Communism

The flag of Bachuan, symbolizing the struggle between wealthy nobles (the dragon) and the lower classes (the tiger).

Communism is a secular political philosophy practiced primarily in the nation of Bachuan in Tian Xia.

In Bachuan

First instituted by the peasant-philosopher Grandfather Pei and known as the Pei philosophy, his communistic tenets centered on the equality and comradeship of all humanoids and the struggle between social classes. Following Grandfather Pei's teachings, an army of farmers, miners, and fisherfolk took up arms against their callous imperial rulers and the corrupt priests who helped prop them up. Under the government established following the revolution and headed by Pei, all people of Bachuan were declared equal, religion was outlawed, the state assumed communal ownership of all property, and all citizens were expected to share equally in labor and the rewards thereof.

Pei's failures of leadership, however, resulted in an authoritarian government, ideological purges, and the establishment of re-education camps. When Grandfather Pei died in 7168 IC, his young widow Pu Yae Men—better known as Grandmother Pei, and herself indoctrinated in Bachuan's re-education camps—implemented an even harsher, more violent, and expansionist vision with a revolutionary zeal untethered to Bachuan's troubled reality.

By 7210 IC Bachuan's failures had accelerated as the nation descended into poverty, starvation, and chaos. The vacuum of power was filled by the Sun Chamber's split into six competing factions. Tensions built until the unexpected arrival of Shui Jing from Po Li in 7215 IC, who instituted reforms that ended the nation's indoctrination of its citizens in the Pei philosophy, allowed the practice of religion, re-introduced limited forms of private and foreign ownership, and decentralized its government into six factional municipalities.

Elsewhere on Golarion

Kobolds practice a primitive form of proto-communism in which all members of the tribe work and share resources equally. Individual kobolds might have some personal possessions, but anything too large to carry is usually property of the tribe as a whole.

The walled Korvosan holding of Abken in Varisia is an egalitarian commune, with all citizens treated as a family and its taxes occasionally paid to Korvosan Guards in quality foods, cabble-weed, and flayleaf. The enclave's population, regardless of age or role, also takes up arms in its defense when threatened but is generally friendly toward outsiders.

On other worlds

The nation of Russia on the planet Earth underwent a revolution in 4712 AR, becoming a communist republic.