Marx
Do we still need Marx ? Karl Marx the social scientist, philosopher, and revolutionary, is unquestionably one of the most influential and recognised socialist thinkers in the world. ... However Marx’s theory was based on three components of, German idealist philosophy, French socialism and British political economy. ... Marx has written on varied social issues and each one could be analysed in terms of verifying Marx’s continued relevance. ... Both sides of the argument will be developed using Marx’s writings on these key concepts to decide whether we still need Marx. ... Marx did attempt to explain changes like this as being the result of a change in economics; for example the coincidence of rise of Protestantism and capitalism. ... This historical evidence questions the need for Marx. In his theory of historical materialism Marx argues that society is moulded by constant changes in production and that instability in this process is a definitive quality of the bourgeoisie era. ... ’ (Marx 1848 p.3) This could be used to verify the need for Marx as the current capitalist work place is one of distinct instability for individuals job security with young people entering a job market knowing they could be forced to pursue many different career paths during there working life. Marx was developing this idea at a time of rapid and distinct social change in the western world driven by a change from feudal to industrial modes of production. This could be used as evidence for Marx’s present day irrelevance. ... The fact that historical materialism asserts that socialism follows capitalism is another issue that questions the need for Marx. History has contradicted Marx’s thinking, as it was economically backward Russia that embraced socialism and the advanced western capitalist societies that denied it so passionately. In the communist manifesto Marx proclaims that ‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles’ (Karl Marx 1888,p. ... In Marx’s view the fundamental characteristic of this struggle is the oppression of one class by another. This can be seen as evidence that we definitely still need Marx. ... Marx explains that the proletariat, the final class, is forced to sell all it can, its labour for survival. ... ’(Marx 1841 p. ... Marx’s descriptions of the bourgeoisie’s global development is another example of how his theories are still essential to modern life. ... ’ ( Marx 1848 p. ... S are exporting to all lesser developed nations their capitalist ideas and their modes of production in an attempt to ‘create a world after its own image’ (Marx 1848 p.