The Relevance of Karl Marx's Lessons Nowadays

Introduction

An economist, political theorist and philosopher born in Germany, Karl Marx wrote some of the most revolutionary philosophical material ever generated. Indeed, during his lifetime, his writing was so relevant to the human situation that he was expelled from his homeland. But this event made it possible to find an appropriate crowd for his most significant ideas. Marx moved to London after leaving his nation and began working with a fellow German Friedrich Engels. Together, they proposed an analysis of the dynamics of class, culture and authority that uncovered significant inequalities and exposed the economic prerogatives of state-sponsored violence, oppression, and war. Marx predicted that capitalism's inequalities and violence would eventually lead to its downfall. A fresh socialist system would emerge from its ashes, a classless society in which all participants (as opposed to mere rich private owners) will have access to means of production. What made the Marxist system of thought so impactful though was its innate call to action, couched in Marx's advocacy for a working-class revolution aimed at overthrowing an unequal system. The fundamental philosophy of Marxism and its revolutionary enthusiasm would ripple around the globe, eventually transforming whole spheres of locations like Red China, Eastern Europe, and Soviet Russia. Karl Marx governed in many aspects over a philosophical revolution that remains in numerous forms of communism, socialism, socialized democracy, and grassroots political organisation in the contemporary world.

Marx’s biggest ideologies

• Advocated a view called historical materialism, arguing for the unmasking of thought and idealism in favour of closer acknowledgement of the physical and material actions shaping the world.
• Argued that societies develop through class struggle and that this would ultimately lead to the dismantling of capitalism.
• Characterized capitalism as a production system in which there are inherent conflicts of interest between the bourgeoisie (the ruling class), and the proletariat (the working class), and that these conflicts are couched in the idea that the latter must sell their labour to the former for wages that offer no stake in production.

Marx’s key works

• Critique of Hegel’s “Philosophy Of Right” (1843)
• The Communist Manifesto (1848)
• Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (1867).

Discussion

Marxism is the world’s most influential body of thought that has brought about a significant change in the course of human history. Despite the desperate attempts of the capitalist class to bury it, it is more important in the status quo than ever to address the pressing problems of humanity.

Marx and his comrade Frederick Engels showed, among their many findings, how capitalism comprised a transitory phase of social development and how it would be superseded by higher stages. But this could not happen without people's agency, and Marx and Engels declared the working class's historic task to lead a revolutionary shift to a community without exploitation that is self-governing. Marx also revealed how the exploitation of labour and capital accumulation would occur under capitalism.

Today's world is a place far different from Marx's time. But even then, Marx saw contradictions emerge that would eventually develop into contemporary capitalism's crises. Capitalist economic globalization, unfathomable scale production and the resulting concentration and centralization of wealth, and mass communications, social media, and technological revolutions have created a fundamental contradiction: the economic capacity to address all human material needs coupled with an 'extreme crisis.'

In India, there are ideologues, social theorists, and political leaders who, like people elsewhere in the world, reject the theory of Marx based on incomplete knowledge. Marx's Indian opponents have two types of views on Marx's theory – 1) Marx's theory was only relevant to Europe of the 19th century and today's circumstances are quite different; 2) Marx's theory may be relevant to other countries, but not to India, as Marx never wrote about the caste system.

But Karl Marx was one of the first thinkers to draw sharp attention to Indian society's highly deleterious impact of caste and its causal link to production relations. Karl Marx characterized the Indian castes in his famous essay on 'The Future Results of British Rule in India' as 'the most decisive obstacle to India's progress and power.' In social terms, Marx argued that India's caste system was based on the hereditary division of labor, inseparably linked to the Indian village community's unchanging technological base and subsistence economy.

Under Modi's government today, there is labor unrest nationwide, jobless growth, skyrocketing unemployment, rapid unleashing of neoliberal policies that have created a colossal wealth gap between various sections of society. 73% of the nation's wealth is in the hands of only 1% of the ultra-rich. Thus, the theory of' contradiction and crisis of capitalism' by Karl Marx remains most relevant to Indian democracy.

This 'extreme crisis' also has special race, gender, and nationality-based impacts between advanced and developing capitalist economies.

The drive for maximum profits and accumulation of wealth leads to ever larger and more destructive crises such as the global financial crisis of 2008, mass economic migration, poverty, hunger, disease, and the increasing displacement of workers through a technological revolution.

Capitalism can not solve these crises. Their resolution calls for intervention through the organized power of the working class and people, global solidarity of the working class, and radical social reorganization. Capitalist development has created two existential threats to mankind and nature: the climate crisis and the nuclear war danger.

Militarism and the growing danger of nuclear war are threatening humanity today. At every level, U.S. society is militarized. In the midst of increased capitalist and regional rivalries and between capitalist and socialist-oriented states, a new global nuclear arms race has begun. The U.S. is spending more than $2 trillion on nuclear modernization to make it easier to deploy and use a new class of more dangerous nuclear weapons. The risk of a nuclear disaster now exceeds that of the Cold War.

In the U.S. and Europe as well, the danger of authoritarianism and fascism has increased. Trump and the so-called 'old-right' or fascists associated with him pose an unprecedented threat to democracy, peace, and the environment.

Marx remains relevant because capitalism is basically based on the inequality of the worst order, and socialism can provide an answer to both class and caste questions under Indian conditions. We don't have to accept any kind of social order based on inequality. We also need to understand that Marxist revolutionaries like Lenin, Mao, Ho Chin Minh, Castro etc. have adapted Marx's ideas to best suit the needs of their revolutions. The same is demanded by Indian conditions. The application of Marxian principles can not be the same everywhere as Marxism or scientific socialism itself is a dynamic force that demands change in application according to place and condition. We can look forward to realizing Marx's vision of a fairer society with this hope.

Conclusion

The victory of the 20th century socialist revolutions and efforts to build socialism under extraordinarily difficult circumstances — their accomplishments, errors, mistakes, and even crimes, and subsequent defeats — provided a wealth of valuable, if not bitter experience and lessons.

Karl Marx's lessons were also critical for correcting errors, reforming old models, and forging new paths for building modern socialism in the 21st century.

We must continue to believe that there are no universal models for the working class and its strategic allies to win political power, the transition to socialism, or the specific characteristics of that future system. Each country will find its path to socialism based on its people's history, traditions, and realities. We are convinced that the future of humanity is a democratic, peaceful, sustainable socialism; and Karl Marx's ideas are essential to get us there.

References

1. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
2. https://www.marxist.com
3. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-politics
4. https://thegreatthinkers.org/marx/introduction/