Scientific+Socialism+-+Marxism

SCIENTIFIC SOCIALISM - MARXISM

Marxism is a form of socialism; often referred to as communism. The ideology revolves around establishing economic equality, removing social classes and working toward societal good rather than personal gain. In a Marxist society the government is centralized and all property is public. (3) Marxism is on the far left of the political spectrum. It is the opposite of capitalism.

__**Important Figures**__
 * Karl Heinrich Marx** (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political economist, and socialist revolutionary, who addressed the matters of alienation and exploitation of the working class, the capitalist mode of production, and historical materialism. He is famous for analysing history in terms of class struggle.


 * Friedrich Engels** (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) was a German political philosopher and Karl Marx’s co-developer of communist theory. Marx and Engels met in September 1844; discovering that they shared like views of philosophy and socialism. (1)

//__Communism__// Most people know what communism is at its most basic level. Simply put, communism is the idea that everyone in a given society receives equal shares of the benefits derived from labour. Communism is designed to allow the poor to rise up and attain financial and social status equal to that of the middle-class landowners. Communism also requires that all means of production be controlled by the state. In other words, no one can own his or her own business or produce his or her own goods because the state owns everything.

According to the philosopher Frederick Engels' "Principles of Communism," the plan for ultimate financial and social equality is built on the principle that the system should spread around the world until all countries are on board. (2)



__**Key Concepts**__ A command economy or centrally planned economy is the opposite of a free market. Government planners decide what is produced, how it is produced and the price of the product. In a free market, competition and the forces of supply and demand would determine this. (3)
 * Centrally Planned Economy**

Physical and intellectual properties are in the hands of the government. This includes land, businesses and ideas.
 * Public Property**

The government has ownership and control of factories and machinery, ensuring all production is managed by the state. (3) __**Link To Liberalism**__ In Marxism there are both agreeing and disagreeing concepts with liberalism. -Socially, Marxists strongly believe in the equality of human beings, it is one of the primary goals of Marxism. Liberalism shares this objective to create equality amongst civilians. -Politically, Marxist states have a dictator, who although is intended to be temporary does not usually get elected by citizens. However, through the majority of the liberalist states leaders are elected by civilians. -Economically, Marxists accept a controlled market economy. Marx’s agreed with capitalist economists such as Adam Smith that a capitalist economy can rapidly increase productivity and overall wealth(4), although he was concerned about the welfare of labor workers. To avoid disadvantaging labor workers Marx describes an economy where labor is exchanged for wealth rather than commodities. In this sense everyone should work to the full capability and receive the commodities they need. Liberalist states generally use a capitalist, free market economy. (4)
 * Centralization of Means of Production**
 * Socially**
 * Politically**
 * Economically**

References: 1. "Marxism." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Apr. 2011. Web. 05 Mar. 2012 2. Hoyt, Alia. "How Communism Works." //HowStuffWorks//. Web. 05 Mar. 2012 3. Fielding, J., Christison, M., Harding, C., Meston, J., Smith, T. & Zook, D. (2009). //Perspectives on ideologies.// Oxford University Press Canada. 4. "Marxian Economics." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 06 Mar. 2012