Chapter 4 m and Marxism Social SYNOPSIS (ii), The Materialistic Socialism 1, Introduction (Pzonomi) Theipval rot chools of Socialism History 2, Schools of Socin (iy Suri Va (i) Fabian Socialism (iv) Theory of Class Struggle if) Syndicalis ip ind Socialh (v) Major defects in Capitalism " sarashar or'sadlaal (vi) Dictatorship of the 4, Arguments in Favour of Socialism ans 4, Criticism of Socialism (vil) The Establishment of Marxism Communism 1, Introduction 4. Criticism of Marxism 2, Life and Works of Karl Marx 5, Estimate of Marxism 3, Doctrine of Karl Marx ‘Summary () Dialectical Materialism of Karl Marx SOCIALISM 1. Introduction The term ‘Socialism’ is derived from the word socius which means society, The term was first used in the Poor Man’s Guardian in 1833. Socialism is concerned with the welfare of society. It aims to remove the injustices and evils of the capitalist system. It is a reaction against the cighteenth century industrialization and the doctrine of individualism which Ied to the growth of capitalism. It is a revolt against the exploitative tendencies inherent in capitalism. It is the antithesis of individualism, Contrary to individualism it regards government control as essential for the benefit and welfare of society. It considers the government as a positive good, It aims to use the governmental apparatus for economic purposes, It pleads that the means of production and distribution should be gradually taken over by the government from Private capitalists, It condemns private capital and private ownership. It says that the capital should be sed’, It substitutes the idea of state socialis ownership for private own hip. Through State ownership of the means [63]64 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation ’ (Chop, i sent exploitative tendencies of the Capital; Sat ie agi MeN the TU plea FaP common oF collective oer wen management of instruments of production and distribution; through ihe alone the general well-being can be secured as ieainst the benefit tra few. It subordinates the individual to the community in Order that all m; a receive their just and proper reward. ay Xi is extremely difficult to define socialism. There are var; definitions, often overlapping. However, one may attempt to Provide «4 working definition. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Socialism, : “‘a theory or policy that aims at or advocates the Ownership or Control as the means of production—capital, land, Property, of community as a whole and their administration in the j Joseph A. Schumpeter defines socialism as * in which the means of production are cont *—oY th i interests of alps that organization of got": rolled, and the decisi, at Provided by G.D.H. Cole, who says: “‘Socialism means four Closely connected things—a human fellowship which denies and expelg distinctions of class; a social system in which no on e is so much Ticher and proper than his neighbours as to be unable to mix with them on equal vital instruments of Production; and an obligation upon all citizens to. serve one another according to their Capacities.” In short, Socialism is a criticism Of the evils of capitalism. It is an economic doctrine aiming towards the temoval of economic ills of the industrial revolution. It is a philosophy of social evolution. It is a Social forecast, or an ideal to achieve social justice. Almost all socialists believ socialism. But they differ greatl methods, others argue in favour of slow and gradual processes teens} the existing parliamentary institutions, As such, there have ome many schools of Socialism; its exponents have been numerous, on literature on the subject is enormous. Its boundaries have underean ji many changes “in emphasis. it has varied according to ~ ae circumstances in the history of its evolution. This has led C.E.M. Joa F ‘body say that ‘‘socialism is like a hat that has lost its shape because every! wears it’,4 Socialism and Marxism 65 2. Schools of Socialism There are several schools of socialism. It is not possible to elaborate them all in detail. They differ mainly by the emphasis placed on programmes of action. Such programmes are of two types—evolutionary and revolutionary. Evolutionary socialists believe in the gradual evolution of capitalist society through constitutional means to collectivism. The Fabian school of socialism belongs to this category. Revolutionary socialists believe in immediate action through revolution. Marxian socialists are of the revolutionary school; they usually claim to be the only orthodox or scientific socialists, but there are moderates and extremists in this group also. Only three schools of socialism shall be examined in this chapter, and that too Very briefly. They are Fabian socialism, Syndicalism and Guild socialism. b ( Fabian Socialism—Fabian socialism or Fabianism was first developed in England by the Fabian Society. It was founded in 1884. Its earliest exponents were George Bearnard Shaw and Sidney Webb. Its first important publication was Fabian Essays (1889). Later on, Fabianism attracted the attention of thinkers like Graham Wallas, Tawney, Laski, and G.D.H. Cole. The term ‘Fabian’ was adopted after the name of a great Roman General, Quintus Fabius (275-203 BC), whose tactics in the fight against Hannibal served as guide for the Society. Thus its motto read: ‘‘For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius did, most patiently, when warring against Hannibal, though, many censured his delays; but when the time comes you must strike hard, as Fabius did, or your waiting will be in vain and fruitless.” . The above motto reveals the essentials of Fabianism. The.Fabians rejected the-Marxian theory of value and the class war. They looked ‘on value as the creation of society as a whole, not of manual labourers only, and no need for class conflict, for the reason that the trend of social legislation-was-proveeding- inevitably towards socialism. But the socialism they envisaged did_not mean_a transfer of ownership,to the workers, but to society asa whole, in whichthere was a place for all classes’’. The Fabians regard nsition_from_capitalism as a gradual process. They looked forward to the socialization of industry by— the peaceful use of economic and political agencies already in hand. They et és tothe task of making the temrocratic state an66 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation instrument of systematic social reform. They insisted that the my socialists was ‘‘to acquire knowledge by means of Specialized into the various manifestations of economic and social life, nee Hi acqua; themselves with the machinery of legislation and administration, ¢ in Put their Knowledge and experience at the disposal of al potiic® agencies”. The main aims and objects of Fabianism are as under: (@) believes in the emancipation of land and induct fhe from individual and class ownership, and the vesting of then! qGsee the community for the general benefit. BOF them in a (b) The advantages of Oil ommunity-should be equitably sha by all. This will provide equality of opportunity. ed yk pleads for universal education as emancipation of the working class. (d) It_seeks to use the democratic method of slow and gradual change. It is convinced that the TalIST Ideas Would automatically transform democracy into socialism (ii) Syndicalism.—The syndicalist movement developed in France in the period Between 1899 a ~ It is derived from the French word Syndicat, which means trade union. It Originated as a trend in the French labour movement which considers labour unions and their federations as ‘5 calls “OF Tuture socialist order. Tnitially, the Movement insisted_on the exé f workers to controt industry. Butafter the Fist st World ar, it expanded its scope and conceded an_ essential Means of the equal right of consumers in this sphere Of control. In short, the main features a yndicalism are as follows: . (@) Itaccepts the class-struggle theory of Marx; eee theory of M (©) It _urges industrial action as the only -effective bringing about a revolutionary change in Society a sontrol over jBeneral strikeas a means of securing workers” contol industry; and f given dustry; and __ @ It-visualizes a social orderin-whi - wuld serve as the to the producer; trade and industrial unions-would SST"4 Socialism and Marxism In brief, Syndicalism_may. be described _as unionism’.It attempts to disrupt the State, for it rests on~a theory of undead sovereignty. Tt believes in direct action. It discards the peace and-comstirational methods. Tis chief weapon is_a general strike, It offers primarily a policy Of revolution. Tt aims at a sfateless society. It Says that i nems of production would be owned by society ahd rade unions wvoutd-Tegulate_and control production. All these features, in practice, proved to be iis weakness: #i) Guild Socialism —n the first quarter of the twentieth century thee was another socialist_movement_in England known as guild ‘ali fs main exponents were G.D.H. Cole, S.C. Hobson, AR. _sooiatismTis main ex jonents were G.D-H. Cole, S.C. Hobson, AR. Orage, and others. It is a doctrine 9} industrial self-government. It is also known as ‘functional democracy’“Jt proposes to replace the State by a series of autonomous corporations of which government would _be only Gne, The State would not be sovereign. It would only perform certain ee re political nalure, suchas defence, prevention_af crime, f jage and-divorce; etc.|A superior coordinating authority would, therefore, be required~which was above both guilds and government; this might either be a ‘democratic supreme court of functional equity’, or the ‘commune’ {Ip short, guild socialis is for omous guilds. Its central idea in the words of R.N. Gilchrist is: yuton ETE ws to be as self-contained as possible, and governed by fs own craftsmen. Modern conditions, however, required national guilds, in order to control large-scale-indust The Guild socialists found in trade unions the-raw material Seimei el governing corporations; they believed that economic power should precede political power, and that no real socialism could be attained till the workers first obtained control of their own craft] Guilds, they thought, would be local and national, arranged on a hierarchical system, and the State would either act as the supreme coordinating authority or would disappear altogether, in favour of functional organizations.” In origin, Guild Socialism is purely an English theory. fashion in radical thought for a while in England. \{t ‘does not agree with _Syndicalism in_ wanting tg abolish the State by direct action. Nor does it ant the State to control all of industry, as_coes collectivism or Fabianism. It adopts ‘wmiddle—course. It wants to_establish_guilds, of producers and guilds of consumers within thé framework o| ate. It res] isto View of sovereignty. This has proved to be its chief weaknes: TO} ‘TMmeant atomization of society. As such, guild Socialism could not make much headway.68 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation 3. Arguments in favour of Socialism The main arguments in favour of socialism are as under: (i) It is against capitalism which is based on exploitation, It want to put an end to economic inequalities due to Capitalism and establish social equality. (ii) It prevents economic waste due to open competition in capitalist society. Capitalists do not produce wealth accordin, to the needs of society, but they produce goods for their own benefit. This situation creates trouble for Society. Socialism aims to remove the evils of capitalism and lays emphasis ‘on cooperation instead of an open competition. ii) It wants social control over the means of Production. It discards the idea that industry should be controlled by a few Persons, It is opposed to the concentration of capital in a few hands. It aims to eliminate this injustice in a capitalist society, (iv) It aims to establish economic equality in society. Economic equality alone can be. helpful towards the success of a democracy. . () It is more scientific than capitalism, because capitalism safeguards the interests of a chosen few, whereas socialism Protects the interests of society. 4. Criticism of Socialism Socialism has been criticized as under: @ It kills individual initiative. In it individuals :cannot acquire more and more property. It forbids the utilization of private Property for investment in the market to earn profit. As such, it dampens individual initiative. (i) It enlarges the functions and scope of state activity. The State ies that it cannot discharge becomes so overloaded with acti its obligations towards society effectively. (iii) Its ideal to remove economic disparity and social ills is, i! Practice, difficult to accomplish. 2 nae . a 7 italists and (iv) It divides society into two hostile classes—capitalists workers. This leads to conflicts and violence in society. (Chap,4 Socialism and Marxism 69 (v) It limits individual freedom. The State interferes in every sphere of individual activity. It thus hinders individual freedom and liberty. This broad outline of Socialism would help us in understanding the nature of Marxism, to which we now turn. MARXISM J. Introduction Karl Marx (1818-1883) was the first scientific socialist thinker. His socialism was based upon an understanding of the ‘real’ material economic facts. In 1880 Karl Marx’s collaborator, Friedrich Engles, ublished a pamphlet entitled, Socialism: Scientific and Utopian. The booklet distinguishes between Marx’s version of socialism and the alternate varieties against which it was competing at that time. The socialist thinkers who preceded Marx have been designated as ‘Utopians’. There were a number of socialist thinkers before Marx. Thomas More (1478-1535) and Tommaso Campenella (1568-1639) had already propounded some vague ideas about socialism. Their socialism was immature. There was a mention of communist schemes in the writings of French theorists such as Abbe de Mably (1709-1785) and Morelly, who published his Code dela Nature in 1755. There were other founders of socialism, often called as ‘the three great Utopians’. They were Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen. Saint- Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837), and Robert Owen (1771-1858) had already introduced a theme of analysis which was later developed by Marx. Although Marxism cannot be reduced to a mere compilation or synthesis of their ideas, there is litle doubt that the “Utopians’ played an important part in the formation of Marx’s system. There were important differences between the scientific socialism of Marx and that of his Utopian predecessors. The ‘Utopians’ had regarded poverty as the principal source of the ills of society and private property as the chief cause of poverty. They believed that the changes they desired could be achieved through appeals to the reason and sense of justice of influential members of the community. The details of their schemes differed considerably. They did not look at all to revolutionary action, nor Primarily to political action, for bringing about the changes. They had criticized capitalism and advocated various paternalistic and socialist Teforms, but the bases of their doctrines were mainly ethical and idealistic; not designing to pull the existing system up by the roots and70 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation (Che it with a radically different social structure. The Sou, apse cotiuhities, in which principles of justice, beneveentt a intelligence would rule and from the example of which the w 6 and society would be gradually converted to their ideals. The page. of voiced the liberal revolt against laissez-faire, but relied on volun operation, rather than political action, to correct the inequities Ag economic system. Most of the experimental Communities 5 °F the Operative associations founded by these Utopians soon failed co. Utopian socialism, in short, was Vague and unscientific, Thete was 4. coherence between the aims and the methods, 98 little Another brilliant thinker who exercised a great j influey was Proudhon (1809-1865). He was a Philosophical atthe arg influence was greater on young Marx. Marx exalted Proudhon a St. His thinker who had at least questioned the existence of Private Pro later on there devel i ty, between Ma a is the first. scientific Socialist writer who deserves special attention, H le is the real founder of socialism, In his Communist Manifesto, Marx says: *‘Communism in this sense of the word is essentially a theory of method, it seeks to lay down the rincipis upon which the transition from capitalism to. socialism is mo accomplished and its two essential doctrines are the class aa revolution that is the forcible transfer of power to the proletariat. ieniific the basic idea of Marx, It is often known as Marxism or scie Oren! ; Mare is, Socialism or communism, Marxism is ‘one closely-knit system’4 Socialism and Marxism TT in the sketches prepared Marx. 2. Life and works of Karl Marx Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 at Treves. His parents were Jewish, but later on adopted Christianity. Marx showed intellectual ability at an early age. In 1835, he was sent to the University of Bonn; and in 1836 he was transferred to the University of Berlin. Following his father’s wishes he took up the study of jurisprudence, but soon shifted his attention to history and philosophy. This change brought him under the influence of Hegel’s teachings. Hegel had been dead for only five years, and his philosophy still dominated the seminars of Berlin. Radicalism was much in the air at the University, and Marx became a radical, though as yet he knew nothing of socialism and had little interest in it. At Berlin he met the members of the Young Hegelian movement, which at that time was organized under the leadership of Bruno Bauer. Following Bauer’s example, Marx decided to prepare, himself for a career as a University instructor. He wrote a dissertation comparing the economic theories of Democritus and Epicurus and eventually received his doctorate from the University of Jena. Upon completing his studies Marx looked forward to.an academic appointment which he believed could be secured through Bauer’s influence. Unfortunately, however, Bauer’s own career was short-lived. He was dismissed in 1842 for publishing a work which challenged the historicity of Christ. Having lost all hope for an academic career Marx subsequently turned to political journalism. Maxey writes: ‘“Had young Marx succeeded in getting the job he wanted, it is quite probable that The Communist Manifesto and Das Capital would never have been written. Marx would have been a brilliant University Professor and doubtless would have written profound treatises of some sort, for he had the necessary learning and mental ability; but in a comfortable academic chair it is unlikely that he would ever have turned to proletarian economics.”’ At Bonn, when Marx was 17 years old, he fell in love with Jenny Von Westphalen, the daughter of a noble family in Treves, who had many suitors and whose parents were opposed to the match. Marx defied them all, staged a whirlwind courtship, won the love of the girl, and ultimately married her in 1843. real sense of the term, the father of modern socialism. He not only d the kind of society that ought to be established, but also a programme of action. This is a unique thing in the ideology of2 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation ing of 1842 Marx began to write a series of arti eee The Rhenish Times. Marx here discovered, training in law, history and philosophy had not equipped him tod economic questions. He, therefore, started the study of Sconomies) ang become aegusnted with socialism, With this end in view he gal Paris, as socialism at that time was predominantly French, Theté he acquaintance with Proudhon and Louis Blane. In 1844, he contact with his life-long friend Friedrich Engels (1896 addition to providing Marx with financial support, Engels joined both in the pursuit of socialist scholarship and in the pr organization of the communist movement. Between Marx and E there sprang up a friendship which culminated in one of remarkable intellectual and spiritual partnerships in history. Marx theorist; and Engels the propagandist and organizer. 4 Marx, now, began to swing rapidly to the left. In 1845 he wr offensive article which was published in Germany. Theo Government protested to the French Government and demand expulsion from Franch. As a result, Marx and several other radical expelled from Paris. Thence Marx moved to Brussels and joing communist league; and in conjunction with Engles wrote 'and| publ The Communist Manifesto (1847-48). He again arrived in Paris time of the 1848 revolution. But he was too late, the tide of revolt ion had been silenced. He then proceeded to Germany where the Timblings of the revolution were audible. When the revolution collapsed in Germany Marx was prosecuted on the charge of treason! J as ultimately acquitted but obliged to leave his country. He ii tushed to Paris but was not allowed to remain there. Then’ hi Wen Ever since the collaboration of Marx and Engels, begi : 1844, they had produced remarkable literature on, socialisr communism. The results of their collaboration have been the publ of important works, such as, The Holy Family (1844), The. Ideology (1844), Anti-Duehring (1877-78), and’ ‘The Gor Manifesto (1848). Thei massive Das Capital. I. Consequently Volu ‘ only after Engles had worked through and ‘edited! Marx’s/ unfinished manuscripts. The fourth and final volume was published by Karl Kautsky under the title Theories of Surplus Value. Karl Marx's other worksjare An= 4 Socialism and Marxism 73 mntroduction to the Criticism of Hegel 's Philosophy of Rights (1844), y of Poverty (1847), Critique of Political Economy (1852), ma philosophy : a few others. Harold Laski has given an account of Marx’s contribution under: “From whatever aspect it be regarded, the work of Karl Marx is philosophy. The vital fact about him is in epoch in the history of social the found communism a chaos and left it a movement. Through him it al thal acquired a philosophy and direction.”” 3, Doctrine of Karl Marx (yDialectical Materialism of Karl Marx | materialism is central to Marxism. It is the \s he idea of dialectical bedrock upon which the whole Marxism edifice has been cons It pared to the unscientific nature of early makes Marxism scientific as com] socialism Tt is through this idea that Marx investigates the forces that move history- that it is only through such a scientific investigation that it is possible to understand what hai pened, what is happening, and what will happen. Any other approach/no matter how As such, the concept of dialectical altruistically motivated, (is useless. lism is fundamental to Marxism. Marx di ectic from Hegel. His ideology starts from Hegel’s Dialecti was a German philosopher and his philosophy dominated iversities when Marx was a student there, Therefore, it is essential to understand Hegel’s Dialectic. (egel piritualist. He realised that reality ig dynamic and evolutionary in_naturg; it cannot be understood by means of static concepts of formal logic which are only applicable to a static world of abstract ideas. He held that the logic which can help us to understand the constantly changing ‘and developing world must be different from the old traditional logic. He formulated a new logic for a purpose which sought to explain change and development through contrast ‘and contradiction, and called it a Dialectic. He argued that the world of nature, of which the human world may be said to form a part, is best understood as the expression or manifestation of the Divine Spirit or Reason which is seeking to become fully conscious of itself as an Absolute Idea. Every phase of human civilization and every national culture is but an ‘on of the World Spirit; it gives rise to incomplete and inadequate expressi its opposite by an inner need. Since reason or world spirit cannot rest content with the presence of unresolved contradictions in its expression, its inner logic leads to their reconciliation at a history develops through conflict and negation unti attains full self-consciousness as the Absolute Ide; as Hegel the Bonn and Berlin Uni74 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation contradictions are resolved. The law of evolution, as such, negation. It asserts that thesis, antithesis, and synthesis are 4 ey development. The thesis breaks down because of the. jet of contradictions it contains and gives rise to its antithesis. One may wemal it is negated by the antithesis. But the antithesis which attemo, at remove the contradictions of the thesis also breaks down for they to reason and is replaced by the synthesis which contains the Valid ley Same of both the thesis and the antithesis. The synthesi may thus be ¢ MENts as the negation of the negation. The synthesis, in turn, becomes gted and gives rise to its antithesis and so the process goes on, Heget th is developed a philosophy of history which saw progress as, Contingent unos the dialectical clash of ideas in a sequence of thesis, antithesig’ synthesis. S and Marx was greatly impressed by this Hegelian concept, but he was repelled by Hegelian Idealism which regarded ideas as the. princi causes of the historical process, and the Absolute Idea fully Conscious of itself as the goal of the evolutionary process. Having abandoned the idealism of Hegel, Marx adopted the materialist view of the world, himself admitted in the ‘Introduction’ of his well-known book Capital: “‘1 found the Hegelian dialectic standing on its head. I ut it on its foot.’” Marx thought that he could unite togettier his faith in dialectic and his materialism by conceiving Hegel’s ‘World spirit” as an economic force. By this expedient he not only discovered the great force which drives humanity forward from negation to negation, but also turned the Hegelian dialectic right side up. The result was his dialectical materialism whose main purpose was to show the inevitability of socialism. Mam took from Hegel the dialectical method, the view that Progress results from the conflict of opposing forces. However, he reversed Hegel’s view by saying that the clash is not mainly in the realm of ideas but is one of material forces; and ideas are only products of the material environment in which men live. A materialistic interpretation, Marx suggests, makes Possible a scientific study of history and society because it deals with material things: things that can be seen and understood: whereas Hegel's idealism, on the other hand, is merely metaphysical, Engels has skillfully explained Marx’s dialectical materialism a giving an example of a barley seed. He argues, if a barley seed is sonnel will turn into an offshoot with heat and moisture. In this way the bat! ri seed will destroy itself but its offshoot shall take the shape of a ie That plant shall bear many grains and with the labour of the farmer = grains can be of better quality. After some time that plant will des-_ 4 Socialismrand Marxism 715 itse! say! ‘ He also gi He writes if but the seeds will reproduce many more plants. Engles, therefore, that the seed is thesis and the plant is antithesis. Its fruit is synthesis. ves another example to explain thesis, antithesis and synthesis. that in the beginning the entire society had control over land. ‘This was thesis. Later on the idea of individual control cropped up. It was an antithesis. Individual ownership of land was established and roduction increased. The people supported this view. After the industrial Pyolution many machines were invented. Mechanical methods were adopted both in agriculture and industry to boost production; but the individual lacked financial resources to buy the machines and implements. Therefore, people demanded social ownership of land and nationalisation of industries. In this way a relationship was established. Regarding ‘dialectical materialism, Engles says: ‘*All nature from the smallest thing’ to the biggest, from a grain of sand to the sun, from the protista to man, is in a constant State of coming into being and going out ofebeing; in a constant flux, in a ceaseless state of movement and change.” From the above account one can derive the basic features of —_——_—X—Xr dialectical material (a) Change and development i y is hardly through the clash of ideas as Hegel envisaged; it is through the clash of material forces, and ideas are merely the products of the material environment in which men live. & theory of dialectical idealism as expoygded by Hegel is fully of metaphysical abstractions: whereas Gialectical-materialism alone can provide a clue to the scientific study of history and society. The progress is dialectical, but its nature is materialistic. Marx says: ‘‘With me... the ideal is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind, and translated into forms of thought.” —@ The metaphysic of Marxism is materialism. As George Catlin writés: “There is nothing other than the material universe. There is nothing other; and that which is other is no thing, “iia “i -H. Sabine holds that ‘‘this dialectical materialism forms the imost important part of Marx’s social philosophy”’. It provides the answer as to how to change the world. ”76 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation (i) The Materialistic (Economic) Interpretation of History Marx provides a materialistic interpretation of hi tory, Hy 1 with Hegel that history represents a continuous and logical evgligis he differed from Hegel in maintaining that this dialectical yer not due to any metaphysical causes but is the product of ih conditions of life. In this way, Marx arrives at the economig xy of history. According to his theory, historical events can. be, i and explained in the light of physical (economic) situations of says: ‘In the social production which men carry on they i definite relations that are indispensable and independent of the these relations of production correspond to a defini development of their material Powers of production, Thejs these relations* of production constitutes the economic. str Society; the real foundation on which rise legal ‘ar Superstructures and to which correspond definite forms’ 4 consciousness. The mode of production of material life dete general character of the social, political and spiritual proces, s of is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, the contrary, their social existence determines their consciox certain stage of their development the material forces of pro society come into conflict with the existing relations of Product forms of development to the forces of Production these relati their felters. Then comes the Period of social revolution. Wit of the economic foundation the entire immense superstructure i less rapidly transformed. No social order ever disappears befa productive forces, for which there is Toom in it, have been devel new, higher relations of production never a et society. In broad outlines, we can designate the Asiatic, the feudal, and the modern bourgeois methods of producti epochs’ in the Progress of the economic formation’ of bourgeois relations of production are the last antagonisti social process of production—antagonistic not in the sens antagonism; but of one arising from conditions su the closing chapter of the Prehistoric stage of hum Marx argues that it is the forces of produc telationship of production and the relations of ]4 Socialism and Marxism W7 foundatic gocicly #8 change in 4 the means 0 tion on which the institutional and ideological superstructure of built. The change in the relations of production brings about a I! other relations. In each age the class which had contro] over { production had also control over political power. During the middle ages feudalism was in vogue. All the institutions and social jdcologies were framed according to feudalism. When feudalism in Europe declined, and nation-states emerged, all the institutions and ideals of society were framed according to them. When capitalism came into existence the entire morality, ideals and institutions changed accordingly. Crossman sums up this theory in the following words: ‘‘The wheel, the plough, currency and factory system each in its time, had by its invention upset long-standing habits, moral laws, religions and political systerns. It ‘development of science of warfare, of communication, of ustry and finance which had really changed our ways of life iy thought. These changes in the techniques of production and distribution were the primary factors in the dialectic of history; the principles of legislators and whims of princes could delay or accelerate change, but they were subject to the basic economic force which controlled the process.” Along with the change in the system of production there is also a change in the mutual relations of different classes. Marx, on the basis of the change in the relations of production, has divided human history into six parts: (a) Age of primitive communis! was the farming, ind m-—it is an early form of society where the institution of property had not been born and man had no knowledge even of agriculture and cattle-breeding. There were no rights of property as everything was held in common. (b) Age of slavery—In this age agriculture and cattle-breeding started. Certain people were the owners of land and others were slaves. It was a servile society, where production was carried out by slaves, working for the profit of their masters. Jn Marxist terminology, the slave owners were termed ‘exploiters’, while the slaves were the ‘exploited’. () Age of feudalism—Then the feudal system emerged. Here production was carried out by serfs, working for the profit of their lords. In this instance, the lords were the ‘exploiters’, while the ‘exploited’ were the serfs, F (@) Age of Capitalist society—The age of capitalism started in ‘urope after the industrial revolution. The industries were established and their owners were called capitalists. Millions of labourers worked in these78 Principles of Political Theory and Organisation ‘ ies. They agre salary and the capitalist beeg cre wal ont ‘ofthe production. In short, product Sac carried out by workers (the exploited) class, capitalists (the ea bidanes A ictatorship of the pre ner (vinsoenth century) was the age of capitalism. In a SM there \ be a constant struggle between the oe and the workers | he proletarians) because the capitalists exploited the workers Constantly, ty this struggle, the proletarians would ultimately be Victorious, After the revolution capitalism would perish and dictatorship of the Proletang would be established. ? a (f) Communist society—The dictatorship of the proletariat class ig g transitional stage in the evolution of the last stage, that is, the Communist society. In a communist society there would be no more ‘exploiters’ and ‘exploited’. The means of production will all belong to the Workers w will, therefore, receive the full fruits of their labour, Communist Society is a classless and stateless society where there will be no contradictions. The contradiction consists of class struggle, but un: dey communism there would be no class struggle and hence NO contradiction, Without a contradiction there can be no change, and, therefore, communist society is changeless. (iii) Theory of Surplus Value Marx believed that the price of a commodity is to be determined according to labour invested in it. He held that the basis of wealth is labour. The labourers produce wealth with their labour but the Capitalists do not give them their share of Profit. The capitalists are in a Position to establish big industries, whereas the labourers cannot establish big industries. They are compelled to sell their labour and get employment in factories established by capitalist. Capitalists sell the finished goods at a high rate and give meagre Wages to labourers. The difference between the cost of the finished goods and their sale Price is called profit. This Process of earning profit is called the theory of surplus value. Marx held the view that this profit should 80 to the labourer and not to the capitalist because labour is the basis for Production of all types of wealth. (iv) Theory of Class Struggle . The con: Of class struggl was Marx’s View that in am Struggle, since thé interest: Opposite of those of the ‘ex; . I important in Marx's theory: ere to bea class S of the ‘exploiting class’ are the oe ploited’, and both ‘classes’ will naturally4 Socialism and Marxism 79 08 furthertl cir interests by every means: in their ppwer. The interests of the ‘exploiters and that of the ‘exploited’ are*radically different. The ‘gests of both these classes clash with one another. Marx said: ‘‘The i existing socicty is the nist of class struggle. sory of al ox! ; reedom and slave, patrician and plebian lord and serf, guild-master and sourmeymen, jn a word oppressor and oppressed, stood _in_constant ie rried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now position to one another, cai op! {a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary re itution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.”” “This struggle between the oppressor and the_oppressse | the exploiters and the exploited, or the capitalists and the labourers is basic in any society an 7 capitalist society. Marx, therefore, argued top only if capitalism is abolished and the workers hat this struggle can s| fe held the belief that germs. are already present in gain a victory. Hi h belief th e I sent capitalism to destroy it because of the inherent evils present in capitalism. 47 Due to capitalism the Wealth of the country is concentrated in the hands of a few. Quite osher hand with the increase of industries, workers also multiply. The ‘concentration of workers in an industry is advantageous to them. Workers begin to realise the nature of exploitation. With the deteriorating condition of workers unrest spreads. They establish mutual contacts, and even national arid international contacts. Therefore workers raise the banner _of revolution. Marx prophesied_that~workers— will alamately come out victorious in this stugeie- (v) Major Defects in Capitalism. According to Marx, capitalism contains the seeds of its own decay. The major defects in capitalism, according to him, are the following: (a) The system of capitalism is based on a boom-slump cycle. It moves from slump to boom and back again to slump, bringing with it, at the slump periods, misery for all except the richest and most powerful. In the periods of slump the misery of the workers increases. Even in times of boom workers might rise a little above the starvation level. The boom-slump cycle is one of the inherent defects of capitalism. It causes real misery to those living in a capitalist society. It is one of the causes contributing to capitalism’s downfall. There is another way of looking at the ‘slump’ part of the boom-slump cycle. For the word ‘slump’ means simply that business is very bad, that there is little or no sale of what the (8)80 & @ (e '} The system of capitalism is base Principles of Political Theory and Organise, factories and farms produce. From therefore, this is a crisis of overpro. are put to the market than can find there is no one with money to buy that there is no one who is not in ne one who is in need of a lot of good money to buy. So need of course exists it is wrong to talk about ‘over that the sort of overproduction whic! is not real overproduction at all, iti respect to the amount of money overproduction is fatal to capitalism, one way duction; sin a buyer. But the Rood does ed of them Bo ss he is also oy 6 i man is there. So long ith fi Production’, But Map " h one gets unde, S Overproducti available. i Ce moy at T Capital ‘On onl his crisis ; ) it d on exploitation, Capital exploit workers. It is one of the reasons why Capitalism sh be brought to an end. It drives workers to revolt by the sheer misery to which they have been reduced, It is « ™oral as wel} as a technical defect of capitalism. It heightens the Process of class struggle. In Marx’s view, the development of industry and commerce would lead to problems of great magnitude which capitalism would be unable to solve. These are the Problems of technological development, such as, Planning, ‘enormous financial resources, ruthless competition, international competition for markets and so on. All these factors ultimately being about the doom of capitalism. Capitalism generates increasing misery for the working class. Marx was convinced that the more the capital accumulated, the more it became concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, the more the workers would be exploited, and, in consequence, the More miserable would be their existence. Marx calls it ‘the ue of increasing misery’. It will arouse feelings of resentment fi despair among workers. It will be one of the causes for final destruction of capitalism. There are other causes for the downfall of capitalism capitalism there is the long-term tendency of a fall int faa of profit. The effect of it is to increase the ‘exploital ry a workers. Further, capitalism operates on the law of ae of demand and the profit motive. Marx condemned th together supply and demand and also the profit motive, whic!A Socialism and Marxism 81 constitute the driving force of capitalism. They ultimately proye ruinous to capitalism. Because of the above inefficiencies Marx revealed in his analysis that capitalism is doomed. Reforms cannot do more than just patch up the worst defects of capitalism; they cannot save it from its doom. Marx rejected the notion of ‘reformed capitalism’, or ‘rotten reformism’. To him capitalism is undesirable as well as inefficient. It exalts the fortunate few at the expense of the oppressed many. It is exploitative, oppressive and inhuman. It is hostile to art and craft. It injures the spirit of man. It fosters inequalities. It has outlived its historic mission. In a famous passage Marx predicts its end: ‘‘Along with constantly diminishing number of the magnates of capital . . . grows the mass of misery, oppression, slavery, degradation, exploitation. But with this too grows the revolt of the working class, a class always increasing, always in number, disciplined, united, organized by the very mechanism of the process of capitalistic production itself. The monopoly of capital becomes a fetter upon the mode of production. Centralization of the means of production and socialization of labour at last reach a point where they become incompatible with their capitalist integument. This integument is burst as under. The Knell of capitalist private property sounds. The expropriators expropriated. This is the end of capitalism.”” (vi) Dictatorship of the Proletariat According to Marx the seeds of its own decay are present in capitalism, yet, in order to destroy capitalism at the earliest, workers must organise themselves and they should bring about a revolution. Marx said: “The communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at the communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries unite.”’ According to Marx, after the revolution the dictatorship of the Proletariat will be established and capitalism shall perish. The communist ee shal be responsible for the organization of the communist forces. cable ing class shall control the government. This would be the final ideal 7 of proletarian dictatorship—a transitional stage towards the there will b; communism. During this stage of proletarian dictatorship, e socialisation of the means of production. Of course, the( Principles of Political Theory and Organisation \ i ill try t i (Chap | pitalists and their supporters will try to organise a counter ry. this has to be crushed by the proletarian dictatorship. The pow. lution, proletarian dictatorship has to be employed to liquidate the Bitati o rid the influence it exercises. The proletarian state is essentiagh ck The proletariat will use the State not for the protection of the imere! its founders but to suppress its adversaries. The dictatorship S proletariat is the axe in the hands of the proletariat. The purpeo, dictatorship of the proletariat is to use coercive power bok idly impartially to prepare the way for the establishment of communism, (vii) The Establishment of Communism The final aim of Marxian theory is the establishment of co, It is a stateless and classless society. In this society the PI distribution shall be: ‘‘to each according to one’s ability and te. according to one’s needs.” This will come only after the withering av of the State during the transitional stage of proletarian dictatorshi One the capitalist class is totally eliminated during the dictatorship of the proletariat, there will remain only one class. That will mark the beginnin, of communist society. The dialectical process in history is moving aloy that direction. The communist society alone is perfect. Since it ig classless society there will be a greater degree of equality. It is a socie without a State, for the State is the organized expression of cl; violence, and there will be no more classes in a communist society this new society political problems which have plagued men throug history will be irrelevant. Such troublesome issues like ri representation, etc. will disappear, for they are meaningful only in't of class interest and have no place in a classless society. There will b private property, no bourgeoise and no exploiters. The communist s will be based on the principle of cooperation rather than competition, It will be a classless society in which all men will stand in the. same objective relationship to the means of production. There, will be no coercive government. In its place there will be voluntary associations, of like-minded persons for common purposes. There will be no poverty. The individual freed from the fear of starvation will be free. ™mmunisy rinciple 9 4. Criticism of Marxism e Marxism has been criticised on various grounds. A few points of criticism are as under: 7 dale @ It is said that Marx’s analysis of the laws, of capitalist development has not come true. Marx said that, due ji expansion of capitalism, petty capitalists would disappear