The name Karl Marx sounds villainous to many people, if not downright evil. After all, Marx’s ideas led to the murderous regimes of the 20th-century and therefore we should repudiate his philosophy at all costs. The columnist James Bovard encourages us not to celebrate Marx at all, since in practice Marxism “did not work out so well. Communist regimes produced the greatest ideological carnage in human history, killing more than a hundred million people in the last century.” This rhetoric is not only erroneous, but it prevents a genuine understanding of Marx, who is easily one of the most important thinkers to have ever lived. In fact, Melvin Rader once said that it is impossible to understand the forces shaping world history without a knowledge of Marxism. Marx was primarily a philosopher of political economy, which is the study of production and trade in relationship to laws, customs, and human systems. His ideas helped inform and shape numerous other disciplines such as economics, sociology, history, politics, literature, and much more. His analysis of human society helps us understand the process of history, and his theories of alienation and class struggle help us understand the obstacles humans face. This is basically Marx’s “historical materialism” which is central to his thought. In the simplest terms, historical materialism is the theory that human societies develop according to how the forces of production are organized.
One of the most important lessons to learn when examining historical figures or events is to understand the historical context from which they emerged. During Karl Marx's early life, he lived under the most conservative epoch that Europe had seen in a long time. This system was called the "Metternich System." From 1815-1848, tremendous forces of change were transforming Europe—the most notable transformation being that of the Industrial Revolution. The initial phases of the Industrial Revolution were incredibly harsh, especially for those who worked in factories. It was an age of laissez-faire capitalism, which was unregulated. It was not at all uncommon for persons to work 14-hour work days and receive sub-subsistence wages. Consequently, in these urban slums prostitution was widespread as was child labor. Stories emerged about children suffering severe injuries, resulting in deformities from the dangerous machinery, conditions, and so forth. Whatever one may think of Marx, his reaction during this harsh time seems absolutely understandable and even warranted.
It would be an exercise of prudence to avoid drawing conclusions from our contemporary, limited perspective. We have to really dive deep into the historical context and the works of those we discuss if we wish to understand things meaningfully. And, moreover, if we wish to see past the world of words, we cannot be subdued by rhetoric. As mentioned above, Marx’s name is villainous to many. It may as well be a synonym for “evil,” especially here in America. Another name associated with such language is the 19th-century philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. Now, imagine for a moment, if I encouraged you to stop reading Nietzsche immediately since Hitler loved his work and gave copies of Thus Spoke Zarathustra to his soldiers. Imagine further, if I told you that Nietzsche’s philosophical ideas caused the Holocaust. This would be quite bizarre considering Nietzsche would repudiate everything Hitler stood for. Taking the time to read Nietzsche’s work shows that people like Hitler manipulated his philosophy for the fulfillment of immediate political interests, and the same can be said about those who manipulated Marx’s philosophy.
Just because people call themselves “Nietzscheans,” “Marxists,” or “Socialists,” does not mean they are, in fact, these things. Similarly, if a particular totalitarian regime happens to call itself socialist, communist, a union of republics, a people’s republic, or a people’s democratic republic, by no means does that mean they are genuine champions of these things. The form of government matters very much. Critics of socialism believe, for instance, that Venezuela is a socialist state for one simple reason: they say they are. But, again, just because Venezuela says it is socialist, by no means follows that it is, in fact, socialist. Just as North Korea is clearly not a People’s Democratic Republic, as they claim to be, and just as The Nazi Party was clearly not that of National Socialism, as they claimed to be. In other words, Venezuela does not espouse socialist principles, nor does North Korea promote even the most basic democratic principles, and the Nazi Party was a vicious regime that held all human life, outside of its kin, as diseased and worthy of annihilation. How can the Nazi party be socialist if it did not even believe in equality? The lesson here is that we have to move beyond the mere words that people espouse. You should engage with Marx’s work meaningfully. Invoking totalitarian regimes who had no regard for human life does not engage with any of Marx’s core ideas about class struggle, historical materialism, and so forth. I think many would agree that he is a thinker who cannot be ignored, irrespective of whether or not you affirm his philosophy.
Couldn't have said it better or more clearly.
I don't recall exactly who it was, but on your Facebook page, I tried to clarify this confusion about Marx vs the people who stole his name and false claimed the were following him (thus causing your reader to say Marx's ideas were personally responsible for the millions of deaths that occurred under Stalin's rule.
It ended up that your reader claimed it was Marx alone who inspired totalitarian leaders to seek absolute power, because Marx allegedly claimed this was necessary to "overthrow capitalism."
When I suggested that Pinochet also wanted absolute power, tortured and killed tens of thousands in order to establish a form of vulture or crony or fascist capitalism, what answer did I get?
Crickets.
Well done, Eric. A very important theme.
Both Marx and Nietzsche are very misunderstood and at times used against each other. Hitler used Nietzsche because he was fighting Marxism, Stalin was using Marx because he was fighting Capitalism.