea when it was under communism. China today is nothing like it was back then, and this is in-part because of the government moving away from the old communistic system to embracing capitalism and other important reforms.