Marxism A Religion Profile from International Students, Inc. Marxism: An Overview Marxist ideology draws its inspiration from the writings of proposed communal ownership on property by the ruling class Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It stresses the need for a in The Republic. During medieval times, many religious political and economic system that abolishes private property, orders practiced the commonality of goods. Thomas More in and in which all materials goods are held in common by all his book Utopia (1516) proposed common ownership of people. As we shall see, Marxism involves several areas of property. thought, including not only economics and politics, but also ethics, history, human nature, and religion. It is a total “world Several factors existing in the late 1700s and early 1800s view.” provided the impetus for an increase in this type of thinking. One was the French Revolution which emphasized the It is not difficult to understand why Marxist thinking appeals equality of all people. Another was the Romantic Movement to so many people. We live in a world of economic extremes. which fostered a high view of human nature and the The disparity between the rich and the poor is great. perfectibility of people and society. A third was the Industrial Understandably, then, Marxism’s promise of economic Revolution which thrived on a large unskilled labor force in equality is attractive to many who desire to eliminate such the factories. Many of these laborers worked and lived under extremes. Marxism also appeals to those looking for hope and extremely difficult conditions. meaning in life but are disillusioned with other ideologies. In light of the influence of these factors, socialist thinking was No one knows how many people in the world are committed found in many writers of the early 1800s. Among these were to Marxism. But there can be no denying that it had an Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Etienne Cabet, Robert unsurpassed influence on humankind during the 20th century. Owen (who founded New Harmony, Indiana), Louis Blanc, Although it has suffered severe political and economic Pierre Proudhon, Prosper Enfanten, Victor Considerant, and setbacks in recent years (particularly in the former Soviet August Comte. Union and Eastern Europe), Marxism remains a viable and appealing ideology to many. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Even in American universities, Marxism wields tremendous Karl Marx was born May 5, 1818, at Trier, Prussia, to influence. An article in U.S. News and World Report, January Heinrich and Henriette Marx. His father was a lawyer. Both 25, 1982, stated that there were 10,000 Marxist professors on his parents were Jews, having descended from a long line of America’s campuses. An article in the August 29, 1989, rabbis. However, in order to continue his law practice in a Denver Post stated that as many as 90 percent of faculty “Christian” environment, Heinrich converted to Lutheranism members at some Midwestern universities are Marxists. The in 1816. Karl and his siblings were baptized in1824. influence of these professors on the thinking of students in U.S. universities should not be underestimated. During his years in school at Trier, Marx wrote a paper on John 15 concerning the importance of union with Christ. In it History of Marxism he said, “Union with Christ bestows inner exaltation, consolation in suffering, calm assurance, and a heart which is Early Roots open to love of mankind, to all that is noble, to all that is great, not out of ambition, not through the desire of fame, but Throughout history there have been people who have proposed only because of Christ.” (Geisler, 68). His school records ideas similar to those of Karl Marx. In the 300s B.C., Plato show that Marx was “of evangelical faith” and that his “moral 1 behavior towards superiors and fellow pupils was good” during his life. His works were not widely read until after his (Mazlish, 45). Marx identified at least externally with the death. There were only six people at his funeral. The closing Christian faith. words of Engels’ oration at his funeral, however, have proven true: “His name will endure through the ages, and so also his In 1835, Marx went to the University of Bonn, and a year later work!” (Sowell, 186). to the University of Berlin. After completing his work in philosophy at the University of Berlin, his dissertation was Marxism after Marx finally accepted by the University of Jena, which granted Marx his Ph.D. in 1841. By the time he had started his Though Marx and Engels laid the foundation for the ideology university education, he was an atheist. While there, he was which became known as Marxism, its development was influenced by Ludwig Feurerbach’s critique of religion as a shaped by a number of other writers in the late 19th and early creation of man, as well as by Bruno Bauer and Richard 20th centuries. In 1889, at the meeting of the Second Strauss (the latter said Jesus never existed). As a student he International Workingman’s Association in Paris, a conflict identified with the “Young Hegelians,” the liberal branch of arose between Karl Kautsky and Eduard Bernstein. The latter the followers of Hegel. believed that a gradual approach was better than the revolutionary doctrine propounded by Marx. He believed the Though Marx hoped to obtain a teaching position, his liberal political and economic system could be changed gradually. political views forced him to pursue a career in journalism. In Those who followed Bernstein became known as 1843, he married Jenny von Westphalen, who was from an “Revisionists.” Modern “Eurocommunism” represented this aristocratic family in Trier. That same year they moved to line of thinking. Kautsky, on the other hand, defended the Paris where Marx wrote briefly for a newspaper. There they need for revolution to institute socialism. He became the came into contact with many radical thinkers. Among them leading theoretician of orthodox Marxism in the late 19th was Friedrich Engels (son of a German industrialist), who century. would become Karl’s lifelong friend and collaborator. No one influenced the future of the Marxist more than V.I. Between 1845 and 1848, the Marxes moved several times Lenin. He emerged in the early 20th century as leader of the between various countries in Europe. In 1848, Marx and Bolshevik wing of the Social Democratic Party in Russia. It Engels published The Communist Manifesto for the was because of his leadership that the Communists came to Communist League (composed mostly of intellectuals and power in Russia in 1917. He differed from Marx in at least the professionals). It was a summons to revolution. This estab- following respects: First, he believed that it was necessary for lished them as the leading theoreticians of the Communist the Communist Party to take control of the revolution rather Movement. than expecting the working class to instigate it on its own. He also believed that the party would need to take tight control of In 1849, Marx and Engels moved to England. Engels went to socialist society after the revolution. Second, he believed that work for his father’s factory in Manchester. The Marxes lived capitalism had not disintegrated, as Marx predicted, because in London, where they spent most of the remainder of their of its imperialistic exploitation of the third world. Thus, he lives in poverty. Marx’s only regular income was as a foreign believed that a communist revolution would take place in a correspondent for the New York Tribune. Most of the rest of non-industrialized society like Russia rather than in their income came from periodic gifts from Engels. industrialized countries like Great Britain or the U.S. Since 1917, the Communist Movement has been more accurately Marx devoted his life to studying at the British Museum and defined as Marxism-Leninism. writing on a variety of themes, particularly economics. In 1858, he published Outlines for a Critique of Political After Lenin died in 1924, Josef Stalin consolidated control Economy. In 1864, he emerged as leader of the First over the Communist Party, and eventually became Head of International Workingman’s Association. In 1867, Marx State. He instituted the most brutal form of totalitarianism published the first volume of Capital, which was largely a rule. It is estimated that he was responsible for the liquidation critique of capitalist economics. The second and third volumes of 20 million people (Hill, Turbulent Times, 70). were published by Engels (from Marx’s notes) after his death. This would prove to be his major life work. After WWII, communism spread to many other countries outside the Soviet Union, notably to China and Eastern Marx continued to write during his later years, but suffered Europe. The brutality of Stalinism gave rise in the 1950s to a many serious health problems. He died March 14, 1883. Of his more humanistic strain of Marxism, particularly in seven children (one died at childbirth), only two survived him Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The humanistic Marxists (both of them later committed suicide) (Mazlish 64). drew from Marx’s earlier writings the idea that the goal of socialism was to liberate humankind from a state of Marx was relatively unknown outside revolutionary circles “alienation,” and to enable people to fulfill their potential. 2 They sought a more democratic kind of socialism than did In other words, economics determines everything about a society, Stalin. In recent years, most communist societies have including government, the prevailing ideas, laws, and even reli- experienced severe economic crises which have led to the gion. Economics, not ideas, is the determining factor in history. collapse of communist regimes.