About this episode
James Lindsay explores the true origins of Communism, tracing its roots to German idealism and French socialism rather than Karl Marx.
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 205 Where did Communism really come from? Did it originate with Karl Marx? Is it... "Jewish"? The answers to these latter questions are no. Communism arose out of a combination of German idealism and French socialism, and the first documents on the subject were composed in France. In fact, not only that, the first revolutionary Communist was a Frenchman as well, Francois-Noel "Gracchus" Babeuf, who derived many of his ideas for communist life from an obscure French thinker and tax official named Etienne-Gabriel Morelly. Morelly wrote a tract called The Code of Nature (https://www.marxists.org/subject/utopian/morelly/code-nature.htm ) in 1755 outlining what we recognize today as Communism. Babeuf took these ideas and tried to install them through his "Conspiracy of the Equals," which had a manifesto, "The Manifesto of Equals," (https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/sylvain-marechal-manifesto-of-equals) written by his collaborator Sylvain Marechal in 1796. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes you through these documents and makes it abundantly clear that the Communist Manifesto Karl Marx and…
People in this episode
Host: James Lindsay
Topics covered
- Communism
- German idealism
- French socialism
- historical origins
- political theory
Keywords
- Communism
- Karl Marx
- Francois-Noel Babeuf
- Etienne-Gabriel Morelly
- The Code of Nature
- The Manifesto of Equals
- political history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New Discourses
Books & works: The Code of Nature, The Manifesto of Equals, Communist Manifesto
More episodes of New Discourses
- The Myth of the Blood, Vol. 3: Love as the Enemy of Race and Honor · June 12, 2026 · 2h 22m
- What Are The Protocols of the Elders of Zion? · June 10, 2026 · 27 min
- How American Foreign Aid to Israel Supports America · June 5, 2026 · 27 min
- Radical Ideology as Therapy for the Humiliated Psyche · June 3, 2026 · 1h 34m
- What Seizing the Means of Production Really Means · June 1, 2026 · 27 min
- Totalitarianism and Fantasies of the Sinless Man · June 1, 2026 · 24 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the New Discourses podcast page.