Marxism

So many people, upon hearing the word "Marxism" think of Communism; this is unfortunate. The confusion is caused by a common mistake of forgetting to separate a philosophical idea from it's practical use. To explain, consider the idea of "liberty"; this is an idea, we cannot simply say what "liberty" is or use it in practice. Instead, democracy tries to be a functional form of "liberty." Communism as we know it was based philosophically on the works of Marx and Lenin, but I would very much doubt that Marx would appreciate this fact.

Karl Marx was a German who wrote much of his work in the mid to late 1800's. At this time, the world was going through a process of change that is arguably unrivaled in human history; this period of the industrial revolution changed the fate of mankind forever. Europe was rapidly modernizing and the social, political and economic culture was quite volatile. Marx looked at his world at this time and with the support of Frederick Engels, wrote against the trend.

Contrary to some popular beliefs, Marx was not a politician; in actuality, he is best classified as an economic theorist or a sociologist. His work focused primarily on relationships of power in a capitalistic state. Marx argued that the economies that were driving Europe to being world superpowers were built on the backs of the laborers or proletariat. Furthermore, those gaining most from the hard working lower class were a few capital-owning men of the bourgeoisie. So, much of the story of Marx is in actuality one of class struggle.

Marx found that power rested with wealth and that the tremendous amount of money being generated was all going to a small group of non-working individuals. He believed that this system was perpetuated by the political and social culture laid down by the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the upper class was in essence suppressing the lower and forcing them to work meager and grueling jobs. Furthermore, Marx believed that the bourgeoisie suppressed the proletariat using everything from the capitalist structure and wages, to religion.

Marx found that the apparent wonders of capitalism were actually "prostituting" the worker for a salary. All this happened while specialization took the care from work. Marx wrote that labor invested in a product is what truly gives it ownership and that capitalism alienated the laborer from his work.

Because of all this, Marx is considered a "power" theorist; he examined systems of power and control, most notably, the relationship between the bourgeoisies and the proletariat. He argued that one day there would be a proletariat revolution that would overthrow the capitalist regime and create a society of equality.

Some find difficulty with Marxist writings and note that his work is reductionist and in many ways, simply wrong. Marx basically ignored social factors that were not based on power systems; he gave little time to cultural, ethnic and religious influences on relationships. Furthermore, most agree that the advances of capitalism have increased the overall standard of living of all levels of the economy: poor and rich. In addition, Marx never considered a middle class, or envisioned capitalism as a non-"productive" entity, but rather an entertaining one; he never saw, among other things, the way the television and music industries have prospered.

Still, while many now ignore Marx as a theorist of the past whose ideas have been discredited by the collapse of the Soviet Union, in actuality, we live with many of his influences today. Marx introduced the dangers of unchecked capitalism and theoretically paved the way for anti-trust legislation that staves off monopolies, minimum wage and child labor laws and general worker benefits. Furthermore, Marx masterfully explained the role of power-based relationships in everyday life. So remember him the next time you are frustrated because you need your job but you hate your boss since he does not appreciate you; Marx had you in mind 150 years ago.
-Mike Ryckman