The Great Railroad Riots of 1877: communism

There is an interesting passage in "The Great Railroad Riots of 1877 by Joel T. Headley, in it he brings up communism.  Headley makes a point to tell us what his definition of a communist is and goes into a discussion about it. The reason I found this point interesting was because the points that he made, which sound positive, he paints in a negative light. Certain points in his principle of what he considers a communist, is something that we now strife to achieve for everybody today. Now we believe in equality, we are currently fighting so that no one person has special rights or privileges over another person due to their place in society. We have   These are the very thing that If you would have brought up in the 1800's, would have caused you to be labeled a communist. Do we then let this opportunity go to waste? Should we continue to push for more equality and transparency in today's society? As it stands the rich still have special privileges and rights over the rest of us. It can be seen when a teen arrested for carrying a small amount of marijuana is given more jail time, then that of bankers who committed fraud and never see the inside of a cell. So we still have a long way to go, but  at the very least we are taking steps in the right direction.