Power-Point on Marxism2

7/31/2019 Power-Point on Marxism2

1/93

INTRODUCTION TO

MARXISM


2/93

2012


3/93

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION:

an introduc7on to Marxism

a way of understanding reality

(and a commitment to changing it)

developed by Karl Marx and

other revolu7onaries influencedby him.


4/93

Marx is dead has been a common asser7on of

procapitalists for over 100 years.


5/93

Today we see growing interest in Marxs ideas.


6/93

Karl Marx developed dynamic analyses ofhistory

and capitalism emphasizing reali7es ofexploita?on and class struggle for the purpose of

advancing the interests of the working class and in

order to create an economic democracy that he

called socialism.


7/93

Marx was animated by

a passionate humanism.

To be radical is to graspthings by the root. But forman the root is manhimself. . . . Hence the

categorical impera.ve tooverthrow all condi.ons inwhich man is a degraded,enslaved, contemp7ble

being . . .Karl Marx, 1843


8/93

Among Marxs closest comrades and cothinkers

throughout his life were Jenny Westphalen

(whom he married) and Frederick Engels.


9/93

All three were pulled into the swirling events of the

revolu7onary upsurge that swept Europe in 1848. The

revolu7onary defeats meant difficult years of exile, but also

years of research, wri7ng, and con7nued ac7vism that yielded

what Marx termed scien7fic socialism.


10/93

In the most difficult years (the late 1840s and early 1850s)

Karl and Jenny lost four of their seven children, but their

surviving daughters (Jenny, Laura, Eleanor below le withMarx and Engels) also became ac7ve in the socialist

movement.


11/93

Marx worked closely

with Engelsin

developing and

propaga7ng his outlook.

The two wrote one

of the most

influen7al pamphlets

in human history

The Communist

Manifesto.

In this page from the excellent

graphic book Introducing Marxism,

by Rupert Woodfin and Oscar

Zarate (UK: Icon Books/US: Totem

Books, 2004), some of the key

points are made.


12/93

A diagram developed by revolu?onary theorist Ernest Mandel (in his classic The Place of Marxism in

History) indicates the mul?ple sources and components of Marxs scien?fic socialism.


13/93

Marxs outlook

involved five elements.1.A philosophy and methodology2.A theory of history3.An analysis of capitalism4.A program for the working class5.The vision of a socialist future


14/93

Marx was influenced by

German philosophy.

Georg Wilhelm FriedrichHEGEL saw reality

developing throughdialec.cs a dynamicconcep7on blending

evolu7on and drama7ctransforma7ons, involvingthe dynamic interplay of

contradic7ons.

Ludwig FEUERBACH was amaterialist rejec7ng what

he perceived as Hegels

philosophical idealism.

Instead of seeing reality asreflec7ng preexis7ng ideas, he

saw material realityas primary,

from which ideas arose.


15/93


Bri?sh Poli?calEconomists.

especially percep7ve pioneers in analyzingthe nature of the new capitalist economy, who

also perceived that labor was the key source of

wealth (the labor theory of value).

Adam SMITH David RICARDO


16/93


French Poli?cal Thought.

Maximilien ROBESPIERRE ofthe radicaldemocra7c,

Jacobin wing of the FrenchRevolu7on sought to create arepublic of virtue in which

human rights would beguaranteed not only to the

upper classes, but to all andfor a 7me poor and laboring

masses rallied to him.

Gracchus BABEUF led TheConspiracy of Equals which

argued that rule by thepeople required equality of

power and that inequali7es

of economic power wouldprevent a genuine

democracy. He called forsharing the wealth by the

whole community

communism.


17/93

Marx was influenced by utopian socialistssuch as ClaudeHenri St.Simon, Charles Fourier, and

Robert Owen, envisioning an economy beneficial to all.

Robert OWENNew Harmony utopian socialist

community proposed by Owen.


18/93

Marx was influenced by the working

class and the labor movement.

Protest march of weavers and

their families being displaced by

the use of machinery.

Marx mee?ng with members of

the workingclass Communist

League.


19/93

But Marx was especially influenced

by two powerful revolu7onaryphenomena

Democra?c Revolu?onsThe Industrial Revolu?on


20/93

MIGHTY WAVE OF POPULAR DEMOCRATIC

REVOLUTIONS

Englands Revolu7onsof the 1600s,

Americas Revolu7onof 1583, the French

Revolu7on of 18994,and other popular

uprisings moved in thedirec7on offreedomof expression, equal

rights for all, and ruleby the people.


21/93

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Replacing muscle power

with machine poweryielding a spectacular

increase in produc7vity,economic surplus, and

social wealth defines theIndustrial Revolu7on.

The Industrial Revolu7onwas brought on by the

rising new economicsystem capitalism and

ensured the triumph ofglobal capitalism.

It also had less posi?veoutcomes, as we shall see.


22/93

MARXS THEORY OF HISTORY I

HISTORYS EVOLUTION IS SHAPED BY

the development of societys economy, the development of technology andproduc7vity, the tensions, conflicts, and struggles between

socialeconomic classes.


23/93

MARXS THEORY OF HISTORY II

For many centuries, humanity lived (first as huntersand gatherers, later as early agricultural peoples)in a form of economy in which people shared inthe labor and in the fruits of their labor aprimi?ve communism.

Over 7me, with the development of economicsurpluses, inequality developed, with asuccession of socie7es in which powerful

minori7es enriched themselves by domina7nglaboring majori7es socie7es divided into socialeconomic classes.


24/93

MARXS

THEORY OF

HISTORY III

ANCIENT SLAVECIVILIZATION

(masters andslaves)

FEUDALISM(lords andpeasant serfs)

CAPITALISM

(capitalistsand workers)

Marx saw theevolu7on ofEuropean history

as a succession ofstages eachstage shaped by adifferent modeof produc7on or

type of economicsystem (withdifferent forms ofclass society).


25/93

MARXS THEORY OF HISTORY IV

The ideas, values, poli7cs most influen7al ineach society tend to be dominated by thesocietys specific economic system, and by theeconomic rulers.

Class socie7es have contradic7ons whichgenerate various crises and class struggles,eventually leading to the transi7on to a newsociety or to social collapse and the commonruin of the contending classes.


26/93

HISTORY IS NOT MADE BY

IMPERSONAL SOCIAL AND

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL

FORCES THESE THINGS AREMADE UP OF THE ACTIVITIES

AND THE LIVES OF PEOPLE.

PEOPLE MAKE HISTORY.

BUT THEY DO NOT

MAKE IT JUST AS THEY

PLEASE. THEY ARE

BOUND BY THE

EXISTING ECONOMIC,SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL

STRUCTURE IN WHICH

THEY FIND

THEMSELVES.


27/93

MARXS ANALYSIS OF CAPITALISM Economy is privately owned (by a wealthy

minority the big business capitalists).

Economy is controlled by the owners. Economy is u7lized to maximize profits for the

owners.

Economy involves generalized commodityproduc?on a buying and selling economy.

More and more aspects of human life areturned into commodi?es to be bought and

sold.

Economy is socially organized but privatelyowned a contradic7on genera7ng

innumerable problems for majority of people.


28/93

A commodity is something that is

produced for the purpose of being sold.

Commodities brought to

the market-place to be sold

Commodities

produced


29/93

QUESTION: How can a person who does not own the means of

produc.on (tools, machinery, raw materials, etc.) get the money he or

she needs in our society to buy such commodi?es as food clothing,

shelter, etc.?

ANSWER: By selling, for wages or salary, his or her abilityto work

laborpower to an employer who does own the means of produc7on.

LABORPOWER (an essen.al part of us as human beings) becomes a

COMMODITY.

Those who must sell their laborpower in order to make a living (or are

dependent on the income of that person, or are unemployed or re7red

but made their living that way) are part of the WORKING CLASS.


30/93

LaborPower, the ability to work, is the only

commodity that, when it is used (when it is

transformed into actual labor), creates new value.


31/93

Marx saw labor as a keystone of the

capitalist economy.


32/93

He also felt that the key to overcoming the capitalist

economy would be the working class those who

make their living by selling their ability to work, thecrea7ve source of labor.


33/93

Capitalist profits are rooted in the ability to

exploit labor the capitalists need for

laborers results in the growth of the workingclass.


34/93

THOSE WHO ARE

THE

WORKING CLASS

the crea7ve majority,whose labor creates andsustains the economy onwhich society depends,

those without whomcapitalism could notfunc7on,

those who are hurt inmany ways by capitalismsnormal func7oning,

HAVE THE POWER TOBRING TO BIRTH A NEW

AND BETTER WORLD.


35/93

According to Marx . . .

LABOR CREATES WEALTH


36/93

Labor Creates Wealth


37/93



38/93



39/93

Capitalists seek a subservient labor force workers,

paid wages, who will create wealth both to pay for

those wages and to provide profits that will enrich the

capitalist.


40/93

EXPLOITATIONAssume a 10hour workday. A worker may create enough

wealth (value) in 4 or 5 or 6 hours to cover the cost of his orher wages, but then must con7nue to labor for 6 or 5 or 4

hours to create addi7onal wealth for the capitalist employer.Necessary Labor Surplus Labor

providing wages for sustaining worker crea?ng surplusvalue (source of profits)


41/93

Capitalists seek to increase the rate of

exploita?on in order to maximize profits.

The rate of exploita?on canbe increased by

cung wages, increasing the hours of the

workday, intensifying the amount of

labor squeezed out of thelaborer (through speedup),

OR . . . by using newtechnologies whose use

results in more productsbeing produced with thesame amount of labor.(This defines what ismeant by increasing

produc?vity.)


42/93

The capitalists drive to increase produc?vity is

what led to the Industrial Revolu?on.

Reducing labor costs throughincreased produc7vity makesit possible to lower prices soconsumers flock to buy the

cheaper goods.In order to compete for a share

of the market, or to increasetheir advantage, rivalbusinesses seek new

technologies in order toincrease produc7vity.

Industrializa?on skyrocketed.


43/93

CAPITAL ACCUMULATION

CommodityCapital

(raw materials,

laborpower &tools)

Produc?veCapital

CommodityCapital

(products ofthe produc7on

process)

MoneyCapital

(increased)

Money Capital

The capitalist invests capital

(money) in commodi7es (raw

materials, laborpower, tools)

which then become a form ofcapital in the produc7on

process, which creates a new

form of capital the new

commodi7es created by the

applica7on of labor to tools

and raw materials. These new

commodi7es are sold for a

greater amount of money

(thanks to the labor which

increases value) than

originally invested. This iswhat is meant by the

accumula7on of capital. One

must keep accumula?ng to

stay in business.


44/93

Capitalism is the most incredibly

expansive economic system ever

irresis7bly engulfing the en7re world.


45/93

This economic expansionism has been

associated with IMPERIALISM

an exploita7ve drive into

other territories seeking

raw materials, markets,

and investment

opportuni7es, whichbecame increasingly

pronounced beginning

in the laer part of the

19th century.

Marx had died before itbecame possible toanalyze this, but othersu7lizing his theories

Rudolf Hilferding, RosaLuxemburg, NikolaiBukharin, and V. I. Lenin

ini7ated intensivestudies of what they felt

was an important newstage of capitalism.


46/93

Like capitalism itself, imperialism was incredibly

dynamic and came in different varie?es.

Colonial variety

A rela7vely powerful capitalist

country invades,

establishes control over,

and governs othercountries or territories

for the purpose of securing

markets, raw materials, and

investment opportuni7es.

Open Door variety

A rela7vely powerful capitalist

country formally observes

the independence of other

countries but keeps thedoor open (some7mes

through big s?ck

diplomacy) for its

businesses to secure

markets, raw materials, and

investment opportuni7es.


47/93

Colonial variant of Imperialism


48/93

Open Door Imperialism


49/93

Capitalists invest much of the surplusvalue they get

through exploita7on into sustaining and expanding

their opera7ons.

CAPITALISM:

THE MOST

DYNAMICECONOMIC

SYSTEM INHISTORY.


50/93

THE CAPITALISTS COMMITMENT IS

NECESSARILY TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS:

using newtechnology,

increasing hours ofwork,

cung pay,squeezing morelabor out of workers,

or all of these.

Tension may result.


51/93

Class tensions may

result in

class struggle

work stoppages,

agita7onal leaflets,

protest songs, and

militantdemonstra7ons all of

which could be found

in this representa7on

of a demonstra7on of

female shoe workers ofLynn, Massachuses in

1860.


52/93

MARX BELIEVED THAT A MOTOR

FORCE OF HISTORY IS

CLASS STRUGGLE.Tensions and conflicts

(now hidden, now open)inevitably arise between the majority of

laborers and the wealthy minority that

controls the economy.


53/93

Marx saw the class struggle as

something that is constant

Now Hidden Now Open


54/93

NOW HIDDEN

NOW OPEN


55/93

Periodically there is a classstruggle upsurge.


56/93

When members of the working class beg for help,

capitalists may respond charitably, but when workers

demand their rights, the response is oen less kind.

CHARITABLE LESS KIND


57/93

Marx believed that the rise ofthe state came

with the rise of class society to maintain

order in a society increasingly afflicted with

class inequality, resentments, tensions, struggles.


58/93

There are many different forms of the state

all tending to be dominated by

the rulers of the economy.

Absolute monarchy rooted in

a minority the landed

nobility

Parliament elected by a

minority of propertyowners


59/93

Even a democra7c republic, in a capitalist society, is

corrupted and dominated by those who have economic

power.


60/93

CAPITALIST CONTRADICTIONSCANNOT BE OVERCOME BY STATE OR BUSINESS POLICIES


61/93

TWO CONTRADICTORY TENDENCIES:

1) A tendency to push down

the cost of the labor

(wages) while producing

more and more

commodi7es whichcannot be bought because

the buyingpower of

workingclass consumers is

being pushed down.

2) Rival businesses

compe7ng to produce

more and more goods,

and cheaper goods

(with rising produc7vitythrough use of new

technologies), with

produc7on growing

faster than the marketfor those goods.


62/93

Such tendencies as these lead to

economic crises, known as depressions.

The problem is NOTbecause TOO LITTLE is

produced, but because

TOO MUCH is produced(overproduc7on) and

because there is not

enough buying power

(underconsump7on).


63/93

Marx called these periodic capitalist crises others

have referred to it all as the boom and bust cycle.


64/93

WONDERS & HORRORS

CAPITALISM IS AMAZING CAPITALISM IS TERRIFYING


65/93

It has created amazing opportuni7es for a

beer life.

IT HAS ORGANIZED THE

CREATION OF GREAT WEALTH WITH A PROMISE FOR

WIDESPREAD ABUNDANCE.


66/93

It has destroyed obstacles to progress and

consumes life in the interest of profit.

IMPERIALISM CONSUMERISM


67/93

Its crea7ve quali7es help to create benefits

that are unevenly shared . . .

worldwide and within a country such as theUnited States


68/93

Inequality in our World I

The richest 225 people on Earth have a

combined annual income of $1 trillion.

The poorest 2.5 billion people on Earth have a

combined annual income of $1 trillion.It has been es?mated that a 4% tax on the

richest 225 people would pay for basic and

adequate health care, food, clear water, and

safe sewers for every person on earth.

THE CAPITALISTS WOULD NOT PERMIT THIS.


69/93

Even in the United States in the 1990s

it was reported that . . .

FAMILIES WEALTH

top 1% owned 40%

next 19% owned 40%

top 20% owned 80%

boom80% owned 20%

There is greater inequality is greater than that in 2012.


70/93

Inequality in our World II

The richest 20% of the worlds popula7onreceives 82.% of total global income.

The next 20% of the worlds popula7onreceives 11.% of the total global income.

The boom 60% of the worlds popula7onreceives 5.6% of the total global income.

It creates the possibility for overcoming poverty


71/93

It creates the possibility for overcoming poverty

yet poverty persists, and in some ways

deepens.Poverty exists even in therichest na?on in the world. Three billion people (half the global

popula?on) live on less than $2 a day.


72/93

Its normal

mode ofopera?on is

based on the

exploita?on of

labor and

inequality of

wealth and

power.

b d h


73/93

In bad 7mes it causes hunger,

despera7on, and needless suffering for

many innocent people.

I d 7 it t t i li 7


74/93

In good 7mes, it generates rampant commercializa7on

corrup7ng our society and

overwhelming our culture and lives.

d d h l h


75/93

Marx did more than interpret reality he

sought to change it.

In addi7on to developing a theory of history and

an analysis of capitalism, he reached for ways

to change history and replace capitalism with

something beer, pung forwarda program for the working class, anda vision of a socialist future.


76/93

A PROGRAM FOR

THE WORKING CLASS


77/93

MARXS PROGRAM FOR WORKERS

Workers should join together in the workplaces

to form tough, democra?c unions for higher

wages, a shorter workday, and beer working

condi7ons.

Workers should struggle for reforms in the

hereandnow to improve their situa7on.Workers should be poli7cally independentfrom the capitalists, forming their own labor

party.

Workers should win the bale for

democracy, establish poli?cal rule by theworking class, and begin the socialist

reconstruc7on of society.

A VISIO O SOCIALIS


78/93

A VISION OF SOCIALISM

The economy is socially owned.The economy is democra?callycontrolled.The economy is used to meet theneeds of all people in society.

The economy involvesdemocra?c, humanis?c planning.The free development of eachperson will be the condi?on forthe free development of all.

Society will be based on aneconomy involving the freeassocia?on of the producers.

A GLOBAL COMMONWEALTH OF LABOR


79/93

A GLOBAL COMMONWEALTH OF LABOR

Marx saw capitalism as an

interna7onal economic system

that could only be replaced bysocialism on a global scale.

He believed that the workers

could triumph only by joining

together across all borders and

on all con7nents.

His balecry was: Workers of

all countries unite! You havenothing to lose but your chains.

You have a world to win!

Revolu7onaries reformers socialists communists and others


80/93

Revolu7onaries, reformers, socialists, communists and others

from many lands and with many temperaments engaged, in

various ways (quite cri7cally, uncri7cally, crea7vely, etc., etc.),

with Marxism oen developing drama?cally differentinterpreta?ons and some7mes conflic7ng poli7cal orienta7ons.

i f i b l l


81/93

Some versions of Marxism are absolutely

incompa?ble with each other.

Rosa Luxemburg passionatepar7san of human freedom andsocialist democracy.

Joseph Stalin tyrannical

leader of a murderous and

bureaucra7c dictatorship.

M i h b f dl i fl 7 l


82/93

Marxism has been profoundly influen7al as an

intellectual force over the past century and a half.

Marxs thought has had a deepimpact within many disciplines:

Philosophy History Economics Sociology Anthropology Poli7cal Science Literary Cri7cism Cultural Studies Etc.

Marxs importance is acknowledgedby many nonMarxists.

.

Not only conflic7ng classes andgroups and movements andtheir leaders in every country,

but historians and sociologists,psychologists and poli7calscien7sts, cri7cs and crea7vear7sts, so far as they try toanalyze the changing quality oflife in their society, owe the

form of their ideas in largepart to the work of Karl Marx.

.

Isaiah Berlin


83/93

With the collapse of

the Soviet Union andthe discredi?ng of

Stalinistinfluenced

Communism, many

have argued that

Marxism is now

irrelevant.

From Woodfin & Zarate, IntroducingMarxism.


84/93

Others argue that certain aspects of Marxism

con7nue to be relevant in our own 7me.

With the recent economic downturn the intellectual stock of


85/93

With the recent economic downturn, the intellectual stock of

free market ideologists such as Alan Greenspan seems to

have fallen below that of Karl Marx.

The perspec7ves of revolu7onary Marxism con7nue


86/93

The perspec7ves of revolu7onary Marxism con7nue

to have a powerful influence on those struggling for

freedom and social jus7ce.

Throughout the world there are protests, such as this


87/93

g p ,

one against war that brought together high school and

university students, war veterans, trade unionists, and

others all predominantly workingclass, and amongwhose organizers are ac7vists influenced by Marxs

ideas.

Marxs ideas on how to understand and change


88/93

Marx s ideas on how to understand and change

the world are likely to be of interest

for some ?me to come.


89/93

Marxist voices and echoes can be heard

among the many and diverse forces drawn

together in global jus7ce protests.


90/93

As the 21st century moves through its

second decade, there con?nues to be a

relevance of and a use for Marxs ideas.

Amid the fluctua?on and spread of protests, Marxs approach to


91/93

understanding and changing the world can be helpful as ac?vists

consider where do we go from here.

Billy Bragg sings socialist and labor songs at

Occupy London.


92/93

Humanity is s7ll at the crossroads of socialism

or barbarism that Rosa Luxemburg wrote about

during the First World War and that Diego Riveradepicted in his great mural of the 1930s.


93/93

WHAT NEXT? . . .

Or,The End (for now)

Power-Point on Marxism2

Documents

Transcript of Power-Point on Marxism2