Counterculture by Duane Sheriff

Author:Duane Sheriff
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781680319552
Publisher: Harrison House

CHAPTER 10

MARXISM

Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, and revolutionary socialist. Being a descendant from a long line of rabbis, Marx was born to Jewish parents in 1818. In an effort to gain influence, his father converted his family to Lutheranism. While Marx grew up in church, he later became an atheist. The bulk of his secondary education came from the University of Berlin where he studied law and philosophy. After graduating, he became the editor for the liberal newspaper Rheinische Zeitung. Due to the nature of his beliefs expressed through his writings, he was eventually expelled from Prussia, Belgium, and France.

Despite being denied British citizenship, he settled in London. It was there that he and his friend, Friedrich Engels, began publishing several books and articles. The most well-known is titled The Communist Manifesto. Marx had trouble keeping a job and was supported by Engels. He died in relative poverty in 1883 of pleurisy. His works were mostly obscure until the rise of socialism in Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when leaders of the now defunct USSR, Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin, rose to power.

Today, his influence can be seen in countries including Cuba and China. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it means to be a modern-day Marxist, as his adherents modify his teachings according to their personal interpretations. However, Karl Marx’s main focus consisted of the following five points: 1) social evolution, 2) redistribution of wealth, 3) capitalism, 4) religion, and 5) the revolution.

SOCIAL EVOLUTION

Much like Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, Karl Marx believed in the evolution of societies, economies, and governments and that communism would be the final evolution of social structure to have a just and moral society. As an atheist, he saw no need for God in any civilized society and taught that to be a just and equitable society we all must rely on the government for our needs. From his viewpoint, a capitalist economy with free commerce and trade was the cause of all the socioeconomical woes. On the other hand, communism was the utopia of social structures. He saw socialism as the means of transfer between the two types of economies and the pathway to evolve into communism.

Once the economy was controlled by the government, so were the people. Freedom and individual rights were a threat to the collective and had to be subservient or submissive to the government or state. If necessary, the government would reconcile all things either by socialism (by voting or through ballots) or communism (through force and bullets). The free markets and commerce of capitalism plus the freedom of conscience on who and how to worship (religion) were the problem. God brings freedom of movement, thought, and speech that cannot be tolerated under Marxism. The freedom of ideas was unacceptable as well.

Dissent was a death sentence. Marx truly believed that in order to be a just and equitable society, we must put our trust in and rely on the government for our needs and lives.

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