Marxism

"This page is about the ideology used as the core value for modern Communism. For other uses, see Communism."

Marxism, modernly commonly called Orthodox Marxism or Classical Marxism, also called Scientific Socialism or Marxist Socialism, is an economically far-left, culturally variable but generally progressive ideology that is based on the analysis and ideology of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and looks to achieve a communist (stateless, classless, moneyless) society. According to Marx and Engels, in a communist society, nationality, families , property, commodities, division of labor , cities and countryside, religion, ideology, and markets would be abolished or become obsolete and fade away. Communism operates on the principle "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need". Marxists believe that due to inherent contradictions in the capitalist mode of productions, material conditions will become so bad that there will be a proletarian revolution which will create a  socialist state that transitions to a communist society.

He believes that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles, and history can be viewed in stages of development based on which class holds a dictatorship over the other classes, and that today (with this stage starting around the English Civil War, 1642–1651) the world is under a dictatorship of the bourgeoise.

While Marxism acknowledges the revolutionary role that the bourgeoisie have played in history, tying all corners of the world together in a global web of industry and consumption and revolutionizing the of production creating tools and machinery capable of producing far beyond the necessary requirement to sustain society, he believes that the forces of production are now constrained by the mechanics of capitalism, just as they were constrained by the mechanics of feudalism in the previous stage of development.

On top of that, he believes that how capitalists extract surplus value from the labor of their workers creates an irreconcilable conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat (working class), that can only be ended either through the overthrow of bourgeoisie or the ruination of both classes. Following the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, Marxism believes that a "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" must be established to eradicate capitalism and begin the transition to communism. What is meant by a "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" varies depending on who you ask, but to put it simply it means a society where the working class has absolute power over all other classes, and not a literal dictatorship.

Another thing worth noting is that Marxism does not differentiate between "socialism" or "communism" very much, calling them "lower- stage Communism" and "higher- stage Communism" respectively, and the different names for those stages is an idea that his son Leninism came up with. What is consistent, however, is that both communism and socialism are stateless and classless, with only the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, preceding both, requiring a "commune state" akin to the Paris Commune at most. The only times he differentiates between the two is when referring to socialist tendencies he disagrees with, such as "Proudhonian socialism" or "reactionary socialism".

Before Marxism
Proto Marxists can be found in the 'Young Hegelian' school. The Young Hegelians, also known as the Left Hegelians or the Hegelian Left was a group of German intellectuals who, in the decade or so after the death of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in 1831, reacted to and wrote about his ambiguous legacy. Often expanding on the idea of a 'dialectic'. This is where dialectical materialism find's its roots, particularly in the works of Ludwig Feuerbach. The Young Hegelians drew on Hegel's idea that the purpose and promise of history was the total negation of everything conducive to restricting freedom and reason; and they proceeded to mount radical critiques, first of religion and then of the Prussian political system. They rejected anti-utopian aspects of his thought that "Old Hegelians" had interpreted to mean that the world has already essentially reached perfection.

However, Marx later became disillusioned with many of the Young Hegelians. He and Fredrich Engels would go on to co-write The Holy Family, and The German Ideology as a critique of the Young Hegelians. The latter majorly consisting of a refutation of Max Stirner's "Der Einzige und Sein Eigentum", which allowed Marx to abandone the Young Hegelian concept of humanism towards his 'Dialetical Materialism'.

Some of the many other influences on Marxism can be found in classical economics such as Adam Smith and  David Ricardo who created the labor theory of value (LTV), and the " utopian socialists" such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Étienne Cabet, Henri de Saint-Simon.

Before Marxism, Marx himself was a Radical Liberal

[[File:Ormarxf.png]] Marx and [[File:Orengelsf.png]] Engels
In 1844, on the way to Germany, Fredrich Engels stopped in  Paris to meet Karl Marx, with whom he had an earlier correspondence. Marx had been living in Paris since late October 1843, after the Rheinische Zeitung was banned in March 1843 by  Prussian governmental authorities. Prior to meeting Marx, Engels had become established as a fully developed materialist and scientific socialist, independent of Marx's philosophical development.

In Paris, Marx was publishing the Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher. Engels met Marx for a second time at the Café de la Régence on the Place du Palais, 28 August 1844. The two quickly became close friends and remained so their entire lives, cowriting staples of Marxist literature such as The Communist Manifesto, The German Ideology, Anti-Dühring, and many more. Engels actually provided the funding for a substantial amount of Marx's work as Engels was born into a wealthy family with deep roots in the yarn and cloth industry.

First International
Following the January Uprising in Poland in 1863,  French and  British workers started to discuss developing a closer working relationship. Henri Tolain, Joseph Perrachon and Charles Limousin visited London in July 1863, attending a meeting in St. James's Hall in honour of the  Polish uprising. They discussed the need for an international organisation, which would amongst other things prevent the import of foreign workers to break strikes. In September 1864, French and  British delegates again met in  London, this time to set up an organization for sharing labor information across borders. This organization was the International Workingmen's Association.

The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist,  communist and  anarchist groups and trade unions that were based on the working class and class struggle. It was founded in 1864 in a workmen's meeting held in St. Martin's Hall, London. Its first congress was held in 1866 in Geneva. Due to the wide variety of philosophies present in the First International, there was conflict from the start. The first objections to Marx's influence came from the   mutualists, who opposed  communism and  statism. However, shortly after Mikhail Bakunin and his followers (called collectivists while in the International) joined in 1868, the First International became polarized into two camps, with Marx and Bakunin as their respective figureheads. Perhaps the clearest differences between the groups emerged over their proposed strategies for achieving their visions of socialism. The anarchists grouped around Bakunin favored (in Peter Kropotkin's words) "direct economical struggle against  capitalism, without interfering in the political parliamentary agitation". Marxist thinking at that time focused on parliamentary activity. For example, when the new German Empire of 1871 introduced male suffrage, many German socialists became active in the  Marxist Social Democratic Party of Germany.

In Europe, a period of harsh reaction followed the widespread Revolutions of 1848. The next major phase of revolutionary activity began almost twenty years later with the founding of the IWA in 1864. At its peak, the IWA reported having 8 million members while police reported 5 million. In 1872, it split in two over conflicts between Marxist and anarchist factions and dissolved in 1876. The Second International was founded in 1889.

[[File:Cball-France.png]] Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was the main insurrectionary commune of France in 1870-1871, based on direct democracy and established in  Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the events of the Franco-Prussian War, Paris had been defended by the National Guard, where working class radicalism grew among soldiers. In March 1871, during the establishment of the Third Republic under French chief executive Adolphe Thiers, soldiers of the National Guard seized control of the city and then refused to accept the authority of the French government, instead attempting to establish an independent government.

The Commune governed Paris for two months, establishing policies that tended toward a progressive,  anti-religious system of  social democracy, including the separation of church and state, self-policing, the remission of rent during the siege, the abolition of child labor, and the right of employees to take over an enterprise deserted by its owner. Feminist, socialist, and anarchist currents played important roles in the Commune. However, they had very little time to achieve their respective goals.

The Commune was eventually suppressed by the national French Army during La semaine sanglante ("The Bloody Week") beginning on 21 May 1871. Between 6,000 and 7,000 Communards are confirmed to have been killed in battle or executed, though some unconfirmed estimates are as high as 20,000. The Archbishop of Paris, Georges Darboy, and other hostages were shot by the Commune in retaliation. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, who described it as the first example of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Second International
After the dissolution of the First International in 1876, the Second International was formed years later in 1889. Much like the First, it was an organization of socialist and labor parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued the work of the dissolved First International, though excluding the powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement. While the international had initially declared its opposition to all warfare between European powers, most of the major European parties ultimately chose to support their respective states in the First World War. After splitting into pro-Allied, pro-Central Powers, and antimilitarist factions, the international ceased to function. After the war, the remaining factions of the international went on to found the Labor and Socialist International, the International Working Union of Socialist Parties, and the Communist International.

October Revolution and Soviet Union
In November 7, 1917. The communists had started taking over Petrograd, including many other areas. Alexander Kerensky also fled Petrograd to Pskov before they were going to take over the city, he was not captured by the Red Army. Before the Red Army was going to take Pskov when Alexander Kerensky told troops to re-take the city, Kerensky fled to France, which later Pskov was seized to the Reds.

A couple of days later after November 7, Moscow was taken. It would later be the capital of the Russian SFSR in March 1918.

WIP

Third International
the Third International, was an international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism, controlled by the Soviet Union. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state". The Comintern was preceded by the 1916 dissolution of the Second International.

[[File:Commie.png]] Communism
In Marxism, a communist society is the ultimate goal, the end stage of human history. It is a classless, stateless, marketless, moneyless system where the productive forces became so advanced that a post-scarcity economy emerges as the result. The means of production are owned in common, and individuals have free access to consumer goods based on needs. They're also free to pursue their own interests, making this system highly individualistic.

Dialectical Materialism
Dialectical Materialism is a philosophy developed by the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It emphasizes the importance of contradictions within things in shaping political and historical events. It also states that matter is a fundamental substance of reality, and even consciousness is the result of material interactions.

Labor Theory of Value
The core theory of the labor theory of value is that the exchange value of a commodity is determined by the socially necessary labor time put into it. Marx's labor theory of value is different from Adam Smith and  David Ricardo's labor theory of value because it rejects the notion that labor is the source of all wealth. It thinks nature is an equally important contributor to wealth as labor

Exploitation Theory
The exploitation theory is the theory that profit is the result of the exploitation of wage earners by their employers. It rests on the labor theory of value which claims that value is intrinsic in a product according to the amount of labor that has been spent on producing the product.

Worker Alienation
Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the social alienation of people from aspects of their human nature as a consequence of living in a society of stratified social classes. The alienation from the self is a consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, the condition of which estranges a person from their humanity.

Base and Superstructure
In Marxist theory, society consists of two parts: the base (or substructure) and superstructure. The base comprises the forces and relations of production (e.g. employer–employee work conditions, the technical division of labour, and property relations) into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life. The superstructure determines society's other relationships and ideas to comprise its superstructure, including its culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state. The relation of the two parts is not strictly unidirectional, Marx and Engels warned against such economic determinism as the superstructure can affect the base. However the influence of the base is predominant.

Economic Determinism
Economic Determinism is a socioeconomic theory that economic relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist, or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation upon which all other societal and political arrangements in society are based. The theory stresses that societies are divided into competing economic classes whose relative political power is determined by the nature of the economic system.

Workers' Revolution and Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Marxism belives that before a communist society can develop, a state in which the workers are the ones in power must be created. This is called a "Dictatorship of the proletariat" dictatorship here means "absolute authority', so dictatorship of the proletariat refers to absolute authority of the working class, not a  Literal dictatorship.

Early on, Marx and Engels thought that the working class could take the existing state machinery and weild it in order to create the Dictatorship of the proletariat, (as was said in the communist manifesto), but after the Paris Commune Marx changed his mind, now beliving that the working class could not simply lay hold of the existing state machinery.

It is as a result that Marxism is usually revolutionary.

Views on Religion
Marx viewed religion as "the soul of soulless conditions" or the "opium of the people". According to Karl Marx, religion in this world of exploitation is an expression of distress and at the same time it is also a protest against the real distress. In other words, religion continues to survive because of oppressive social conditions. When this oppressive and exploitative condition is destroyed, religion will become unnecessary. At the same time, Marx saw religion as a form of protest by the working classes against their poor economic conditions and their alienation. Some Marxist scholars have classified Marx's views as adhering to Post-Theism, a philosophical position that regards worshipping deities as an eventually obsolete, but temporarily necessary, stage in humanity's historical spiritual development.

Personality
Marxism will usually be portrayed as an amalgamation of Communist archetypes, and of the personality of Karl Marx himself. He will also occasionally be seen educating his various children and the socialist family in general on theory and philosophy.

How to Draw
Orthmarx_flag.svg


 * 1) Draw a ball with eyes.
 * 2) Draw a silhouette of Marx's head. The face and beard should be outlined in grey, with the mustache a darker grey.
 * 3) Make the remaining skin of the ball deep red.

You're done!

Friends

 * [[File:Soc.png]] Socialism - Father knows best.
 * [[File: Luxem.png]] Luxemburgism - You carry my ideas so well! If only the Spartacist revolt had been successful.
 * [[File: LeftCom.png]] Left Communism - My most loyal and dedicated son! Just please get off your armchair for a while.
 * [[File: Orthlen.png]] Leninism - My most influential son! Great stuff, I wish you lived long enough to put the USSR on the right path.
 * [[File:Councom.png]] Council Communism - The creation of workers councils as a basis for the DotP is a great idea!
 * [[File:Libmarx.png]] Libertarian Marxism - Very similar to what I became in my later years, good stuff.
 * [[File: Trot.png]] Trotskyism - My internationalist son who understands that Communists must help overthrow the Bourgeoisie of all countries. Can you tell me why exactly you were exiled?
 * [[File:Marxfem.png]] Marxist Feminism - My daughter, who recognizes that women can only be free without Capitalism!
 * [[File:Deleon.png]] De Leonism - My union-focused son who shares most of my ideals.
 * [[File: Posadist.png]] Posadism - Say that again, sonny? Aliens? Nukes? Wait, what?!
 * [[File:Leftac.png]] Left-Accelerationism - Progressing Capitalism to it's breaking point to motivate the working class to revolt is a brilliant idea!
 * [[File: Neomarx.png]] Neo-Marxism - Good job expanding on my theories.
 * [[File:Acidcomf.png]] Acid Communism - Son, I get that you're depressed over Capitalism and everything, but I think you should get off of the drugs before it's too late.
 * [[File:Babouvism.png]] Babouvism - My inspiration!
 * [[File:Prog.png]] Progressivism - Bourgeois society must be done away with if the proletariat is to be liberated!

Frenemies

 * [[File:Ancom.png]] Anarcho-Communism - I respect your desire to overthrow capitalism, but a revolution needs a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.
 * [[File: Stalin.png]] Stalinism - Likely my most influential successor, who spread Communism to many countries. However, you are my least favorite son, as you greatly distort my views. Now people do not understand Communism at all.
 * [[File:ML.png]] Marxism-Leninism - Aren't you just the same as above?
 * [[File:Ego.png]] Egoism - Saint Max, he helped me break away from Idealism. But I wrote the German ideology specifically for you.
 * [[File: Anpacf.png]] Anarcho-Pacifism - If we can achieve revolution by pacifism, I will have respect for you.
 * [[File: dsa.png]] Democratic Socialism - Socialism is not achievable by electoralism.
 * [[File: Utsoc.png]] Utopian Socialism - I wish you would realize that reform doesn't work...
 * [[File: Georgist.png]] Georgism - He was the founder of a land reform movement; one among many transitional measures. Still a capitalist, however.
 * [[File: Capcom.png]] Capitalist Communism - Uhhhh... I don't care to explain.
 * [[File: Dengf.png]] Dengism - Same as above. Capitalism should not be used as a means to transition to Communism, grandson.
 * [[File: Ricardosoc.png]] Ricardian Socialism - Massive influence on me and modern socialism in general, but I don't know about markets, and labor isn't the source of all wealth.
 * [[File: Christsoc.png]] Christian Socialism - You're socialist... but you're also Christian... so there's that. At least you're distinct from [[File: Reactsoc.png]] Reactionary Socialism.
 * [[File:Agsoc.png]] Agrarian Socialism - Communsim can only be achieved in industrial society, but I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless.
 * [[File: Distributist.png]] Petit Bourgeois Socialism - You're getting there! Reject the third position and embrace my ideas!

Enemies

 * [[File:Crapitalism.png]] Crapitalism - The system where the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat! Preferable to [[File: feud.png]] Feudalism, I guess. How about this: "The only good capitalist is one that hangs from the rope he sells us".
 * [[File:Reactlib-icon.png]] Reactionary Libertarianism - Oh, come on!
 * [[File:Cball-Russian Empire.png]] Russia - Most counter-revolutionary country in the world!
 * [[File:PanSlav.png]] Pan-Slavism - You are just the tool of the counter-revolutionary Russians! [[File:Tito.png]] Oh wait
 * [[File: Necon.png]] Neoconservatism - So... why is being communist a bad thing? You seem to blow things a lot of the time out of proportion.
 * [[File: Pinochet.png]] Pinochetism - You killed some of my followers, sure. But that clearly doesn't measure up to any of the classicides does it?
 * [[File: Plutocrat.png]] Plutocracy - I don't like to strawman people, it pollutes discourse. But really?
 * [[File: Reactsoc.png]] Reactionary Socialism - You forget that you, too, used to be the oppressors and the bourgeoisie exist because of you.
 * [[File: Bism.png]] Bismarckism - You brought me so much struggle.
 * [[File: Hayek.png]] Hayekism - An idiot who doesn't understand the difference between price and value.
 * [[File: Feud.png]] Feudalism - Fuck off and and never return!
 * [[File:BourgNat.png]] Bourgeois Nationalism - Actively divides the working class!
 * [[File:Polpot.png]] Pol Potism - What the fuck is this?
 * [[File:Nazi.png]] National Socialism - Stop calling yourself socialist.
 * [[File: Acol.png]] Anarcho-Collectivism - Have these gentlemen ever seen a revolution?

Literature

 * The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
 * Capital: Volume 1 by Karl Marx
 * Capital: Volume 2 by Karl Marx
 * Capital : Volume 3 by Karl Marx
 * Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels
 * Critique of the Gotha Programme by Karl Marx
 * The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels
 * The Principles of Communism by Friedrich Engels
 * The German Ideology by Karl Marx
 * Anti-Dühring by Friedrich Engels
 * Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 by Karl Marx
 * Political Economy:A Marxist Textbook by John Eaton
 * Essays on Marx's Theory of Value by I.I. Rubin
 * From Class Society to Communism: An Introduction to Marxism by Ernest Mandel
 * The Inevitability of Communism by Paul Mattick
 * Marx and Keynes by [[File:Councom.png]] Paul Mattick
 * Reform or Revolution by [[File:Luxem.png]] Rosa Luxemburg
 * The Accumulation of Capital by [[File:Luxem.png]] Rosa Luxemburg
 * Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism by [[File:Orthlen.png]] Vladimir Lenin
 * Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses by Louis Althusser
 * For Marx by Louis Althusser
 * An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Marx's Capital by Michael Heinrich

Wikipedia

 * International Workingmen's Association
 * Young Marx
 * Marxism
 * Orthodox Marxism
 * Classical Marxism
 * Dictatorship of the Proletariat
 * Communism
 * Labor Theory of Value
 * Marxian Economics
 * Paris Commune
 * Commodity (Marxism)
 * Economic Determinism
 * Historical Materialism
 * Dialectical Materialism
 * Capital Accumulation
 * Mode of Production
 * Scientific Socialism
 * Metabolic Rift
 * Proletariat
 * Marxist State Theory
 * Proletarian Internationalism
 * Base and Superstructure
 * Communist Society
 * Class Struggle
 * Ideology (Marxism)

People

 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Karl Marx [[File:Karl Marx.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Friedrich Engels [[File:Orengelsf.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Eduard Bernstein [[File:Bernst.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Rosa Luxemburg [[File:Luxem.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Czechia.png]] Karl Kautsky
 * [[File:Cball-US.png]] Daniel De Leon [[File:Deleon.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Vladimir Lenin [[File:Orthlen.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Maxim Gorky
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Alexandra Kollontai [[File:Marxfem.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Leon Trotsky [[File:Trot.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Nikolai Bukharin [[File:Bukh.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Italy.png]] Amadeo Bordiga [[File:LeftCom.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Italy.png]] Antonio Gramsci [[File:Neomarx.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Herbert Marcuse [[File:Libmarx.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Theodor W. Adorno [[File:Frankfurt.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-France.png]] Louis Althusser
 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] Ralph Miliband
 * [[File:Cball-Chile.png]] Salvador Allende [[File:Allende.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-US.png]] David Harvey
 * [[File:Cball-Slovenia.png]] Slavoj Žižek [[File:Žižekism.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] Mark Fisher [[File:Acidcomf.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Iran.png]] Mansoor Hekmat

Videos

 * POLITICAL THEORY - Karl Marx by The School of Life
 * Karl Marx: The Socialist Revolutionary by Biographics
 * THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO SUMMARY | Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels explained with quotes by Halim Alrah

Channels

 * azureScapegoat
 * [[File:Libmarx.png]]Red Plateaus
 * [[File:Ormarxf.png]]Jonas Čeika - CCK Philosophy

Gallery
Marksizm pt-br:Marxismo