Notes on Karl Marx and Communism 1. Bio Karl Marx was a German philosopher, sociologist, and communist in the 18th century. He developed a famous theory, called Marxism, that fundamentally influenced the human history. In fact, Karl Marx is among the most quoted scholars in history and is one of the most influential figures of all time. His two most famous works are: The Communist Manifesto published in 1848, mainly a political statement for the communist movement, and Das Capital, a book he devoted his life to on the nature of the capitalist system. In the last century, following his revolutionary theory, there were communist movement and revolutions in many countries to form a communist group of states, led by Soviet Union in 1922 and led to the founding of Red China in 1949. However, since the collapse of Soviet Union towards the end of last century, the communist movement suffered a big retreat and even the post-Mao China turned to market economy, a system closer to the capitalist economy than the communist economy. Marx's predictions that the global revolutions will end the capitalist system in the world are not proven right. 2. Marx's view on government Marx has a theory of social development involving 5 major social types, from lower stages to upper stages, i.e. Primitive Communism -- Slavery system -- Feudalism -- Capitalism -- Socialism -- Communism. He regards the capitalist government as an inhuman government which only protects the capitalists (bourgeoisie) while oppressing the working class (proletarians). He believes that despite the name of democracy, a capitalist society is in essence based on Dictatorship of Bourgeoisie. He concludes that capitalist government should be overthrown by the working class and replaced by the socialist government based on Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Eventually socialism transitions to communism when the productivity gets to the highest level. Communism is the ideal society in Marxist theory in which every one enjoys his work, which brings job satisfaction and fulfillment of his creativity, at the same time producing the products to meet the needs of all the society. In communism, there is no distinction of class, no class struggle and everything is in harmony. 3. Marx's theory of human nature: Contrary to the popular view that human is selfish by nature, Marx thought that human is a naturally creative animal. Accordingly, an ideal society creates a condition for the whole development of human nature. But capitalism is an evil society which turns humans into wage slaves. Marx's theory of human nature plays an important role in his criticism of capitalism and his ideal of communism. A closely related and even more influential theory of Marx is about alienation from human nature caused by the capitalist system. 4. Marx's theory of alienation By alienation, Marx refers to the social separation of people from their "human nature" which is supposed to be decent and creative. Marx believed that alienation is a systematic result of capitalism. He believed that it is the alienation that deformed human nature, making people behave differently depending on one's social status. The nature of capitalists becomes exploiting and oppressing the working class purely for the seeking of profits. The working class becomes wage-slaves like robots working in inhuman conditions. Only in the communism can all men gain freedom and be liberated from wage-slavery, enjoying the full nature of their creativity. 5. why he thinks that way Marxism was formed in an age when the capitalism was not mature and there were waves and waves of class struggle and society conflicts : there were no social programs, no unions and other forms of laws as seen in the modern society. For example, there were no minimum wage law, child labor law, income tax regulations and social welfare to protect the lower working class and to balance the interests between the capitalists and the proletarians. Out of deep compassions for the lower working class who has been struggling for very basic living, and out of the anger towards the early capitalists who were after profits by forcing the working class to work long hours with very low pay and very poor working conditions, Marx concluded that the capitalist government is inhuman and will be overthrown by the proletarians and replaced by the socialist and then communist government. Works Cited “Karl Marx.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 19 Sep. 2011. Wikimedia Foundation. 21 Sep. 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx “Marx’s Theory of Alienation.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Aug. 2011. Wikimedia Foundation. 21 Sep. 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx's_theory_of_alienation “Marx’s Theory of Human Nature.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Jun. 2011. Wikimedia Foundation. 21 Sep. 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_human_nature
几周前,甜甜世界历史课的项目《与思想家见面:卡尔 马克思》终于完工了,接着是要在课堂上给老师同学讲演。首先,要着装成学者马克思的样子。马克思的形象甜甜很熟悉,还在她很小的时候,她就从我小时候的临摹素描中看到了马恩列斯毛,还有华盛顿(见《 成长花絮第一期:学画 》)。服装好办,她就穿我的长衫西裤凑合,主要是马克思的大胡子。我陪着孩子转了好几家店铺,她都不满意。幸好由于万圣节将临,湾区临时增加很多化妆店,里面充满了稀奇古怪的服饰、骷髅,当然也有面具和大胡子。最后找到的胡子倒是很像马克思,就是颜色太黑了点儿,印象中马克思是花白胡须的。我安慰甜甜说,这是青年马克思的大胡子,完全没有问题。何况你讲演中的人性主题确实是青年马克思的思想,老年马克思更加激进和革命,远离了人性的主题。 就这样,甜甜上场了,讲得激情昂扬,特别是结句“全世界无产者,联合起来!” 甜甜先是用的德语,然后用英语重复,掷地有声。受到老师的赞许。下面是讲演稿的纲要: Meeting of the Minds: Karl Marx Hi, I’m Karl Marx, a middle class, 18th century German scholar, who was born at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when Capitalism was just starting and not yet mature. There were no social welfare programs (such as healthcare or pension) or worker unions, and everything was a class struggle between the rich, Bourgeoisie, and the working class, Proletarians. My theory, Marxism, is about the ultimate government, Communism, in which the property of a society is owned by all members, and peoples’ talents are utilized to their full potential, so that people enjoy their work while working toward the common good. Capitalism is a corrupted system in which the Bourgeoisie have all the power and exploit the Proletarians, while the Proletarians are unfairly treated, wage-earning robots. Even in democracy, when people vote, they are affected by mass media, controlled by the Bourgeoisie. All humans are naturally creative and talented. So I say to you all, everyone is equal. We should overthrow the dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie, "Proletarier aller Länder vereinigt Euch!" Proletarians of the world, unite!
陪女儿研究马克思主义 早上起床,甜甜告诉我:Dad, I had a weird dream. The last sentence I remember saying to somebody is: "If there is anything that I know, communism is for you." 看来,这个学期学世界历史,甜甜是对共产主义学说着迷了。 前几天,女儿回来告诉我,说她的世界历史课程要求介绍一位历史名人,其他同学有选卢梭、拿破仑、教皇保罗二世等,她选的是卡尔马克思,要求我帮助她了解马克思主义。我说那没问题,我从小就学习马克思,谈马克思主义如数家珍。女儿说,首先要了解马克思的生平事迹,然后主要是介绍马克思对下面两个问题的论点:马克思怎么看人性?马克思怎么看政府? 马克思的人性论,我这个当年的学马列小组积极分子也不大了解。人性在我们的少年时代是塔布(taboo),学习马克思也要绕开它:当年我们强调的是阶级性,而不是人性。改革开放以后,在老邓发动反自由化之前的思想解放年代,曾经有过对青年马克思异化理论的大讨论,印象深刻。顺藤摸瓜,上了维基百科 wiki,发现还真有专题论及青年马克思的人性论及其异化论。马克思的生平、其他论述,包括政府,wiki 上都有很好的概述。互联网上的百科wiki是人类新技术时代的一个创举,女儿已经养成习惯了,凡事查 wiki,我也鼓励她做这类研究项目尽可能参照 wiki. 生吞活剥看了维基百科的马克思条款,甜甜对马克思佩服得五体投地,整理了不少笔记。笔记上交给老师前,必须用自己的话综述改写,这样就对有些问题需要深入理解。譬如人性,维基的讲解围绕马克思对于人的自然性、创造性以及天赋才能的肯定,反衬生产关系对于劳动者创造本性的异化,显得太过抽象。女儿问:马克思到底是说人性是好,还是坏啊?我根据自己的理解,回答说:马克思是持肯定态度的,他要说的是,其所以产生阶级斗争等残酷的事件,那是人的社会环境和地位决定的。资本家作为人,并不是生来就要压榨无产阶级的坏蛋,但是他的阶级地位决定了他必须剥削无产阶级,以追求最大利润。资本家作为人格化资本的本质,是他的资本家身份决定的,不是他的本性问题。一个无产者,无论多么善良,一旦成了暴发户,变成资产阶级以后,他一样要被异化,成为资本的代表。 女儿最感兴趣的是共产主义,说我们从小被洗脑了,以为共产主义导致独裁和邪恶,其实共产主义是多么地美好。 "we were brain-washed to believe that communism is associated with dictatorship and leads to evil. But according to Marx, communism is a beautiful society, no class. no class struggle, work is fun and not a burden, one can satisfy his most potential with his gifted talents. But why the countries experimenting with communism all failed? "They failed for a good reason. The reason is clearly stated in Marx's works but the followers did not take it seriously. That is, an ideal society like communist needs to be supported by the maximum productivity." 女儿说:马克思了不起,资本主义太臭了(sucks),你看这两年的金融风暴,目前席卷欧洲资本主义国家的政府倒债危机,处处说明资本主义必然灭亡,共产主义必然胜利。 女儿说,我觉得我现在已经是共产主义者了,资本主义太烂,一定要被共产主义所取代(Dad, by now, I think I am already a communist. Capitalism sucks, got to be replaced by communism.) 我乐了,这话怎么与四十年前我们的信仰如出一辙呢。