THINKER'S ALMANAC - May 5

What monster did Karl Marx use to characterize the relationship between capital and labor?

Subject:  Communism - Marx’s Vampire

Event:  Birthday of Karl Marx, 1818

The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it. -Karl Marx

On this day in 1818, the German philosopher Karl Marx was born.  Coming of age during the Industrial Revolution, Marx was troubled by the bleak and seemingly hopeless plight of the workers in the factories of Europe.  Men, women, and children worked long hours, exploited by factory owners.  The workers toiled up to fourteen hours a day for low wages while the factory owners reaped huge profits. 

                            Karl Marx - Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay 

In 1848, Mark and his friend Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto, one of the most influential political documents ever written.  The Manifesto summarizes Marx’s core beliefs, that history can only truly be understood through the lens of class struggle, the conflict between the bourgeoisie -- the capitalist class who possess wealth and the means of production --  and the proletariat -- the working class.

According to Marx, the class struggle produced great profits for the bourgeoisie, but only alienation for the proletariat.  The workers toiled like slaves at tedious, dehumanizing jobs, earning barely enough to live.  The capitalists -- those who had money that they could use to make more, exploited the workers.    To describe this unhealthy relationship between the capitalist (bourgeoisie) class and the working (proletariat) class, Marx turned to a fearful metaphor, a vampire that sucks the live-blood from its victim:  “Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.”

Marx offered hope, however, for he envisioned a future where the workers of the world would unite, overthrow capitalism, and establish a socialist utopia.  The revolution that Marx envisioned would put the means of production into the hands of the people.  Individual ownership of land and capital would end and be replaced by a society based on cooperation, where injustice would end and people would live peacefully and communally.  All individuals would contribute what they could to society and in return would be given enough to live a meaningful life:  “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

When Marx died of tuberculosis in 1883, all of his ideas existed only in his books, pamphlets, and articles, and he never saw the revolution he predicted come to fruition.  After his death, however, Marxism inspired several revolutions around the world, most notably the Russian Revolution of 1917.  Today people still debate the validity of Marxism as a political philosophy.  Could the utopia that Marx envisioned ever come to fruition or is it inevitable that any attempt to implement communism will fail because of the corrupt nature of humanity that comes from greed and competition?

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is the difference between the “bourgeoisie” and the “proletariat”?  What would happen in the revolution that Marx envisioned?

Challenge - Marx’s Mark on History:  Whether or not they agree with him, most people will concede that the ideas of Karl Marx have been influential.  Do some research on what people have said about the influence of Karl Marx.  Identify a quotation that you think is interesting, and explain whether or not you agree with it.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

May 5 (Every year):  On this fifth day of the fifth month of the year, we should pause to consider things that come in 5s.  We remember the five-second rule, the five Olympic rings, the five sides of a pentagon, the five pints of a star, ant the five Ws (Who, What, When, Why, and Where).  We also remember the Jackson Five, Slaughterhouse-Five, high fives, “Pleading the Fifth,” and the five-paragraph essay.  We also remember, remember the fifth of November, Cino de May, “this quintessence of dust,” V for Vendetta, and the five me who have held the rank of five-star general in the U.S. Army:  Generals Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Arnold, and Bradley.  Finally, we might consider those things we are passionate about -- the kinds of things we would give a five-star review to, that’s five out of five.

Sources:  

1-Warburton, Nigel.  A Little History of Philosophy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.