Critique of Communist Manifesto and MarxistLeninism

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Critique of Communist Manifestoand
Marxist-Leninism
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• What does Marxs end-state look like?
• No private property, but there is personal
  property.
• No property in land
• Public education
• No child labour
• Benefits of production distributed by the state
  according to the needs and best interests of
  members of society
• Cosmopolitan and homogenouseventually this will
  be a world-wide phenomenon. No national identity
  or partisanship. No patriotism, no religion, no
  local cult heroes. Will the NHL still exist? What
  about the World Cup?

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Marxs two claims

• Contemporary politics resolves into two classes
  bourgeois and proletariat
• Aristotle The two permanent classes--are the few
  rich and the many poor. Each will rule in its own
  interest when it comes to power.
• There is a third (small group) the aristocracts
  Grk for rule of the best. Not defined by wealth
  but by virtue. What is virtue?
• Politics is ideology
• Politics is partisan, yes. This has been known
  since Aristotle. Each party believes its own view
  of justice is the complete view of justice.
• Aristotle believes it is possible to rise above
  this partiality. We have proof this is possible.
  Aristotles discussion takes something from each
  side of the debate to make a third position. Thus
  Aristotle is neither a democrat nor an oligarch.
• Aristotle might charge Marx with being a partisan
  who is blind to justice. He takes the demands of
  the poor as the only argument worth considering.

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Aristotle

• People desire things other than material property
• Moreover, civil troubles arise, not only out of
  the inequality of property, but out of the
  inequality of honour, (politics Bk 2, chp 7)
• Desires, not property, are the root of the
  problem
• it is not the possessions but the desires of
  mankind which require to be equalized, and this
  is impossible, unless a sufficient education is
  provided by the laws. (1267 a 1)
• The wickedness of human beings is insatiable. .
  .for the nature of desire is without limit, and
  it is with a view to satisfying this that the
  many live. (1267 b 1)

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• Danger of the profit motive
• the amount of property which is needed for a
  good life is not unlimited, Bk i.chp8
  (Politics)
• When the use of coin had once been discovered,
  out of the barter of necessary articles arose the
  other art of wealth getting, namely, retail
  trade. . . Hence some persons are led to believe
  that getting wealth is the object of household
  management, and the whole idea of their lives is
  that they ought either to increase their money
  without limit, or at any rate not to lose it. The
  origin of this disposition in men is that they
  are intent upon living only, and not upon living
  well and, as their desires are unlimited they
  also desire that the means of gratifying them
  should be without limit. Those who do aim at a
  good life seek the means of obtaining bodily
  pleasures and, since the enjoyment of these
  appears to depend on property, they are absorbed
  in getting wealth and so there arises the second
  species of wealth-getting. Bk1.cp.9

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• Accumulating wealth should be limited by its
  natural purpose.
• The family needs money, but
• the purpose of the family is not to make money,
  it is to educate children, to make them capable
  of leading a good, happy, productive life,
  wherein they can enjoy friendship.
• Money is a means to high ends

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• But nor is it necessarily true that our humanity
  is defined by productive labour.
• We labour because we can foresee with the mind
  the potential good of our work (thus we differ
  from bees, who also labour collectively).
  Humans (and our labour) are defined more by this
  capacity to think than by the capacity to work.
• Marxthere is nothing of human importance outside
  of social relations (e.g. religion is spurious).
• If social relations are governed by material
  production, material production explains
  everything.
• Aristotle, there is something that transcends
  societyphilosophy. Therefore, human nature and
  politics cannot be entirely explained by
  reference to material means of economic
  production. Man is the political/rational animal,
  not the economic animal.

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• Marx rejects idealism
• Take man as he really is. Dont take guidance
  from mere fanciful ideas about man generated by
  philosophy, religion, etc.
• Yet, Marx ends up describing a being (the future
  man in communist society) that does not now
  exist, and for which there is little evidence
  that he could exist. Marx is the biggest dreamer
  of them all?

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• The anti-philosophy of Marx
• Marx would object to being called a philosopher.
  Why?
• Philosophy passively studies or contemplates. It
  too is ideology (caught up with mere ideas).
• Marx expected to have a revolutionary effect on
  the world. Praxis versus philosophy.

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• Vanguard of the Revolution
• The Communists are at the forefront of the
  proletariat revolution, by virtue of being clear
  eyed (natural authority based on wisdom regarding
  the true goodsounds platonic).
• One supposes this is largely how Lenin, Stalin,
  Kin Jung Ill justify their rule. Rule without
  consent Entrust us with your lives and property
  because we are the knowers. Platos
  philosopher-king?No. In Plato, the philosophers
  dont want to rule. More importantly, they love
  wisdom, they dont have wisdom. Plato never has
  Socrates claim he knows anything except
  eroswhich he defines as a desire for what one
  knows one lacks.
• Marx some of the rich bourgeosie will see the
  writing on the wall and defect to t the
  proletariatis this just added to make Engels
  feel good about himself?

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Lenin

• Develops the party mode of organization
• turns highly abstract doctrine into a
  revolutionary movement (Ingersoll, 151).
• Why is Party necessary?
• Marx contradictions of capitalism would implode
  it. Spontaneous revolution
• Lenin experience shows otherwise
• Socialists tend to cozy up to power
• Russia prime for revolution, but no Proletariat

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• Professional revolutionaries needed
• impossible for the proletariat to achieve
  class-consciousness by their own efforts (153).
• Impossible to have a leaderless revolution.
• Keeping the number of professional
  revolutionaries small would make police detection
  more difficult.
• Class consciousness is not necessary
  pre-requisite of revolutionif that consciousness
  exists in the revolutionary leadership.
• How does this conflict with Marxs theory of
  history?

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• First stage of Lenins thinking
• Capitalism must run its course, then be
  revolutionized form within. Why
• Consistency with Marxist theory of history
• So, stage one help capitalism along in Russia
• Russia was feudal, not very industrialized,
  capitalism had not taken firm root their yet, the
  preconditions for communism were not there.
• Proletariat would temporarily help bourgeoisie
  against the Czar.

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• October Manifesto bourgeois accept Czars
  liberal reforms they denied their own
  revolution (154).
• Lenin Stage Two
• abandon the Russian bourgeoisie.
• forge alliance between peasants and proletariat.

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• Democratic centralism
• A form of Party discipline.
• No one questions the overall purpose of the
  party, only tactics.
• Debates occur behind closed doors
• Once decision is made, project a unified front.

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• Russian Revolution succeeds but leaves unanswered
  questions
• At what stage is Russia now with respect to true
  communism?
• How will the false consciousness of peasants
  and bourgeoisie be changed?
• Development of transfer culture

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• But for transfer culture to be successful, there
  must be a dictatorship of the proletariat
• Why dictatorship? Why not democracy and equality?
• There must be forced re-education and
  re-habituation. New ideas must be grafted onto
  the consciousness of the people.

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Imperialism

• Another key contribution of Lenins to Marxist
  Thought Western imperialism
• Question Why were proletariat in advanced
  societies complacent and (gasp!) even happy in
  some cases?
• Marxs prediction was wrong. Conditions were not
  worsening and worsening for wage-labourers.
• Answer theyre being bought-off by the
  capitalists.
• Where do capitalists get the extra money?
• Superprofits
• Question How is thisdimply foreseen in Communist
  Manifesto?

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Wars of National Liberation

• capitalism must expand to persist
• defeat capitalism by taking away potential labour
  markets.
• How? exploit nationalistic feelings to achieve
  independence, then convert the newly independent
  state into a communist one e.g. Cuba, North
  Korea, Vietnam.
• How does this conflict with Communist Manifesto?