Tenets of Marxism in Social and Political Approaches

¶ … social and political philosophy of Karl Marx

Karl Marx is known to be one of the greatest philosophers who have ever lived and he spent a significant part of his theories and writing discussion the relation between capital and labor. He indeed looked at capitalism as a system that is antisocial and one that allowed the people with the capital to exploit the labor of those who do not have the capital. In the discussion, he argued that the unrelenting strenuous relationship that is between the employers and employees is predominate caused by the exploitative environment created by capitalistic trends, where the labor offered is not remunerated in a reciprocal manner. Karl Marx was steadfast in standing up for the rights of the workers, the poor and the women who were then readily exploited by the rich in the society. In his argument that has been over the years referred to as 'historical materialism', he indicates that the thoughts, political behaviors, the religious, moral and philosophical convictions are causally determined by the economic facts that surround them, yet these convictions cannot shape their economic status (Allen W.W., 2004).

On the other hand, Karl Marx is seen to 'dissociate' himself from his work and philosophies and claim that if anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist." This is a statement that confuses many philosophy students and readers alike. It is not clear to them whether Karl Marx changed his mind about all his beliefs and inclinations on the way capitalism distorted the society, it confuses many whether Karl Marx was just writing the many philosophical claims and even taking stands on ethics only to refute them later.

However, it is important to note that there needs to be the difference and the distance between the author and the authored, between the art and the artist, between the creator and the creation. More often than not, these two are distinct and stand separate. There are many instances where people are professional in writing some kind of writing, yet they are not in a position to implement the same. They often take a third person perspective over the ills predominant in the society and use their knowledge and specialization to suggest solutions to the challenges. This was likely the case with Karl Marx. It is the irony that has existed for long, even in times slavery, the slave master 'invested' in the slaves and expected to get rich and get activities done through the slaves, yet he believed that nothing good would come from a black man. Robert Paul W. (2012: Pp30) indicates that though he devoted all his time and energies in writing about how capital exploits labor, in his private life, Karl Marx actually exploited his wife, exploited his maid, he exploited his comrades in politics and even his closest friends. This indicates that the personal life of a philosopher is not dictated or directed by his philosophies at all in as much as his philosophies may be having a lot of sense and applicable truth. The philosophies and the truths therein cannot be expunged or rejected due to the personal life of the philosopher. A questionable statement from a philosopher cannot invalidate the entire great works that he has contributed all along, hence the statement by Karl Marx does not invalidate his previous significant contributions to philosophy, economics and ethics.

Tenets of Marxist social political philosophies

There are various tenets that one needs to believe in and hold true for him to be considered a Marxist in his philosophical persuasion. Once of the tenets is that of dialectic materialism, which is an argument that the primary determinant in history is the economic forces. One needs to believe that the ruling system will only be relevant and at peace with the ruled as long as it satisfies the economic needs of the population, once it runs out of relevance, it will be destroyed by the people and be replaced with another rule.

A Marxist needs also to believe that the works are ever exploited and that is why they apparently produce more than they can buy through the wages that they are paid. The value of the wages are always less than the value of the commodities produced hence, the surplus, referred to as the surplus value, is the profit of the capitalists, a clear indication of exploitative nature of capitalism.

One who can be referred to as a Marxist is a person who believes that capitalism is the cause of class division and is a system the concentrates the means of production in the state and a few individuals. He believes that the bourgeoisies need to be defeated for there to be an end to the class systems in the society since the means of production will no longer be in the hands of a few individuals but in the hands of the peasants.

Marxists also believe that the rule of the state is exploitative since it uses the means of production and resources to establish a coercive state, exhibited by the army and the police. The state of a weapon of class oppression and must be replaced by the rational structure of social and economic cooperation and integration. Marxists believe that institutions such as the family and religion are meant to perpetuate the dominance of the bourgeoisie and once the integration and cooperation shall have been achieved, such institutions would disappear since each individual shall have found fulfilment in the new system. The Marxists believe in the economic utopia and claim that it can be achieved with even a highly capitalistic society.