Marxist theory

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels developed a clear vision of a state as an institution in which one class of people lived under the oppression of another and proposed a ’ideal solution’ to the predicament. According to them, human development theory is based on their struggle to achieve control over production, and the economic nature of a society consequently dictates other aspects such as politics. The socialist economy, in which the majority is submissive to the minority, marks the birth of true democracy. Marx viewed the world as a scuffle between the rich who owned property and the means of producing goods whom he referred to as bourgeoisie and the poor workers whom he referred to as proletariat. According to Marx, socialism aims at eliminating the alienation of man from his work and his fellow man. Production should involve association and togetherness without the aspect of competition, whereby production is brought under the control of the workers without the control of a blind power. Furthermore, production should aim at fulfilling man’s needs instead of making profits (Appelrouth, 2010).

Contemporary World

However, when Marx and Engel came up with their theory, they did not foresee the situation of the contemporary world where the workers in the middle class now own property and shares in the corporate sector thus alienating the aspect of only the rich owning property. Secondly in today’s world, governments and corporations have come up with ways to minimize the worst effects of pure capitalism. These include increasing salary for the workers to ensure customer loyalty which in turn ensures higher profits. In addition, most nations have come up with policies to improve the welfare of the working class through health care, education, social security, pensions and the minimum wage policies. Besides, Marx clearly did not foresee a world where the workers would be more enlightened about their welfare and better represented through trade unions, including the self-employed people who are under their own working terms.

Communist Societies

According to my knowledge, communist societies have existed, but in the early ages, before the economic, social and political systems became so complex. This caused the communities to adopt to the trends in the globe and abandon some socialist practices. Countries like Vietnam, North Korea are examples of such states. Also, the Buddhist communities have well been known to practice some socialist practices. In the contemporary era, a community cannot fully dwell and attain sustenance with purely socialist practice. To date, all the countries that have been renowned for socialism have had to adopt some capitalist principals in order to avoid collapse. This has especially been witnessed in the economic sector where famous communist countries, the likes of China have had to develop capitalist’s approach to tackle the sector, for a state or a community to survive entirely on socialist principals in this era is highly unlikely (Furtak, 1986).

Common Features of Socialist States or Communities

Common features of socialist states or communities is the fact that the central governing body or the government authorizes and oversees collective ownership of production. This means that neither the government nor the individual citizens can own more than a certain set limit of wealth or a particular primary or basic resource. The government manages these resources to ensure social welfare. Another common feature of socialism is the equity, under the rule of socialism, there is no struggle or conflict of class; everyone is equal economically, socially and politically.

Economic Socialism

The economic socialism states that work is divided according to ability and wage is shared according to need. This means that workers earn equal amounts for the different tasks that they undertake. The economic planning and research in a socialist state is geared towards the development and maximization of social welfare rather than private profits. Therefore, social welfare is the basis of all the economic policies and decisions.

References

Appelrouth, S., & Edles, L. D. (Eds.). (2010). Sociological theory in the contemporary era: Text and readings. Pine Forge Press.

Furtak, R. K. (1986). The political systems of the socialist states: an introduction to Marxist-Leninist regimes. Harvester Press.