What is the importance of Karl Marx on your economy?

Answer 1

It is of value to note that the economic ideas of Karl Marx are the exact opposite of what can make a nation have a healthy and prosperous economy. In its basic form, Marx believed that if the government owned and controlled the means of production, it would benefit everyone and lead eventually to a future of a classless society with no need for a government at all. The former USSR was a prelude to Marx's ultimate goal of communism. The USSR is now "out of the business" of spreading Marxian economic ideas. And, the Peoples Republic of China has shifted far to the right of its long held leftist ideas of economic growth.

Answer 2

Opinion

Karl Marx has both directly and indirectly been a tremendous burden on my economy and on the world economy as a whole. This is very important because of the wide respect given to this man and his "economic strategies". Karl Marx is taught and discussed to great extent in history and political science classes but only a foot note in business classes, which should tell you something about his theories. Labor unions and their choke hold on the marketplace drives the price of goods up so that everybody must pay more so labor can make more. This is how Marx directly affects my economy. He indirectly effects mine and all economy by asserting that unskilled labor has more value than the creative force that made the job for labor available. This turning of the tables has led to much idealism and wishful thinking by communists and socialists alike who justify their own plunder by pointing to the plunder of others, they demand a structure that creates legal plunder whereby economy has equality. There is equality under the law only if un-equality of life is respected. There can be no economic equality because not all of us are equal outside of the law. Communism doesn't make us equal it only wishes we were.

Opposite Opinion I don't think the above comment is necessarily wrong. I would simply rephrase/recontext the views expressed. Prior to Marx England, Europe, and America where in the process of industrialization. Technology and society was changing at possibly the fastest rate in world history. Wealth was being generated in a fashion that only benefited Capitalist and not governments or people. Marx recognized the amazing prosperity Capitalism generated, but also noticed that it was equally able to isolate that wealth into as few hands as possible. Marx's greatest question was whether only wealth should earn profit or whether the worker also deserves some of the profit/prosperity. Thanks to the ideas of Marx and other (socialist/communist) we have: Public Education ( I would argue the biggest achievement). I think we should also look at the hard earned success of the labor movement in achieving at least early on, needed reform without which we would not recognize our society. A 50 then 45 the 40 hour work week. OSHA, despite its modern draw backs did make the work place a much safer place to work. Retirement plans and Social Security. Medicare and Medicaid.

Objective comment Without commenting on the polemical opinions above, it's safe to say that Marx' theories single-handedly transformed the social, political, and economic landscape of the modern world, simply by generating an awareness of the brutalities that unfettered capitalism can inflict on the general population. There are few nations in the world today that do not implement a vast array of protections for laborers, consumers, the elderly, the sick and the indigent, and other vulnerable groups. Just to cite one of the least contentious examples, Social Security in the US is an idea that derives directly from Marxist concerns. In early industrialism, those who were deemed to old to work were simply dismissed by employers, leaving them destitute. if they were unlucky enough not to have family who could support them, they would be forced to rely on charity or handouts, or they would meet a lingering end through through the ills inherent in poverty. Further, the civil rights movements of the 60's and 70's were heavily informed by Marxist ideals about the inhumane elements of capitalism. even many of the government policies that we think of as part of the fabric of capitalist society are Marxist in origin: minimum wage laws, the 40 hour limitation on the work week, even corporate bailouts to protect the jobs of workers. without Marx, we would live in a world where the majority of the population lived with no safety net, little leisure time away from their desperate efforts to gain or keep employment, and precious few personal rights.

Opinion

Marx was one of many political philosophers that put forth their own ideas on socialism. In England as example the Fabian Socialists were not Marxists. The idea that without socialists the entire world would be under the thumbs of a few and people would have few rights is simply not true.

Marxism as we all know is dead. His scientific view of history and how it would develop was based on false assumptions. As an example, Marx believed that when labor unions became strong, it would fit into his views of what would happen next. Let's stop here and realize that Marx and his rich industrialist friend, Engels did not "invent" labor unions. Next Marx predicted that in advanced industrial nations such as Germany and England, the workers would cause a bloody revolution against the capitalist government. We pause again. No worker led rebellion happened in any industrialized nation. Another of Marx's predictions that failed.

Russia was not an advanced capitalistic nation, it was almost a feudal one led not by capitalists but by a Monarchy. The real revolution in 1917 was led by Mensheviks. These were not Bolsheviks i.e. Lenin.

The Bolsheviks were also not Marxists. If they were then a key component of Marx was that only in advanced capitalistic nations could a natural revolution be led by the workers to overthrow the capitalist regime. There was no such regime.

The social benefits of Bismarck were far ahead of anything that Lenin would provide. What Lenin provided was death and imprisonment to anyone opposing the Bolsheviks. The only reason Lenin even got back to Russia was based on a deal with the Germans. Lenin promised them he would end the war for Russia if he took power and he did so.

Under the guise of Marxism, untold damage was done to the Russian people. Millions of people died in a 20 year period.

No socialist movement believed that Marx was the answer to the world. Marx had no influence on the false Marxists. Social benefits began long before Marx and developed in a way Marx had never dreamed of.

Marxism has been a failed doctrine since it was first created.