Problems of Marxism
A spectre is hunting Europe - the spectre of communism. - Marx and Engels- Surely, almost everyone knows that communism hunted not just European but also numerous countries all over the world. Many individuals, mostly young souls were enchanted by the energies and enthusiasm of Marxist-Engels brilliant formulations on the abolition of commoditized labour. However cunning and visionary these formulations were, scholars have already realized the limits of communist ideals. The succeeding discussions will focus on these limitations. Sociology as a discipline has her roots grounded on the major principles of communism. As a major sociological framework, conflict theory seeks to explain the dynamic nature of human relations heavily saturated with opposing interests and the perpetual threat of violence. Marxist arguments elucidate basic sociological concepts such as stratification, power, inequality, and alienation. Furthermore, my interest here is to present and describe the problems and failures of communism amidst the increasing spread of global economy borrowing significant experiences from different regions in the globe.
(2) Both communism and socialism employ the practice of centralized economic managing and income redistribution as their primary means of working toward this so called "equality." History has tested the limits and endurance of human spirit. Wherever this phenomenon leads us, my confidence on the triumph of humanity eventually prevails. Anticipating that every human action is guided by clever choices that will promote faithfulness and truthfulness to creativity and fullness of human expression. Today, Marxism scarcely poses a strong challenge to capitalism. We know too well that in the past Marxism generated countless tales of revolutions and movements, countless defeats but few successes. For all their partial achievements and modifications, neither parliamentary nor revolutionary paths have produced a contemporary working alternative to capitalism (Aronson, 1995:43). The experiences of former communist countries reveal that “communism’s main failure in practice comes from the failure of a centralized economy to function” (ibid). In theory, communism unlike socialism “strives for the complete equality of all incomes, and therefore, everything . As income approaches complete equality, productivity disappears” (ibid). The risk of the disappearance of productivity is perceived to be one of the weaknesses of this principle. “Bourgeoisie in its pride of triumph became insolent, and in its insolence it forgot that in the depths from which it had risen so far, it was itself producing its fatal enemy, the proletariat. What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers” (Marx-Engels, 1964:28). Furthermore, in the final analysis with triumph of proletariat this collective shares the same history and in the process like their old masters creates their own grave-diggers…monotony and slothfulness. John Clark and Aaron Wildavsky in their article “Chronicle of a Collapse Foretold: How Marx Predicted the Demise of Communism (Although he called it “capitalism) they assume that communism had been collapsing for a long time. For many years, it has been difficult to watch the Soviet world of ‘real socialism’ without experiencing the eerie sense of de javu. Consider Poland, in many ways most ‘developed’ among communist political economies (CPEs), if only the symptoms of its disease had advanced furthest. For the first-time visitors in the 1970s and the 1980s, the dinginess of the streets, the cramped housing, the lack of palatable food in the shops, the sallow complexions of the inhabitants, the smoke-filled skies, all looked familiar. The more literary-minded may have thought of the Bleak House: there was indeed a more than passing resemblance between the contemporary reality cities like Warsaw or Moscow and Charles Dickens’s vivid descriptions of London a century earlier” (Clark and Wildavsky, 1994:47). Interestingly, there are few significant observations that must be noted here hoping to explain the anticipated failure of communism. First, communism demands the abolition of religion and morality. “The irony is that communism supposedly attempts to enhance civility within society, but removes all notions of Absolute Morality, the very cornerstone of civility. Furthermore, after Communism is instituted by the people, the system becomes Totalitarian, resulting in greater oppression of the people it was designed to ‘serve’. This fact is well documented throughout the history of Communist nations” ( http://users.stargate.net/~xlobue/FALL.HTM). In this regard, communism fails to provide the necessary emotional and social need that religion seeks to offer. Attachment to the Supernatural as suggested by social science studies alleviates and in several ways relieves the individual from the daily oppressions of the social and material world. Secondly, similar to the one presented above, “communism have been heavily influenced by Czarism. A serf might run to the town court fo
Some topics in this essay:
Engels- Surely,
Karl Marx,
Marx Constant,
Engels Manifesto,
Marx Engels,
COMMUNISM SOCIALISM,
COMMUNISM Communism,
Conclusion Marx,
Failures Communism,
Moreover Marx,
communism socialism,
soviet union,
north korean,
ruling class,
north korea,
world war ii,
court protection,
communist ideal,
violence marx,
complete equality,
socialism communism,
history north korea,
europe soviet union,
eastern europe soviet,
global social systems,
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Approximate Word count = 5382
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page double spaced)
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