| This is an attempt at rigorous and scientific analysis
of society and economics, begun by Marx and Engels in the 18th Century.
Some typical statements are that "Marx and Engels ….. completely
accepted that human history is purposeful or 'teleological'"
(p. 206) "The executive of the modern state ….. is but a committee
for managing the common affairs of the bourgeoisie. Elsewhere they
describe the state simply as 'a body of armed men' imposing the
will of a dominant class on the rest of society by force" (p.
209). Marxism as a practical political system is now generally discredited
following its corruptions into Stalinism, and the breakdown of the
Eastern bloc. Despite the rigorous dialectic of Marxism, which challenged
the other bodies of political theory to be equally rigorous, there
are a number of fairly obvious statements which can be made about
the 'mythic levels' of Marxism:-
The Central Idea of Marxism is of a classless society
"From each according to his means, to each according to his
needs", that is, with equal and abundant distribution of
all the necessities of life
The Mythic Image is of the triumphant workers, selflessly
working for each other and the whole
The Negative Stereotype is of a "Capitalist",
grown fat from the labour of pauperised workers
Marxism theories as expressed in Communist countries in fact
formed a theoretical corpus of work with similarities to a sacred
set of books, and a dogmatic system with a 'priesthood' and rigorous
attempts to control of thought and expression. It is interesting
to speculate if this was a deliberate copy of religious fundamentalist
patterns, or if it arose spontaneously or accidentally.
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