Essay, Research Paper: Reflection On Marxist Ideology

Capital is not personal, but social power and product. (Carl Marx)
Carl Marx, perhaps one of the most influential philosophers in history, is widely remembered for the revolutionizing ideologies he presented in the Communist Manifesto. Marx was certainly a man of great intelligence and vision. His many visions about capitalistic development are constantly reflected in today s society. Job alienation is certainly rampant. Most individuals have a TGIF; Monday sucks mentality. To most people work rather than happiness is the meaning of life; nothing is ever enough everyone wants more, More, MORE. The bourgeois are running things, as a large portion of the world s resources and wealth is in the hands of a select few. The immediate question that then comes to mind is whether this is advantageous to society. To correctly answer this deep question, one must look at the pros and cons of the socialist ideology. In theory, socialism has several observable benefits. For one, the equality of humankind presents itself as an important theme. The capitalistic bourgeois/proletariat relationship that exists is destroyed. Consequently, the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeois is non-existent. Work now takes on a different meaning instead of being the result of greed and necessity, work becomes a means of helping and interacting with society. In the truest form of communism, acquiring wealth is an unnecessary evil instead society provides the individual with an adequate standard of living and vice versa. Ultimately, an ideal communist state is practically a Utopia. Marx clearly predicted that a state of Utopia would form with a transition from communism. (Marx detailed steps to reaching Utopia include: primitive socialism feudalism capitalism socialism communism Utopia.) While communism has its benefits, the reality of reaching these benefits is literally non-existent. Even Marx predicted that this would be the case! he said that in the presence of capitalism, communism will lose. This is a very interesting statement, and clearly implies that the socialistic ideology is not perfect. Communism is a Utopia, and therefore it arguably cannot exist. Communism calls for the cooperation of too many individuals. Everyone would have to be a productive member of society. Politicians and government officials would have to govern flawlessly. Any form of corruption could not be tolerated, as it could bring about total anarchy and downfall. In addition to these troublesome technicalities, the idea of public goods does not always result in the desired outcome. For example, imagine the creation of a public lawnmower. As opposed to a private owner who would try to preserve the longevity of the lawnmower, the public would have no real incentive to take care of the lawnmower. Certainly, private ownership provides to the preservation of goods and resources. Also, take into consideration the status of the US public school system as compared to the US private school system. Private schools have done remarkably better at producing better results and using less money when compared to US public schools. To an extent this can also be said for private health care in comparing England s and Canada s health care systems to that of the US. Lastly, the communist ideology destroys competition. With no competition people do not have an incentive to advance. Inferior products that lack quality and improvement are made. Inferior services that lack needed advancement such as health care are provided. This is not to say that this is the case with all services and products. However, without competition there is no real desire to change the norm, regardless of how good or bad it is. This would be especially damaging to advances in medicine, science, and research.