Critique of Marxism

According to the University of Hawaii’s R.J. Rummel, nearly 110 million people have been murdered in the last century by communism. Comparing that to only 38 million killed in domestic wars in the same timeframe.  Leaders like Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Kim Jong-un have all been influenced by the idea of communism. As we can see from history, communism just doesn't work. 

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German economist and sociologist who created a political theory that he originally called scientific socialism, and later became known as communism.  Many Americans today favor communism to the current U.S. system despite the rap sheet of injustices it has produced. So, why are so many people attracted to communism?

Well, actually there is a difference between communism in theory and communism in practice.  Communism is defined as a system where the economic means of production are collectively owned. There is no state, no money, and no class distinctions. Individuals don't own businesses or any private property. In a communist society all people are equal, no one person having power over another. 

     In The Communist Manifesto (1848), Karl Marx formulates the revolution of the Communist Party while criticizing capitalism. He starts off with a capitalist society (this is during the time of the industrial revolution). Machinery and technology made it easier and quicker than ever before to produce goods and services. Many craftsmen and trades jobs were replaced by monotonous jobs on assembly lines. This lead to alienation of the laborers. People no longer felt like they were making a contribution to society. They also feel lack of security due to the fact that they could easily be replaced or thrown aside at the convenience of the employer.  The ruling class (bourgeoisie) exploit the working class (proletariat) for their labor, while getting filthy rich and barely paying the workers enough to live on. Marx once wrote “The enemy of being is having.” (Nuanes). In the capitalist society people are driven by profit. Beauty, art, music, and even human beings become nothing more than commodities to be bought and sold. People become obsessed with having more stuff, but having more stuff will not make them any happier. The proletariat will become angry with the bourgeoisie, and eventually they will start a revolution. The proletariat will overthrow the industries, government, and institutions. This is the start of the communist society. In this new system there is no monetary system, no state, and no class distinctions. Everyone will be seen as equal regardless of their skills and abilities. The means of production will be collectively owned by the community. Individuals will no longer own businesses or private property.

Communism in practice isn’t what Marx had in mind. Communism as we know it, is more like an authoritarian socialist system. It serves as the training wheels or a step towards real Marxism. The communism that so many people are attracted to was the actual ideas of Karl Marx. In it, there seems to be a moral high ground, without poor people, without governments killing innocent people, and without evil corporate billionaires. It seems like this system could either be a utopian dream, or an unrealistic nightmare.  If you value liberty, it will most likely be the latter. 

In the ideal communist society all people are equal without class distinctions. So, the doctor and the janitor have the same amount of wealth. So what would incentivize the doctor to spend years of his life in school learning and studying when he could have no skill and be no better off?  The majority of people would choose to take the easiest path, or choose to pursue their hobbies instead of doing work that is essential to keep society running.  There would be an overabundance of entertainers and musicians, and a lack of doctors, lawyers, engineers, garbage men, builders, or any job that was seen as difficult or unappealing.  

In Marxism there is no money. Individuals contribute what they can or choose to contribute to society, and they take what they need from others who do the same.  There are two problems with this; the first problem is that there would be a problem distributing goods, and secondly it would reward mediocrity.  Without some monetary system there wouldn't be a way of knowing the supply or demand for consumer goods. Let’s say that I live in an area where the only food grown is corn. I get hungry for a kiwi, but the closest kiwi farm is five-thousand miles away.  So, what do I do? I eat corn. 

The problem with people giving what they wish and taking what they need comes when people want to take more than their fair share and contribute less than their fair share.  Society will not be able to sustain itself and everyone will be equally living in poverty.  The government will have to step in and create a monetary system to pay people according to the value of their work. People can then use their money to pay for their needs.

In the communist society there is no incentive for the young entrepreneur to risk everything and start a new business. He would be better off working at an established business and mediocrely perform his tasks. If he were to live in a capitalist society, he would take his idea to the bank, and if the bank saw value in his idea then he would walk out of there with a loan to start the business of his dreams. If he works hard and supplies the demand for his product then he will be successful. Society benefits from his product and he benefits accordingly.  Capitalism rewards risk; and leads to innovation and progress that benefits the overall society.  

Capitalism runs on money. When people desire kiwis, someone in the community will see this and find a way to buy kiwis from the kiwi farm five-thousand miles away and distribute the kiwis to the people willing to pay for them. This system relies on the supply and demand of consumer goods. If there is low supply of a particular good, the people in demand will be willing to pay a higher price. On the other side, if there is an overabundance of a good, people will not be willing to pay as high a price. This is due to diminishing marginal utility. If I want ice cream that first scoop has lots of value to me. If I get another scoop, it’s still pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as that first bite though.  When offered a third scoop I don't really want it bad enough to pay the full price but I would be willing to if the price was cut in half. The value of ice cream is no longer the same to me as it was when I was in need of ice cream and the same principal can be applied to any other good when talking about supply and demand. 

A Marxist society wouldn't work without money. The system would have to morph into the typical communist systems that we see today, which still wouldn’t be able to effectively control the economies because the communist governments would have too much control. Steven Crowder said “Individuals when left alone and given the freedom to make their own decisions tend to do so more effectively then government bureaucrats in Washington.” when talking about why democratic socialism doesn't work.  Markets need currency, and should be left alone as long as people aren't being hurt or having their liberties taken from them. 

     Communism is an unrealistic utopian system that appeals to millions of people because it falsely attempts to make a higher moral standard. Instead of the commune of people getting together and holding property as a collective whole, government owns everything and makes decisions by force. This system has led to the death of millions of people. It punishes risk and rewards mediocrity which kills any innovation or progress that would've happened in a capitalist system. It would finally put an end to economic inequality, because everyone would be equally poor. Economically, capitalism breeds wealth that benefits all of mankind. Economic inequality may get worse overtime but the entire society gets richer.   In reality, communism just doesn't work.

Works Cited

Crowder, Steven. "Why "Democratic" Socialism Doesn't Work." Online video clip. YouTube.com. YouTube, Published on Mar 31, 2016. Retrieved. May 6, 2016.

Curtis, Michael. The Great Political Theories. New York: Avon Books, 1981. Print

Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto. Narrated by LibriVox Volunteers. Published by 

LibriVox.org, Audio Book.

Nuanes, Israel. (2012, May 16). Marx is for Hippies. Article. The Right Planet.  Retrieved from. http://www.therightplanet.com/2012/05/marx-is-for-hippies/ on May 6, 2016.

Rummel, R.J. (2012, May 16). HOW MANY DID COMMUNIST REGIMES MURDER?*. Article. Hawaii.edu. Retrieved from. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM on May 6, 2016.