Coming from
a free-society perspective it would seem that issues surrounding
class, the state and capitalism have been somehow resolved. Class is
extinct, reducing the size of the state is an accepted doctrine no
matter what the issue at hand and there appears to be a consensus
that the more voracious the the particular brand of capitalism is, the better results it will
yield. Yet this in my opinion; this sense of confidence is misplaced. Ultimately Marxism is not the correct answer to these questions. However to simply dismiss a debate on the virtue that is is 'Marxist' or 'Socialist' runs the very real risk of ideological dogmatism. This is a relatively new phenomenon, almost 170 years after the
communist manifesto has been punished in 1848, political thinkers are
only just beginning to turn their attention away from Marx. Arguably
no matter what your political affiliation, we should all still listen
to Marx.
A
significant reason for this change is historical. Since the downfall
of the USSR, the capitalist transformation of China and the death of
truly left-wing political parties in most of the Western world.
There seems to be a notion of victory among anti- communist thinkers.
A strong sense that for want of a better phrase 'we have won'.
However this marks a stark contrast to 60 years ago during the
immediate post- war era. Most of the philosophical architects that
have built the modern political landscape ultimately had Marx to
answer to. Not just in the realms of academia but in answering to the very
real economic successes of the USSR and the wider communist world. Throughout 1950s-60s Britain, alleviating poverty, building adequate housing and dismantling empire
(albeit reluctantly) were defining features of the period. This
contrasts sharply with the current political issues Britain is
dealing with. Most of the key ideologues of the past 100 years have
been shaped by Marxism. Far from being relics of the past that are
best forgotten. These 20th century thinkers still shape
our thoughts today- weather in favour or opposition to Socialism. To
forget that is to abandon a fundamental set of concepts that shape
our modern thinking.
The biggest
casualty of this collective amnesia of Marx is that many seem to
believe that anything that can be described as anti-communism by
definition works... on the basis that it isn't what happened in the
USSR. This sense of overconfidence is misplaced. The issues that Marx
addressed over 150 years ago are still very relevant today. Global
inequality has never been higher. It is true that in the West it is
commonplace to have lots of material possessions that older
generations could have dreamed of. However this does not excuse the
fact that more and more the top 1% of the worlds rich are forming an
impregnable global elite class. Middle level wages have all but
stagnated since the 1980s and low level wages have plummeted. As well
as ever rising inequality, successive western ( and increasingly
non-western) governments put faith in unproductive consumption and financial engineering as an
engine of economic growth. In many places this has decimated any
notion of a functioning productive economy. Furthermore countries
such as Germany, South Korea and Sweden that pursue active
protectionist trade policies are now the global leaders in industry.
So this begs
the question. All this time, was Marx right? The answer is ultimately
no. It is truly a sign of the times that a capitalist ( A Marxist
term) economy that practices protectionism can be considered
'Socialist'. The relative success of Germany, South Korea and Sweden among others owes to the fact that those nations pursue pacifist foreign
policies and do not rack up huge amounts of debt financing a
ridiculous military. In the case of South Korea, it pays for almost
non of its own army. Also the Scandinavian countries and Germany take
civil liberties much more seriously than Britain and the USA, thus
you are much less likely to be impeded by government intrusiveness
over your lifetime. A socialist system ultimately lies in coercion. A fallacy that society can be
governed through violence, which even Marx's contemporaries
criticized him for. Therefore Marx is not important because he has
all the right answers... But he certainly asked the best questions.
These questions remain unanswered today. We ignore them at our peril.
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