Difference between revisions of "Marxism"
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| − | '''Marxism''' is an intellectual movement developed by the German historian/economist [[Karl Marx]] and by the German political scientist [[Friedrich Engels]]. Marx's approach is indicated by the opening line of the Communist Manifesto (1848): “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”. Marx believed that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, will produce internal tensions which will lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, capitalism itself will be displaced by communism, a classless society which emerges after a transitional period in which the state would be nothing else but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. | + | '''Marxism''' is an intellectual movement developed by the German historian/economist [[Karl Marx]] and by the German political scientist [[Friedrich Engels]]. Marx's approach is indicated by the opening line of the Communist Manifesto (1848): “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?hl=xx-elmer&id=Q2GzsvWurCMC&dq=Communism&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=qdFakHZ42E&sig=lbr-xzNNXbR9El53DoQOjOW7SI4]. Marx believed that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, will produce internal tensions which will lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, capitalism itself will be displaced by communism, a classless society which emerges after a transitional period in which the state would be nothing else but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. |
[[Communism]], in a broad sense, is the political manifestation of Marxist philosophy, much like the American Constitution is the manifestation of social contract theory and property rights theory developed by [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] and [[John Locke]]. Communism was never firmly defined outside of the communist manifesto, allowing leaders such as Lennin and Mao to specifically tailor it to their expediant political needs. Communism grew to be an extremely popular political movement in late 19th century western industrial democracies. However, rising working standards coupled with a growing middle class severely stunted the communist movement in Western Europe and North America. As a result, a world communist state like Marx envisioned was never realized. | [[Communism]], in a broad sense, is the political manifestation of Marxist philosophy, much like the American Constitution is the manifestation of social contract theory and property rights theory developed by [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] and [[John Locke]]. Communism was never firmly defined outside of the communist manifesto, allowing leaders such as Lennin and Mao to specifically tailor it to their expediant political needs. Communism grew to be an extremely popular political movement in late 19th century western industrial democracies. However, rising working standards coupled with a growing middle class severely stunted the communist movement in Western Europe and North America. As a result, a world communist state like Marx envisioned was never realized. | ||
Revision as of 11:37, April 24, 2008
Marxism is an intellectual movement developed by the German historian/economist Karl Marx and by the German political scientist Friedrich Engels. Marx's approach is indicated by the opening line of the Communist Manifesto (1848): “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag who were against making use of the "services" of the "bourgeois specialists.". Favourable terms were given to foreign "bourgeois specialists" who were willing to come to work under the new regime. [1]
The control, and the social rule which goes with it, when it leaves the hands of the capitalists, goes not to the workers, the people, but to the managers, the new ruling class. A parallel of the Russian process can be observed with particular clarity in connection with the events in Loyalist territories during the Spanish Civil War, above all in Catalonia. There, just as in Russia, the workers and peasants began taking over direct control of the factories and railroads and firms. There too, not at once, but during the course of the first two years of the Civil War, the de facto power slipped from the workers' hands, sometimes voluntarily given up at the persuasion of a political party, sometimes smashed by arms and prison. It was not the troops of Franco who took control away from the people of Catalonia; they had lost control well before Franco's army conquered.
Ideology
A Marxist society does not allow an individual to gain wealth; instead, that wealth belongs to the people as a collective. In a 'pure' marxist society, the state is a democratic system that manages all aspects of production--essentially making the state the head of all industry. However, this was never realized due to power grabs by the eventual managers of the factories, as well as many practical limitations. Marx dreamed of a society where a man could be "A farmer in the morning, a laborer in the afternoon, and a philosopher in the evening"--essentially, a world without specialization and stark divisions of labor. Again, this tennant of his philosophy was never realized, mostly due to practical reasons.
References
- ↑ James Burnham, The Managerial Revolution, Indiana University Press, Bloomingham 1966.