Marxist Socialism/ Communism

1. Marxist Socialism/ Communism By Cody Altro

2. When Communism was Devised and by Whom • Fredrick Engels and Karl Marx • The theory was devised in the 1840’s • Was developed by Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels.

3. Historical Conditions • Marxism and socialism are part of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution. • During the Industrial Revolution in England and in Germany workers were forced to work 12 hour days, 6 days a week in unsafe conditions for very poor wages. Workers in a factory during the Industrial Revolution

4. Historical Materialism • Workers are forced to do the impossible. • The Marxist approach to the interpretation of history is known as historical materialism. • According to this theory, the history of society could be categorized by its economic characteristics.

5. Capitalism and Society • Marxism criticizes the capitalist economy and its effect on society. • The middle class factory-owners or bourgeoisie control by exploiting the working masses. • Marx’s idea of the capitalist pyramid.

6. Capitalist Production and Social Class • The Proletariat being exploited. • Marx contended capitalism creates a hierarchy of economic classes, that these classes are alienated from the other. • According to this philosophy, the major two classes in a capitalist society were the bourgeoisie, defined by the fact that they owned or ran businesses and the proletariat, or workers.

7. Revolution of the Proletariat • History is always a struggle between classes. • Marxist theory believes revolution is the only way of achieving true social change as those that have wealth would not abandon their privileges willingly and that this change was inevitable as the theory of historical materialism demonstrated. • Workers Fight Oppression

8. Marxism after the Revolution Succeeds • The workers revolt • The leaders of the Revolution must be a small group who know how to get the workers to unite and fight for their rights. After succeeding: • There will be a dictatorship of the proletariat, led by the leaders.

9. The Ideal World Under Communism • All workers are paid and treated equally. • The workers own all means of production. • Eventually there will no longer be a need for government.

10. The Flaws of Communism • There is no incentive to be creative because there is no financial reward for creativity. • The flaw with Marx's theory is that he did not understand human nature. • He envisioned the lower classes rising up and over throwing their rich and then settling down to live in this utopian society in which there would be not religion, no government, and no private ownership of anything. • The problem with this vision is that it goes contrary to human nature.

11. More Flaws of Communism • For communism to work there can only be one political party. • There will be police terror, indoctrination, censorship and persecution. • The leader exercises absolute authority.

12. History of Communism since 1917 • Lenin and Stalin • The first successful communist revolution was in Russia in 1917. • The first communist leader was V. Lenin. • The next leader was Stalin. He was a brutal dictator and killed millions of his own people.

13. History of Communism Continued • The next successful communist revolution was in China. • The first Chinese communist leader was Mao Tse Tung. • Communism still exists in China today. • Mao Tse Tung

14. Communism Today Communist Leaders • Today Communism still exists in: • China • Cuba • Vietnam • North Korea • Venezuela

15. Communism vs Laissez- Faire Capitalism Communism Strict government run economy. Price controls and strict control over production prevailed. Government ownership of business. There is no profit in communism. Laissez- Faire Capitalism The self regulated market system. From now on you should refer to the self regulated market. Private ownership of business. Entrepreneurs take a risk to make a profit.

16. Does Communism Have Value Today? • NO! • Communism does not allow for new ideas because there is no financial incentive to be creative. • There would be no Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. • Today communism only works with the poorest countries because it guarantees work, education and health care; but at the price of loss of freedom.

17. Vocabulary Bourgeoisie-The capitalist class who own most of society's wealth and means of production. Proletariat -Workers or working-class people, regarded collectively Mode of production- Everything that goes into the production of the necessities of life Mean of production- the raw materials and means of labor (tools, machines, etc) employed in the production process Relations of production- The social structures that regulate the relation between humans in the production of goods.

18. Work Cited • http://www.studymore.org.uk/she12.htm • http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=115&type=issue • http://www.romm.org/soc_com.html • http://rationalrevolution.net/war/communism_and_marxism.htm • http://www.deepspirits.com/great-people/marx-engels/ • http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h114_2002/marxism.htm • http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html • http://www.westga.edu/~jgrant/1102/Theories/MARX0001.pdf • http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060916182449AAmzPn8 • http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/marx/themes.html • http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/summary.html • http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ZGnAvnbr3LsJ:www.americanthinker.com/2005/03/the_fatal_flaw_in_communism.html+what+are+flaws+in+marxism+and+socialism+and+communism&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us • http://www.buzzle.com/articles/communism-vs-capitalism.html • http://www.ehow.com/info_8318140_main-points-marxism.html