Marxism
Dubbs World
Socialism
Marxism
Capitalism
Trotskyism
Communism
Conservatism
Maoism
?
?
Leninism
Liberalism
Stalinism
Fascism
The GREAT COW ANALOGY
SOCIALISM
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with
everyone else’s cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives
you as much milk as you need.
COMMUNISM
You have two cows. Give both cows to the government, and they MAY
give you some milk.
FASCISM
You have two cows. You give all the milk to the government, and the
government sells it.
NAZISM
You have two cows. The government shoots you and takes both cows.
ANARCHISM
You have two cows. Keep both the cows, shoot the government agent,
and steal another cow.
CAPITALISM
You have two cows. Sell one cow and buy a bull.
And continued…
PURE COMMUNISM
You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them, and you all share
the milk.
LIBERALISM
You have two cows. You sell both to the rich. The government then taxes the rich
one cow and gives it to the poor.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows. YOUR NEIGHBOR HAS NONE. SO?
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
The government promises to give you two cows if you vote for it. After the
election, the president in impeached for speculating in cow futures. The press
dubs [sic] the affair ‘cowgate’.
COMMUNISM
according to
Karl MARX
&
Friedrich ENGELS
ie.
MARXIST COMMUNISM
Imagine by John Lennon
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no country
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one.
Karl Marx
1818 - 1883
• German philosopher,
economist, and social
theorist whose ideas have
exercised an enormous
influence on later thinkers
and political activists.
In brief – the most important ideas of Karl Marx:
1. All societies are made up of classes, and in modern, industrial
societies there are two main classes – the capitalists (bourgeoisie)
and the proletariat.
In brief – the most important ideas of Karl Marx:
1. All societies are made up of classes, and in modern, industrial
societies there are two main classes – the capitalists and the
proletariat.
2. These two classes must always be in conflict, and in capitalist
societies the state – or machinery of government – it used to control
the workers.
In brief – the most important ideas of Karl Marx:
1. All societies are made up of classes, and in modern, industrial
societies there are two main classes – the capitalists and the
proletariat.
2. These two classes must always be in conflict, and in capitalist
societies the state – or machinery of government – it used to control
the workers.
3. The workers must use revolutionary force to overthrow the
capitalists.
In brief – the most important ideas of Karl Marx:
1. All societies are made up of classes, and in modern, industrial
societies there are two main classes – the capitalists and the
proletariat.
2. These two classes must always be in conflict, and in capitalist
societies the state – or machinery of government – it used to control
the workers.
3. The workers must use revolutionary force to overthrow the
capitalists.
4. The revolution will be successful only when the masses of workers
become class-conscious – that is, realise how they are cheated by the
capitalists.
In brief – the most important ideas of Karl Marx:
1. All societies are made up of classes, and in modern, industrial
societies there are two main classes – the capitalists and the
proletariat.
2. These two classes must always be in conflict, and in capitalist
societies the state – or machinery of government – it used to control
the workers.
3. The workers must use revolutionary force to overthrow the
capitalists.
4. The revolution will be successful only when the masses of workers
become class-conscious – that is, realise how they are cheated by the
capitalists.
5. After the revolution the workers will create a classless society in
which all men will be equal. As it will no longer be needed, the state
or machinery of government, will wither away.
Stages in History…
…the inevitable progress of history = historical determinism
Primitive Communism
Evolution
Feudalism
Violent Revolution
Capitalism
Violent Revolution
Socialism
Transition
Communism (Utopia)
P
A
S
S
A
G
E
O
F
TI
M
E
The history of all societies is the ‘history of class struggle’:
Owners of the ‘means of production’ against/versus workers of the ‘means of production’.
PRIMITIVE COMMUNISM
(no government)
= Classless society (based on subsistence living – very few commodities)
Pre Industrial Society
FEUDALISM
(usually an absolute monarchy)
= Aristocracy (landowners) versus Peasantry (land-workers)
Industrial Society
CAPITALISM
Revolution
(parliamentary democracy defending bourgeois principles)
= Bourgeoisie (factory owners) versus Proletariat (factory workers)
The history of all societies is the history of class struggle:
PRIMITIVE COMMUNISM
FEUDALISM
Capitalist Revolution
CAPITALISM
Socialist Revolution
SOCIALISM
Dictatorship of the Proletariat =
Workers control the State to resist counter-revolution… as the threat diminishes, so the State
becomes less powerful! Society becomes more equal with class system breaking down and goods
more fairly distributed.
COMMUNISM
Gradual transition
Classless society - no State, just the administration of things!
All equal where plentiful goods are fairly shared: ‘From each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs’.
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed
creature, the heart of a heartless
world, and the soul of soulless
conditions.
It is the opium of the people.
Karl Marx (1818-83)
From George Orwell’s Animal Farm – a ‘fairy story’ written as a comment on Communism:
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the golden future time.
Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer shall its waters be,
Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.
Soon or late the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be overthrown,
And the fruitful fields of England
Shall be trod by beast alone.
For that day we must all labour,
Though we die before it breaks;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.
Rings shall vanish from our noses,
And the harness from our back,
Bit and spur shall rust forever,
Cruel whips no more shall crack.
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time.
Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans, and mangel-wurzels
Shall be ours upon that day.
According to Marx & Engels – the history of mankind is the history of
‘class struggle’ in which working people were always fighting against
the people who oppressed them.
In the Communist Manifesto, they claimed that:
•Workers (the proletariat) were exploited by those who controlled
money and invested in business (capitalists)
•Most workers received poor wages and worked in terrible
conditions which capitalists made large profits.
•This unfair situation could not continue and would inevitably lead
to a communist revolution.
•The workers would overthrow the capitalists and a new, classless
society would emerge.
They believed that communism was the last stage in history.