In a communist system, who owns and controls the means of production?

1. Analyze the question The question asks who owns and controls the means of production (factories, farms, mines, machinery, land) in a communist system.

2. Explain the concept Communism is an ideology associated with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Its main features are:

• No private ownership of the major means of production.
• The state (government) owns and controls them on behalf of the people, at least in practice during the socialist/communist transition. In theory, a fully communist society would have common ownership with no classes and eventually no state.
• Economic planning is centralized, so the state decides what to produce, how much, and at what price.
• The aim is to remove class division between the owners (bourgeoisie) and the workers (proletariat).

Compare this with other systems:

• Capitalism: private individuals and corporations own the means of production.
• Socialism: the state or the community owns the major means of production.
• Communism (as practised, e.g. in the former USSR and China under Mao): the state owns and controls almost everything.

3. Solution Let's check each option:

• A. Corporations: this is a feature of capitalism, so it is wrong.
• B. The government: the state owns and controls the means of production, so it is correct.
• C. Private individuals: this is also capitalism, and communism abolishes it, so it is wrong.
• D. Non-profit organizations: these have no central role in communist ownership, so it is wrong.

4. Answer B. The government

5. Exam tip Link each system to its owner:

• Capitalism → Private individuals
• Socialism/Communism → State (government)

If the question says "communist" or "socialist" and asks about ownership, think "state control." If it says "capitalist," think "private ownership."