Are there class societies in communism?

Answer 1

We must first delineate between Communism as Marx formulated it and Communism in Practice.

In Marxian Communism, there should be a classless society where people only possess personally what they need to survive and all major assets and capital are communally owned.

In Communism in Practice, there is a clear class distinction between Party Members and Common Citizens, where Party Members have increased permissions in terms of places where they can live and job posts in which they can work. Also, a degree of nepotism develops in most Communist countries, creating an effective nobility.

Answer 2

Communism in theory has only one class: the 'workers'. In practice, there was one major distinction in any Communist country: that between the Communist party members and the non-Party members. Party members could be anywhere between a humble job or a position in Government, but as a group, they were the privileged elite (rarely nowhere more than 10%) of the population, and membership was much sought after but only sparingly given as a grand prize. Just as in today's 'Communist' China, the families of Communist Party members had the best acces to good jobs and business opportunities. It must however be said that only in China the ruling families of the Communist Party have become millionaires. In Russia, multimillionaire olicharchs only came into being after the fall of Communism when Russia's industries came up for grabs.

Answer 3

Yes, in theory. This has never been a reality however.