Marxism

Introduction:

Marxism refers to the social, political and economic principles laid down by Karl Marx. The philosophy is named after the economist and philosopher Karl Marx. The philosopher was famous for his theories on capitalism and communism.

Nature and significance of Marxism

1. The theory of Marxism had been first publicly formulated in the 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It laid down the theory of class struggle and revolution.
2. Marxism deals with the theory and practice of socialism. It propagates the establishment of a classless society. The means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned by the community as a whole as against private ownership.
3. Marxism examines the struggle between the capitalists and the worker class. It postulates that the struggle between social classes, between the capitalists and the workers, would define the economic relations in a capitalist economy and will lead to revolutionary communism. This struggle will ultimately be resolved through a social revolution.
4. The revolution will shift the power to the working class and in turn lead to social ownership of the means of production, which according to Marxism is the essential element in the transformation of society.
5. Marx mentioned that the power relationships between capitalists and workers would inherently lead to the exploitation of workers by private enterprises and hence would inevitably create class conflict.
6. According to Karl Marx, in a capitalist society, the society is made up of two classes, the business owners who control the means of production, and workers whose labour transforms raw commodities into valuable economic goods. The business owner’s control of the means of production gives them power over the worker class which allows them to limit the workers’ ability to produce and obtain what they need to survive.
7. Marx believed that capitalism creates an unfair imbalance between capitalists and the workers. The employment of workers is nothing but a means of survival. Since the worker is not completely involved in the process of production, Marx believed he would become alienated from it and resentful toward the business owner and his own humanity.

Conclusion

Thus, Karl Marx believed that the capitalist system is inherently self-destructive. This is because the alienation and exploitation of the worker under a capitalist society would inevitably drive the working class to rebel against the owners and seize control of the means of production.