Name: _______________________
Marxism vs. Leninism
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1848
Not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has
also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons—the modern
working class—the proletariat…The proletariat will use its political supremacy to
wrest, by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to
centralize all instruments of production in the hands of
the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling
class.
Ideas of Karl Marx :
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People should contribute to the public wealth
according to their ability, but receive according to
their needs.
The means of production should be owned
equally by the whole community (hence
communism), not as in capitalism where
individuals (who might be very rich) own the
means of production and leave the rest of society to be poor and oppressed
wage slaves.
A deterministic interpretation of history, which said that society, must
inevitably develop through successive stages of slavery, feudalism, then
capitalism, ending up with the violent overthrow of capitalism and the
establishment of a communist society.
They should work to overthrow capitalism throughout the world by means of
a revolution by the proletariat (workers).
Class was a feature of capitalist society, and should be destroyed and
replaced by a society of equals.
The economy should be planned - controlled by the government.
Lenin changed Marx's ideas to add that a Communist government first had to
be a dictatorship which was essential in order to bring in the communist
state safely
Lenin, The Significance of Militant Materialism, 1922
One of the biggest and most dangerous mistakes made by
Communists is the idea that a revolution can be made by
revolutionaries alone. On the contrary, to be successful, all serious
revolutionary work requires that the idea that revolutionaries are
capable of playing the part only of the vanguard of the truly virile
and advanced class must be understood and translated into action.
1) Explain Lenin’s adaptation to Marxism (Think about the Communist Revolution
and the NEP).
2) Do you think Lenin faithfully enacted Marx’s philosophy or was it something
different?
3) What are the possible POSITIVE human consequences of a command economy
vs. a free market economy?
Command Economy
Market Economy
4) What are the possible NEGATIVE human consequences of a command economy
vs. a free market economy?