Can Marxism be considered a conspiracy
theory under Cassam's definition of
conspiracy theory
Introduction
At some point in everyone’s life, Conspiracy Theory was a seductive explanation
for certain events. One such example is how the government is hiding aliens in
Area 51, no matter how interesting that may appeal towards many, yet it is quite
unlikely to be true, although according to a survey conducted by Statista (2021),
around 27% of the number of respondents (1220 total) believed in the Conspiracy
Theory of aliens being stored in Area 51. Notwithstanding those who believe, the
individuals who disbelieve in Conspiracy Theories might feel superior in terms of
intellect and cognizance, causing them to dismiss any sort of such explanation.
Conversely, it is important to define, what Conspiracy Theories are, what their
contents are and what they are in nature? This is the question Quassim Cassam
tried to answer in his book, ‘Conspiracy Theory. At first glance, it might seem like
an easy task but it will be shown in the essay that it is more perplexing and
abstruse. Being an analytic philosopher, Cassam deploys his philosophical
expertise and shills into play; he tried to confine the definition of Conspiracy
Theories in four main sectors: Speculative, contrarian, esoteric, and lastly premodern outdated (19th century). Cassam proceeds on to say that the function of
Conspiracy Theory is to spread falsehood and ensuing to be considered as political
propaganda. This may be put forward as though he has succeeded in defining
Conspiracy Theories but as will be discussed in this essay that his definition is
problematic. His description can be easily used to evince one of the most
prominent economic theories, Marxism, as a Conspiracy Theory. Marxism will be
briefly touched upon with its basics and fundamentals in order to show how it fits
into the Conspiracy Theory classification. As a whole, the essay laconically
describes both sides and then will be compared with one another to show that
Marxism fits into a Conspiracy Theory.
Cassam's Conspiracy Theory theory
Firstly, the theory of Quassim Cassam will be looked through to comprehend the
concept of the essay. In his book, Conspiracy Theories, Quassim Cassam, takes on
the responsibility of outlining Conspiracy Theories. He distinguishes very clearly
the differences between Conspiracy Theories with capital ‘C’ and ‘T’, and
conspiracy. Conspiracies have some characteristics such that they are supposed to
be a secret, a small group of people are involved, known as the conspirators and
they work together with a secretive plan to perform definite illegal or harmful
actions, (Cassam, 2019, page-3) whereas Conspiracy Theories are of different in
ambiance, Cassam observes that Conspiracy Theories are unlikely to be true,
reason being is that they function as political publicity and that they ought to
promote certain political agenda. As an example, Cassam points out the Holocaust
denial, a group that believes Holocaust was a myth. The only thing that can be
derived from such a Conspiracy Theory is to promote right-wing anti-Semitism
which glorifies Nazi ideology and portraits the Jews as an enemy or ill in the
society. An important aspect of Conspiracy Theories is that they are speculative,
by which Cassam means that they are not based on knowledge or solid evidence
but rather educated guesswork, constantly navigating between things that do not fit
and obsessing with connecting the dots even if they are implausible. Another
feature of Conspiracy Theories is contrarian, as in the official view is a part of the
establishment’s attempt to curtail the conspiracy that the Conspiracy Theorist is
trying to expose (Brotherton, Suspicious Minds, page-68). Conspiracy Theories
tend to have a more outdated (19th century) way of thinking component to them as
it was observed by Brian Keeley. Cassam borrows from Keeley that describes the
worldview as being controlled by a small number of people acting in secret, giving
events a deeper meaning. So, events do not occur in the past and in the present
randomly but rather entail a purpose that needs to be unfolding, everything
happens for a reason. (Keeley, B. (1999))
Marxism
Before embarking on showing how Marxism is a conspiracy theory according to
Cassam’s classification, it is important to briefly confer what Marxism and its
basic ideas are; alongside the discussion, will follow a certain definition of its core
perceptions. Since the publication of Das Kapital in 1867, Marx's ideas have
developed into many other branches and became one of the main elements in
Leftist politics. There are many philosophical assumptions and theories that are
displayed in Marx's idea but they are not relevant to the argument that has been
forwarded in this essay. Moreover, it is important to mention that this essay will
not discuss different interpretations of Marxism nor will be going into immense
details of its conceptions. It will brush generally over the quintessential elements of
Marxism which encompasses class conflict, the ruling class and the working-class;
how the ruling class is viewed, and their influences on the working class and
society.
Marxism, named after Karl Marx, a political and economic philosophy, theorized
by both Friedrich Engels and Marx himself which aims to scrutinize the impact of
Capitalism (which is an economic system based on the private ownership of the
means of production factories, land, etc.) (Zimbalist, Sherman and Brown,
Andrew, Howard J. and Stuart (1988)), on economic development. Marx argues for
a worker revolution to overturn Capitalism and replace it with communism.
Communism is a political and economic system that aims to replace all private
property and a profit-based economy (Capitalism) with public ownership and
communal control of at least the major means of production (e.g., mines, mills, and
factories) and the natural resources of society (Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard.
(2019)). The entire basis for Marxism borrows heavily from Hegelian dialectics,
which states that all things contain contradictory sides, whose conflict is the
driving force of change and eventually transforms or dissolves them. This very
concept of dialectics is then carved and transformed into dialectical materialism,
which hypothesizes that political and historical events result from the dispute of
social forces and are capable of being understood as a series of inconsistencies and
their solutions. In order words, it says there are two opposing forces that are in
disagreement with each other, and given time they will come to a revolution.
Marxism presupposes certain aspects of what constitutes a scientific basis for his
theory; the most essential aspect is dialectics. Drawn from this the two contrasting
forces, the ruling class, and the working class are in strife and are caused by
material needs.
Marx points out the struggle between the social classes, between the Ruling class
and the working class; it is this distinction that will lead to the revolt, and
ultimately lead to communism. According to him, the Ruling class of a given
society owns the means of production, such as factories, property, and/or business
(Encyclopedia of Marxism).
“These members of the tiny capitalist class at the top of the hierarchy have an
influence on economy and society far beyond their numbers. They make
investment decisions that open or close employment opportunities for millions of
others. They contribute money to political parties, and they often own media
enterprises that allow them to influence the thinking of other classes. The capitalist
class strives to perpetuate itself: Assets, lifestyles, values and social networks,
these are all passed from one generation to the next.” Gilbert, D. (1998)
Gilbert's analysis is very similar to that of Marx's, in which 'the individuals
composing the ruling class possess consciousness. This notion of possessing
consciousness was mentioned in The German Ideology (1932) by Marx and
Engels. The Ruling class regulates, also rule as thinkers, as producers of ideas, and
control the production and distribution of the thinking of their age. So their ideas
are the ruling ideas of the age. During Aristocracy the notions of honor, loyalty,
etc. were dominant; during bourgeois the concepts of freedom, equality, etc. were
dominant. 'In Marx’s own words: The idea of the ruling class is, in every age, the
ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the dominant material force in society.' Rashid,
H. (2019). Thus it is the ruling class that is governing the thinking pattern of the
working class. They employ social institutions, including governments, media,
academia, organized religions, and banking and financial systems, as tools against
the working class with the goal and agenda of maintaining their position of power.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are the working class as defined by Marx;
they are the ones who actually utilize their strength to create goods, such as cars,
clothes, etc., and provide services that in turn create society’s wealth, they only sell
their Labor-power and skills. They are the ordinary laborers, who do not own the
means of production, such as factories, buildings, and/or land; they have little to no
power in the capitalist economic system. They are, often, the majority of the
population of any given society. According to a 2018 study by Pew Research
Center, only 19% of American adults were part of upper-class households. These
families earned a median income of $187,872 in 2016, compared to 52% who
made up the middle class and 29% who made up the lower class. The wealth held
by these individuals has led to a disparaging gap regarding income and power over
those in other classes, while those in the upper class exert significant authority over
economic and political developments (Kochhar, 2018). According to an article
issued in Investopedia, the most productive activities and consumption are done by
the working and middle classes because they are much larger in number than the
small upper class and require a more momentous percentage of the resources
(“What Is the Upper Class?” 2020a). Then there are the elite people or
organizations that are considered the most powerful compared to others of similar
types as defined by Cambridge dictionary, this group of people are the super-rich
and make the tiniest minority. According to a 2020 report from Oxfam the world
has only 2,153 billionaires, who have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who
make up 60 percent of the entire world population (World’s Billionaires Have
More Wealth than 4.6 Billion People, 2020).
In Marx's analysis, it is precisely mentioned that this imbalance in power and
wealth is what gives rise to a state of discord between the two classes. Central
thoughts of the conflict theory are the abstraction of social inequality, the
distribution of resources, and the conflicts that exist between different
socioeconomic classes. Ultimately, these inherent inequalities and exploitative
economic relations between these two classes will lead to a revolution in which the
working class protests against the ruling class and seizes control of the means of
production, and put an end to capitalism and leading to communism as Marx tried
to foretell. Simply put, Marx bases his approach on hypothetical grounds and then
goes on to develop an analysis of the society in relation to the economy and finally
determines the inevitable future of capitalism. This is precisely why Marxism can
be categorized as a Conspiracy Theory rather than a social theory that will be
deliberated in the following part.
Marxism as a Conspiracy Theory
Speculative
Given as discussed previously how Marxism is based on the philosophical
hypothesis, Dialectical materialism, it becomes apparent that it is speculative, as
Peter Singer wrote in his book, Marx: A Very Short Introduction', The 1844
version of Marxism was not in fact published until 1932. This so-called ‘first
Marxism’ is a speculative philosophy of history rather than a scientific study.'
(2000). Marxism assumes the Ruling class to have created all superstructures,
such as religions, politics, and others, as mentioned previously in the essay, as a
means to hold on to the capital and make more profit, and the only way to achieve
this is by manipulating the masses: the working class. They utilize 'the ruling ideas'
to control all forms of powerful institutions, such as government, media, and even
academia in order to oppress the working class. It is crucial for Marxism to frame
'the individuals composing the ruling class possess consciousness.’. In other words,
they are aware of their powerful state, their actions, and the repression of the
working class. This idea of 'Ruling class' can be distinguished as a small group of
people, the Elite, working in not so in secret to achieve their goal, possessing an
agenda. The goal is to manipulate the masses with ‘ruling ideas’ whereas the
agenda is to attain and maintain the increase in profit. Cassam mentions some early
Conspiracy Theories about the Jews plot and how they are planning on dominating
and causing all atrocities in society, astonishingly enough the Jews scheme can
easily be substituted by the ruling class as they are aware of their power and want
to maintain it at the expense of the rest of population. Marxism holds that they are
the producers of ideas that dominate society to follow their ideals and
systematically use them to dictate the working class just like anyone holding on to
the Jew's plot belief.
This is, still, speculative in nature as there is no solid evidence if all of the ruling
class works together in harmony to tyrannize the working class, just like the Jews
plot. Marxism assumes how the entirety works and forms a theory based on them.
Marx went on even further, predicting how his analysis concluded that after the
revolution the working class will work together in harmony to establish and
preserve communism but as shown by many mainstream economic studies,
Marxism is considered wrong due to its failure in practical application in some
parts of the world, such as the USSR, CUBA, etc. This was mentioned by a Former
Prime Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, 'of course, it was all rubbish, and Marx’s
theory of history – dialectical materialism – has since been proved wrong and
dangerous in practically every respect. The great twentieth-century philosopher
Karl Popper, one of Marx’s strongest critics, rightly called him a “false
prophet.”'(2018).
The main point Cassam made in the differentiating factor between Conspiracy
Theories and conspiracy, are facts. Conspiracy has a factual basis and happened in
the past, an example is Operation Northwood, 1962, whereas Conspiracy Theories
are not. Under this circumstance, Marxism becomes obsolete in analyzing the
economy but is rendered into a Conspiracy Theory given its speculative nature,
thereby making it, also, political propaganda as a result. According to Cassam,
telling the truth is not the actual purpose of Conspiracy Theories. Marxist practical
application and prediction did not work as anticipated by Marx; it's speculative, not
grounded on facts either so how can it be telling the truth? Conferring to Cassam's
definition, the aim of Marxism analysis, then, was not, to tell the truth therefore it
must have had another purpose, thus it easily slipped into the political propaganda
list because Marxism deliberately aim and ought to destroy capitalism and those
governments, states that run by it.
Contrarian
Another way in which that shows that Marxism is a Conspiracy Theory is its
relativity with contrary. According to the Encarta Reference Library, Marxism is
summed up and defined as "a theory in which class struggle is a central element in
the analysis of social change in Western societies." Consequently, Marxism is the
direct opposite of capitalism which is defined and mentioned earlier in the essay.
Marxism is the structure of socialism of which the leading feature is public
ownership of the means of manufacture, distribution, and exchange (Encarta,
2009). Given how Marxism analyzes the economy, it is always contrary to what
the mainstream explanation has to offer. Additionally, Marxist academics
downplay the mainstream economic studies and are constantly criticizing their
approach to any given economic problems. For example, the World Bank has set
the Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day, anyone below this lives in poverty and
above is considered alleviated from poverty. One eminent figure in Marxism and
socialism, Richard D. Wolff, criticizes this ration of $1.90 a day. According to new
research that number is not actually based on the living cost of an actual person, it
is deemed as totally arbitrary. His claim is supported by what the World
Development report stated, ‘Criteria for distinguishing poor from non-poor tend to
reflect specific national priorities and normative concepts of welfare and rights.
However, a universal poverty line is needed to permit cross-country comparison
and aggregation. This global poverty line is inevitably somewhat ‘arbitrary’
(World Development Report, 1990). These two views are polar opposite, on one
hand, the World Bank celebrates how Capitalism alleviated much poverty Marxist
argues that those are arbitrary, nonsensical and goes on to say capitalism and the
ruling class benefit from the existence of poverty (Cunningham, 2007). It is not
simply that there are rich and poor. It is rather that some are rich because some are
poor (Kincaid, 1973). This view is unsurprisingly contrarian in nature as they are
always opposing the conventional explanation. After all, Marxism is trying to
‘expose’ the lies, oppression, and ruthless cruelty that the ruling class is forcefully
imposing onto the working class, surprising analogous to what Conspiracy theorist
would have one belief, ‘the official view is a part of the establishment’s endeavor
to blind the conspiracy that the Conspiracy Theorist is trying to expose’
(Brotherton, Suspicious Minds, page-68).
Pre-modern Outdated (19th century)
Marxism seeks to explain the development of all societies and furthermore, make
predictions about future social change. Marxists consider the material world as an
integrated whole in which all things and phenomena are 'interconnected' and
'interdependent'. No event occurs independently rather they are connected. This
notion of the society leaves no space for any coincidental or accidental events to
occur in history, they happen for a reason, and the reason is the production relation
that ultimately determines the social developments and economic structures, which
is the very foundation for the superstructure of the society.
The vision of Marx is beautifully put in an article from Life, 'In the Marxian view,
human history is like a river, from any given vantage point, a river looks much the
same day after day. But actually, it is constantly flowing and changing, crumbling
its banks, widening and deepening its channel. The water that is seen one day is
never the same as that seen the next. Some of it is constantly being evaporated and
drawn up, to return as rain. From year to year, these changes may be scarcely
perceptible. But one day, when the banks are thoroughly weakened and the rains
are long and heavy, the river flood bursts its banks, and may take a new course.'
(Hubert Kay, Life, 1948)
From this point of view, it is clear that society is destined to reach somewhere, all
that is happening around holds a purpose. The destination, in this view, is when the
working class becomes conscious of the state of conflict; they wish to bring an end
to it. Such thinking is inherently 19th century for two reasons, first being the most
obvious that Marxism was conceptualized in the 1800s and second being that all
events happen for a purpose and there is no room for 'shit happens' (Mandik 2007)
as a modern perspective, there is no deeper meaning to events nor there is any allpowerful hidden conspirator (the ruling class/ Elite, in Marx's case) controlling the
world as stated previously by Brian Keeley.
Esoteric
One more aspect of Cassam's Theory of Conspiracy Theories is Esoteric, which is
defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as 'only taught to or understood by
members of a special group'. This holds true for many Marxist academics. In recent
years a new wave of Marxism has arisen in the universities whose aim is not to
overthrow capitalism, rather simply to study Marxism itself. Since its members are
found mainly in Western Europe and North America it is known as "Western
Marxism". However, "Academic Marxism" would be a more accurate term to
describe that (Callinicos, 1983). As shown by the results from a 2006 nationally
representative survey of American professors. The survey asked if the professor
considered himself “radical,” “political activist,” or “Marxist.” Overall, Marxism is
a tiny minority. Only 3% of professors accepted the label. The share rises to 5% in
the humanities. Neil Gross and Solon Simmons, the authors of the study,
mentioned,'[S]elf-identified Marxists are rare in academe today. The highest
proportion of Marxist academics can be found in the social sciences, and there they
represent less than 18 percent of all professors (among the social science fields for
which we can issue discipline-specific estimates, sociology contains the most
Marxists, at 25.5 percent). (Gross & Simmons, 2007). This apparent result from the
survey shows that Marxism is esoteric in nature which is confined within a very
small group of academics let alone being a part of the general public discourse. To
add more to the point made by Cassam, 'the more esoteric the theory, the greater
the appeal...'(Cassam, 2019, p.23), there is a tendency for certain parts of the
population (Millennial) to lean towards communism, a recent 2019 annual poll by
YouGov has shown this in their 'FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT ON U.S.
ATTITUDES TOWARD SOCIALISM' study that showed increased support for
communism (36%) among Millennial (ages 23-38) compared to 2018. This trend
further shows Marxism is not a theory but rather a Conspiracy Theory in terms of
convincing Millennials with its seductive explanation of the economy.
Conclusion
To sum up, the aim of this essay was to show how Cassam’s definition of
Conspiracy Theory can render Marxism as a Conspiracy Theory rather than a
social theory bestowing to the four main parts for Cassam’s are, “speculative,
contrarian, esoteric, and pre-modern”. Even though it is desirable to come up with
a characterization that pinpoints exactly what a Conspiracy Theory is, one must be
able to broaden their view. To Cassam, the favorite multipurpose villain of a
Conspiracy Theorist are the Government, agents of a deep state, usually a minor
group, this can be substituted by what Marxism refers to as ‘the ruling class’ as
they are the ones in charge of all the cruelty and inequality in the society,
furthermore, they are the creators and regulators of ideas to oppress and control the
working class. Henceforth they must be taken down from power, similar to the
Jews Plot Conspiracy Theory as mentioned above. Marxism operates on certain
assumptions and hypotheses (dialectics and dialectical materialism) that were
conceptualized in the 19th century, making them both speculative and pre-modern
(outdated). Speculative, due to its basis on hypothesis rather than proofs/solid
evidence, it presumes that there are two opposing forces in conflict with each other
and applies this to the social study and concluding the ruling class and the working
class are in conflict and after the clash and come to a resolution, communism will
be the foreseeable consequence, but as mentioned earlier it was not the actual
outcome in many parts of the world thereby disproving it. Again showing the
function of the theory was not telling the truth, hence the only function of it was
political propaganda. Americans in the 50s were terrified of communism and it was
viewed as political propaganda by the USSR, so much so that the Red Scare was
created to spread fear for communism (MCCARTHYISM AND THE RED
SCARE, 2021). Marxist study of the economy is mostly contrarian as they oppose
the mainstream academic study of the economy, which goes hand in hand with
Cassam’s notion of being contrarian. Moreover, fewer academics are engaging
with Marxism, only around 3%, a tiny fraction of the population, yet again as
Cassam’s points out the, ‘more esoteric the theory, the greater it appeals to the
Conspiracy Theorist’. This is evident in the growing number of Millennials leaning
towards Marxism/Socialism and/or left-wing according to an annual poll
conducted by YouGov.
As the general argument has been placed forward in this essay it, rather, becomes
quite clear that a conspicuous and well respected social and economic theory,
Marxism, can be considered a Conspiracy theory. As much as it is important to
define Conspiracy Theory, their nature, and how they operate in a society it is also
imperative to have a definition of Conspiracy Theory that helps identify between
an old social theory and an actual Conspiracy theory otherwise Conspiracy Theory
theorists might possibly end up criticizing something else entirely.
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