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Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Introduction:
The allure of a classless society, a world free from exploitation and inequality, has captivated minds for centuries. Karl Marx's theories, the foundation of Marxism, promised just that. But the reality of Marxist regimes throughout history paints a drastically different picture, one marred by oppression, famine, and unimaginable suffering. This post delves into the core tenets of Marxism, examining its seductive promises alongside the brutal consequences of its implementation. We will dissect the ideological delusions that fueled its rise and explore the devastating destruction it left in its wake, offering a critical analysis free from partisan rhetoric.
H2: The Allure of the Marxist Utopia: A Critical Examination of the Theory
Marx envisioned a society free from the inherent contradictions of capitalism. His critique of capitalist exploitation, focusing on the alienation of labor and the concentration of wealth, resonated with many, particularly those experiencing economic hardship. The promise of a communist utopia, a society of abundance and equality, served as a powerful motivator. However, this vision rested on several crucial assumptions that proved fundamentally flawed.
H3: The Labor Theory of Value: A Flawed Foundation
Marx's theory hinges on the labor theory of value, which posits that the value of a commodity is determined solely by the labor required to produce it. This ignores the significant role of supply and demand, market forces, and other factors in determining prices. The inherent weaknesses of this foundational concept undermined the entire theoretical structure of Marxist economics.
H3: The Inevitability of Revolution: A False Prophecy
Marx predicted an inevitable proletarian revolution, driven by the inherent contradictions of capitalism. This prediction failed to account for the adaptability of capitalist systems, the rise of a middle class, and the complexities of human behavior. Revolutionary movements inspired by Marxism did occur, but often deviated significantly from Marx's original vision, resulting in totalitarian regimes rather than worker's paradises.
H2: The Bloody Legacy of Marxist Regimes: From Stalin to Mao
The 20th century witnessed the horrific consequences of Marxist ideology in practice. The Soviet Union under Stalin, Maoist China, and various other communist regimes demonstrate the catastrophic failure of Marxist principles to create a just and equitable society. These regimes were characterized by:
H3: Totalitarian Control and Suppression of Dissent: Individual liberties were sacrificed at the altar of the state. Opposition was brutally suppressed, resulting in mass imprisonment, executions, and the creation of vast gulags and re-education camps.
H3: Economic Mismanagement and Famine: Centrally planned economies, a cornerstone of Marxist ideology, consistently failed to deliver on their promises of abundance. Instead, they resulted in widespread shortages, famine, and economic stagnation. The Holodomor in Ukraine and the Great Leap Forward in China stand as stark examples of this devastating failure.
H3: The Cult of Personality and Authoritarianism: Marxist revolutions often led to the establishment of authoritarian regimes dominated by powerful leaders who wielded absolute control. The cult of personality surrounding figures like Stalin and Mao further entrenched these oppressive systems.
H2: The Enduring Appeal and Modern Manifestations of Marxist Ideas
Despite its demonstrable failures, Marxist ideology continues to exert influence. While outright communist regimes are less prevalent, certain aspects of Marxist thought, such as critiques of inequality and corporate power, find resonance in modern social movements and political discourse. However, it's crucial to differentiate between legitimate concerns about social justice and the dangerous tenets of Marxist ideology. The seductive promise of a classless society should not blind us to the brutal history and inherent flaws of Marxism.
Conclusion:
Marxism, while initially appealing in its promise of a utopian society, has ultimately proved to be a catastrophic failure. Its flawed theoretical foundation, coupled with its historical record of oppression, famine, and totalitarian rule, should serve as a cautionary tale. While critiques of inequality and injustice remain valid, embracing Marxism as a path towards a better future is a dangerous delusion that can only lead to destruction. A critical examination of history is vital to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and building a truly just and equitable society through alternative, democratic means.
FAQs:
1. What are the key differences between Marxist theory and its practical implementation? Marx's theory emphasizes worker empowerment and a gradual transition to communism. In practice, Marxist regimes often devolved into totalitarian states controlled by a powerful elite.
2. How did Marxist regimes justify their authoritarian practices? They often used the pretext of defending the revolution and eliminating counter-revolutionary elements to justify their suppression of dissent and human rights violations.
3. Are there any positive aspects of Marxist thought that can be separated from its negative consequences? Some of Marx's critiques of capitalism, particularly concerning inequality and alienation, remain relevant and have informed various social justice movements.
4. What are some alternative approaches to addressing social and economic inequality? Democratic socialism, social democracy, and various forms of welfare states offer alternative approaches that aim to mitigate inequality while preserving individual liberties.
5. Why is it important to study the history of Marxism? Understanding the history of Marxism is crucial to preventing the repetition of past atrocities and to critically evaluate contemporary political ideologies that share similar characteristics.
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Marxism Unmasked Ludwig Von Mises, 2019 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Planned Chaos Ludwig Von Mises, 1947 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Liberty and Property Ludwig Von Mises, 1988 Originally delivered as a lecture at Princeton University, October 1958, at the 9th meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society--Page 7. Includes bibliographical references. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Economic Policy Ludwig Von Mises, 2006-03 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Ludwig von Mises on Money and Inflation: A Synthesis of Several Lectures Bettina Bien Greaves, 2010 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Theory of Money and Credit Ludwig Von Mises, 1953 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Liberalism , This is Mises's classic statement in defense of a free society, one of the last statements of the old liberal school and a text from which we can continue to learn. It has been the conscience of a global movement for liberty for 80 years. This edition, from the Mises Institute, features a new foreword by Thomas Woods. It first appeared in 1927, as a followup to both his devastating 1922 book showing that socialism would fail, and his 1926 book on interventionism. It was written to address the burning question: if not socialism, and if not fascism or interventionism, what form of social arrangements are most conducive to human flourishing? Mises's answer is summed up in the title, by which he meant classical liberalism. Mises did more than restate classical doctrine. He gave a thoroughly modern defense of freedom, one that corrected the errors of the old liberal school by rooting the idea of liberty in the institution of private property (a subject on which the classical school was sometimes unclear). Here is the grand contribution of this volume. The program of liberalism, therefore, if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property, that is, private ownership of the means of production... All the other demands of liberalism result from this fundamental demand. But there are other insights too. He shows that political decentralization and secession are the best means to peace and political liberty. As for religion, he recommends the complete separation of church and state. On immigration, he favors the freedom of movement. On culture, he praised the political virtue of tolerance. On education: state involvement must end, and completely. He deals frankly with the nationalities problem, and provides a stirring defense of rationalism as the essential foundation of liberal political order. He discusses political strategy, and the relationship of liberalism to special-interest politics. In some ways, this is the most political of Mises's treatises, and also one of the most inspiring books ever written on the idea of liberty. It remains the book that can set the world on fire for freedom, which is probably why it has been translated into more than a dozen languages. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Bureaucracy Ludwig Von Mises, 2017-04-25 Author Ludwig von Mises was concerned with the spread of socialist ideals and the increasing bureaucratization of economic life. While he does not deny the necessity of certain bureaucratic structures for the smooth operation of any civilized state, he disagrees with the extent to which it has come to dominate the public life of European countries and the United States. The author's purpose is to demonstrate that the negative aspects of bureaucracy are not so much a result of bad policies or corruption as the public tends to think but are the bureaucratic structures due to the very tasks these structures have to deal with. The main body of the book is therefore devoted to a comparison between private enterprise on the one hand and bureaucratic agencies/public enterprise on the other. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis Ludwig von Mises, 2016-11-24 Socialism is the watchword and the catchword of our day. The socialist idea dominates the modem spirit. The masses approve of it. It expresses the thoughts and feelings of all; it has set its seal upon our time. When history comes to tell our story it will write above the chapter “The Epoch of Socialism.” As yet, it is true, Socialism has not created a society which can be said to represent its ideal. But for more than a generation the policies of civilized nations have been directed towards nothing less than a gradual realization of Socialism.17 In recent years the movement has grown noticeably in vigour and tenacity. Some nations have sought to achieve Socialism, in its fullest sense, at a single stroke. Before our eyes Russian Bolshevism has already accomplished something which, whatever we believe to be its significance, must by the very magnitude of its design be regarded as one of the most remarkable achievements known to world history. Elsewhere no one has yet achieved so much. But with other peoples only the inner contradictions of Socialism itself and the fact that it cannot be completely realized have frustrated socialist triumph. They also have gone as far as they could under the given circumstances. Opposition in principle to Socialism there is none. Today no influential party would dare openly to advocate Private Property in the Means of Production. The word “Capitalism” expresses, for our age, the sum of all evil. Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas. In seeking to combat Socialism from the standpoint of their special class interest these opponents—the parties which particularly call themselves “bourgeois” or “peasant”—admit indirectly the validity of all the essentials of socialist thought. For if it is only possible to argue against the socialist programme that it endangers the particular interests of one part of humanity, one has really affirmed Socialism. If one complains that the system of economic and social organization which is based on private property in the means of production does not sufficiently consider the interests of the community, that it serves only the purposes of single strata, and that it limits productivity; and if therefore one demands with the supporters of the various “social-political” and “social-reform” movements, state interference in all fields of economic life, then one has fundamentally accepted the principle of the socialist programme. Or again, if one can only argue against socialism that the imperfections of human nature make its realization impossible, or that it is inexpedient under existing economic conditions to proceed at once to socialization, then one merely confesses that one has capitulated to socialist ideas. The nationalist, too, affirms socialism, and objects only to its Internationalism. He wishes to combine Socialism with the ideas of Imperialism and the struggle against foreign nations. He is a national, not an international socialist; but he, also, approves of the essential principles of Socialism. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Free Market and Its Enemies Von Mises Ludwig, 2013-12 Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: All that is Solid Melts Into Air Marshall Berman, 1983 The experience of modernization -- the dizzying social changes that swept millions of people into the capitalist world -- and modernism in art, literature and architecture are brilliantly integrated in this account. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Anti-capitalistic Mentality Ludwig Von Mises, 1972 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: History and Class Consciousness Georg Lukacs, 1972-11-15 This is the first time one of the most important of Lukács' early theoretical writings, published in Germany in 1923, has been made available in English. The book consists of a series of essays treating, among other topics, the definition of orthodox Marxism, the question of legality and illegality, Rosa Luxemburg as a Marxist, the changing function of Historic Marxism, class consciousness, and the substantiation and consciousness of the Proletariat. Writing in 1968, on the occasion of the appearance of his collected works, Lukács evaluated the influence of this book as follows: For the historical effect of History and Class Consciousness and also for the actuality of the present time one problem is of decisive importance: alienation, which is here treated for the first time since Marx as the central question of a revolutionary critique of capitalism, and whose historical as well as methodological origins are deeply rooted in Hegelian dialectic. It goes without saying that the problem was omnipresent. A few years after History and Class Consciousness was published, it was moved into the focus of philosophical discussion by Heidegger in his Being and Time, a place which it maintains to this day largely as a result of the position occupied by Sartre and his followers. The philologic question raised by L. Goldmann, who considered Heidegger's work partly as a polemic reply to my (admittedly unnamed) work, need not be discussed here. It suffices today to say that the problem was in the air, particularly if we analyze its background in detail in order to clarify its effect, the mixture of Marxist and Existentialist thought processes, which prevailed especially in France immediately after the Second World War. In this connection priorities, influences, and so on are not particularly significant. What is important is that the alienation of man was recognized and appreciated as the central problem of the time in which we live, by bourgeois as well as proletarian, by politically rightist and leftist thinkers. Thus, History and Class Consciousness exerted a profound effect in the circles of the youthful intelligentsia. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Marxism/Socialism, a Sociopathic Philosophy Conceived in Gross Error and Ignorance, Culminating in Economic Chaos, Enslavement, Terror, and Mass Murde George Reisman, 2018-09-22 For its size, this essay is the most powerful, comprehensive, and in-depth critique of Marxism/Socialism and defense of capitalism ever written.Socialism is government ownership of the means of production. My essay explains why its establishment requires armed robbery and murder on a massive scale, acts which communists are willing to commit, but not social democrats, who therefore should stop calling themselves socialists.My essay demolishes the attempt of Marxism/Socialism to portray the free workers of capitalism as only nominally free and in actuality slaves.It demolishes the belief, introduced by Adam Smith and then serving as the starting point for Marx, that profits are a deduction from wages. It shows instead that profits exist prior to wages, by virtue of workers producing and selling products in exchange not for wages but for sales revenues, which are initially all profit. My essay shows that when capitalists appear, and pay wages and buy capital goods for the purpose of earning sales revenues, their expenditures show up as costs of production to be deducted from sales revenues, thereby reducing the proportion of sales revenues that is profit. Thus capitalists, instead of stealing their profits from wage earners, create wages and reduce profit margins, as well as lay the foundation for continuing economic progress and rising real wages through their purchase and employment of capital goods.My essay also shows, among many other things, that when it comes to economic planning, capitalism is as rich compared to socialism as it is in the production of material goods. This is because, under capitalism, all participants in the economic system engage in economic planning, with their separate, individual plans being harmonized, coordinated, and integrated by means of the price system. In sharpest contrast, under socialism economic planning is the monopoly of no more than a relative handful of people, the members of the socialist central planning board. Thus, as I remarked in my essay, The alleged economic planning of socialism is in fact not economic planning at all, but the forcible suppression of economic planning--the forcible suppression of the economic planning of everyone in the economic system outside the membership of the central planning board. Absent the economic planning of capitalism, the result is economic chaos, declining production, and starvation. Just as my essay presents the truth about socialism, so too does it present the truth about capitalism. For example, it shows how, under capitalism, a willingness of workers to work for minimum subsistence, rather than die of starvation, is irrelevant to the wages they actually need to accept, which are set at a far higher level by the competition of employers for labor. It shows that the actual self-interest of employers is not to try to pay wages that are as low as they might like, but rather the lowest wages that are simultaneously too high for any other employers who would otherwise obtain the labor that these employers want to employ. The position of employers under capitalism is essentially the same as that of a successful bidder at an auction. His successful bid must be too high for his next nearest competitor.Capitalism not only continually raises real wages, it also operates to reduce the hours of work, abolish child labor, and improve working conditions. It does this by virtue of the fact that once real wages have increased sufficiently, workers can afford to accept the comparatively lower wages that accompany shorter hours, can afford to keep their children home longer, and can afford to accept the comparatively lower take-home wages that enable employers to provide them with improvements in working conditions that do not pay for themselves through increases in efficiency.All this, and much, much more, is contained just in the first part of my essay, which is titled The Gist of Marxism/Socialism and Its Refutation. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Socialism Ludwig Von Mises, 1936* |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Process of Democratization Gy?rgy Luk?cs, 1991-01-01 Georg Lukacs's The Process of Democratization provides indispensable reading for an understanding of the revolution that swept Russia and Eastern Europe during 1989-1990. Lukacs, a spokesman for anti-Bolshevik communism, was the advance guard of anti-Stalinist reform. Written in the aftermath of the Prague Spring, his book was a precursor to many of the Gorbachev reforms. Lukacs was the leading communist intellectual in the world until his death. During his last 15 years, he embarked upon a massive effort to revive Marxism as philosophy, as aesthetics, and as politics. The Process of Democratization was part of this attempt at a Marxist renaissance. He would probably be surprised to find that the Second Russian Revolution of 1989-1990 moved far beyond his reformism, overthrowing even the anti-Stalinist communism that he fought to retain. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Exposing the Real Che Guevara Humberto Fontova, 2007-04-19 A debunking of liberal myths about one of the most bloodthirsty icons of the twentieth century. Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the mainstream media celebrate Ernesto Che Guevara as a saint, a sex symbol, and a selfless martyr. But their ideas about Che—whose face adorns countless T-shirts and posters—are based on the lies of Fidel Castro's murderous dictatorship. Che's hipster fans are classic useful idiots, the name Stalin gave to foolish Westerners who parroted his lies about communism. And their numbers only increased after a new biopic was released, starring Benicio Del Toro. But as Humberto Fontova reveals in this myth-shattering book, Che was actually a bloodthirsty executioner, a military bumbler, a coward, and a hypocrite. In fact, Che can be called the godfather of modern terrorism. Fontova reveals: • How he longed to destroy New York City with nuclear missiles. • How he persecuted gays, blacks, and religious people. • How he loved material wealth and private luxuries, despite his image as an ascetic. Are Che fans like Angelina Jolie, Jesse Jackson, Carlos Santana, and Johnny Depp too ignorant to realize they've been duped? Or too anti-American to care? |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Red Star Alexander Bogdanov, 1984-06-22 “An Earth-man’s journey to the planet Mars, where he is treated to a wondrous vision of a communist future, complete with flying cars and 3D color movies.” —Wonders & Marvels A communist society on Mars, the Russian revolution, and class struggle on two planets is the subject of this arresting science fiction novel by Alexander Bogdanov (1873–1928), one of the early organizers and prophets of the Russian Bolshevik party. The red star is Mars, but it is also the dream set to paper of the society that could emerge on earth after the dual victory of the socialist and scientific-technical revolutions. While portraying a harmonious and rational socialist society, Bogdanov sketches out the problems that will face industrialized nations, whether socialist or capitalist. “[A] surprisingly moving story.” —The New Yorker “The contemporary reader will marvel at [Bogdanov’s] foresight: nuclear fusion and propulsion, atomic weaponry and fallout, computers, blood transfusions, and (almost) unisexuality.” —Choice “Bogdanov’s novels reveal a great deal about their fascinating author, about his time and, ironically, ours, and about the genre of utopia as well as his contribution to it.” —Slavic Review |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Russia After Lenin Vladimir Brovkin, 2005-08-04 In Russian Society and Politics 1921-1929, Vladimir Brovkin offers a comprehensive cultural, political, economic and social history of developments in Russia in the 1920's. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Free and Prosperous Commonwealth Ludwig von Mises, Arthur Goddard, 2013-10 This is a new release of the original 1962 edition. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Planning for Freedom Ludwig Von Mises, 2008 In this anthology, Mises offers an articulate and accessible introduction to and critique of two topics he considers especially important: inflation and government interventionism. Mises believes inflation, that is monetary expansion, is destructive; it destroys savings and investment, which are the basis for production and prosperity. Government controls and economic planning never accomplish what their proponents intend. Mises consistently argues that the solution to government intervention is free markets and free enterprise, which call for reforming government. For that, ideas must be changed to let the market system work. There is no better planning for freedom than this. The seventeen essays in Planning for Freedom: Let the Market System Work are tied together by one overarching idea, best expressed by Mises in the capstone essay Profit and Loss. The essays in the final section of the book summarize Mises's contributions to economic thought and emphasize his firm belief in the power of ideas. Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of economics throughout most of the twentieth century. Bettina Bien Greaves is a former resident scholar and trustee of the Foundation for Economic Education and was a senior staff member at FEE from 1951 to 1999. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Introduction to Modernity Henri Lefebvre, 2012-01-16 Originally published in 1962, when Lefebvre was beginning his career as a lecturer in sociology at the University of Strasbourg, it established his position in the vanguard of a movement which was to culminate in the events of May 1968. A classic analysis of the modern world using Marxist dialectic, it is a book which supersedes the conventional divisions between academic disciplines. With dazzling skill, Lefebvre moves from philosophy to sociology, from literature to history, to present a profound analysis of the social, political and cultural forces at work in France and the world in the aftermath of Stalin’s death—an analysis in which the contours of our own “postmodernity” appear with startling clarity. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Omnipotent Government Ludwig Von Mises, 2011-03-23 Liberty is not, as the German precursors of Nazism asserted, a negative ideal. Whether a concept is presented in an affirmative or in a negative form is merely a question of idiom. Freedom from want is tantamount to the expression striving after a state of affairs under which people are better supplied with necessities. Freedom of speech is tantamount to a state of affairs under which everybody can say what he wants to say. At the bottom of all totalitarian doctrines lies the belief that the rulers are wiser and loftier than their subjects and that they therefore know better what benefits those ruled than they themselves. Werner Sombart, for many years a fanatical champion of Marxism and later a no less fanatical advocate of Nazism, was bold enough to assert frankly that the Führer gets his orders from God, the supreme Führer of the universe, and that Führertum is a permanent revelation.* Whoever admits this, must, of course, stop questioning the expediency of government omnipotence. Those disagreeing with this theocratical justification of dictatorship claim for themselves the right to discuss freely the problems involved. They do not write state with a capital S. They do not shrink from analyzing the metaphysical notions of Hegelianism and Marxism. They reduce all this high-sounding oratory to the simple question: are the means suggested suitable to attain the ends sought? In answering this question, they hope to render a service to the great majority of their fellow men. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Human Action Ludwig Von Mises, 2021-10-08 2021 Hardcover Reprint of the 1949 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Human Action: A Treatise on Economics is the first comprehensive treatise on economics written by a leading member of the modern Austrian school of economics. Von Mises' contribution was very simple, yet at the same time extremely profound: he pointed out that the whole economy is the result of what individuals do. Individuals act, choose, cooperate, compete, and trade with one another. In this way Mises explained how complex market phenomena develop. Mises did not simply describe economic phenomena - prices, wages, interest rates, money, monopoly and even the trade cycle - he explained them as the outcomes of countless conscious, purposeful actions, choices, and preferences of individuals, each of whom was trying as best as he or she could under the circumstances to attain various wants and ends and to avoid undesired consequences. Hence the title Mises chose for his economic treatise, Human Action. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Tactics and Ethics Georg Lukacs, 2014-01-14 Tactics and Ethics collects Georg Lukács’s articles from the most politically active time of his life, a period encompassing his stint as deputy commissar of education in the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Including his famed essay on parliamentarianism—which earned Lukács the respectful yet severe criticism of Lenin—this book is a treasure chest of valuable insights from one of history’s great political philosophers. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Communism and Nationalism Roman Szporluk, 1991 This study examines the relationship between the two dominant ideologies which emerged in the 19th century: Karl Marx's communism and Friedrich List's theory of nationalism. List was the first economist to be studied seriously by Marx. Three years before publication of the Communist Manifesto Karl Marx began work on a critique of a movement that was gaining popularity as a challenge to capitalism - nationalism, as put forth by the German economist Friedrich List. Long regarded as a major cultural and political force in 19th-century Europe, nationalism was in fact to become directly involved in the conflict between capitalism and socialism, offering an appealing alternative to capitalism's New World Order - the doctrine of Free Trade - and socialism's call for a worldwide unification of the workers against the bourgeoisie. In this original new work Professor Szporluk offers a major reinterpretation of Marxism's historical development - one that recognises nationalism as the third contender on the battlefield where Marxism met capitalism. A bold new interpretation of Marx's intellectual biography, showing how the history of Marx and Marxism is to a great extent the story of their confrontation with nationalism before 1848. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Totality, Charisma, Authority Mihai Murariu, 2016-10-24 This interdisciplinary endeavour portrays the central features of militant movements which hold totality as an important part of their doctrinal core. Revisiting the importance of modernity, utopianism, eschatology, charisma, psychology and the history of ideas, Mihai Murariu pursues a reconstruction of the historical requirements for the emergence of such movements. Making a central use of the concept of totalism, the work establishes a conceptual bridge from antiquity to the contemporary period, whilst also arguing for the suitability of the term in comparison to totalitarianism or political religion. The author also proposes a distinct taxonomy for structural elements, variants, and development phases which may be encountered in totalist movements. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Moral Blindness Zygmunt Bauman, Leonidas Donskis, 2013-04-24 Evil is not confined to war or to circumstances in which people are acting under extreme duress. Today it more frequently reveals itself in the everyday insensitivity to the suffering of others, in the inability or refusal to understand them and in the casual turning away of one’s ethical gaze. Evil and moral blindness lurk in what we take as normality and in the triviality and banality of everyday life, and not just in the abnormal and exceptional cases. The distinctive kind of moral blindness that characterizes our societies is brilliantly analysed by Zygmunt Bauman and Leonidas Donskis through the concept of adiaphora: the placing of certain acts or categories of human beings outside of the universe of moral obligations and evaluations. Adiaphora implies an attitude of indifference to what is happening in the world – a moral numbness. In a life where rhythms are dictated by ratings wars and box-office returns, where people are preoccupied with the latest gadgets and forms of gossip, in our ‘hurried life’ where attention rarely has time to settle on any issue of importance, we are at serious risk of losing our sensitivity to the plight of the other. Only celebrities or media stars can expect to be noticed in a society stuffed with sensational, valueless information. This probing inquiry into the fate of our moral sensibilities will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the most profound changes that are silently shaping the lives of everyone in our contemporary liquid-modern world. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Legitimation Crisis Juergen Habermas, 1975-08-25 Critical Theory originated in the perception by a group of German Marxists after the First World War that the Marxist analysis of capitalism had become deficient both empirically and with regard to its consequences for emancipation, and much of their work has attempted to deepen and extend it in new circumstances. Yet much of this revision has been in the form of piecemeal modification. In his latest work, Habermas has returned to the study of capitalism, incorporating the distinctive modifications of the Frankfurt School into the foundations of the critique of capitalism. Drawing on both systems theory and phenomenological sociology as well as Marxism, the author distinguishes four levels of capitalist crisis - economic, rationality, legitimation, and motivational crises. In his analysis, all the Frankfurt focus on cultural, personality, and authority structures finds its place, but in a systematic framework. At the same time, in his sketch of communicative ethics as the highest stage in the internal logic of the evolution of ethical systems, the author hints at the source of a new political practice that incorporates the imperatives of evolutionary rationality. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Revolutionary Philosophy of Marxism Karl Marx , Friedrich Engels , Alan Woods , V.I. Lenin , Leon Trotsky, 2018-11-22 A Selection of Writings on Dialectical Materialism by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Plekhanov, and Luxemburg, and Alan Woods. Edited by John Peterson with an Introduction by Alan Woods. On the bicentennial of his birth, Karl Marx’s ideas are more relevant than ever. While he is perhaps best known for his writings on economics and history, anyone who wishes to have a fully rounded understanding of his method must strive to master dialectical materialism, which itself resulted from an assiduous study and critique of Hegel. Dialectical materialism is the logic of motion, development, and change. By embracing contradiction instead of trying to write it out of reality, dialectics allows Marxists to approach processes as they really are, not as we would like them to be. In this way we can understand and explain the essential class interests at stake in our fight against capitalist exploitation and oppression. At every decisive turning point in history, scientific socialists must go back to basics. Marxist theory represents the synthesized experience, historical memory, and guide to action of the working class. The Revolutionary Philosophy of Marxism aims to arm the new generation of revolutionary socialists with these essential ideas. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Illusion of the Epoch H. B. Acton, 2010 Discusses the metaphysics, ethics and intellectual tradition inaugurated by Marx and Engels and continued by Lenin and Stalin. This book also discusses Dialectical materialism and the social theories and ethics known as Scientific Socialism. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Nation, State, and Economy Ludwig Von Mises, 2006 Essential to Mises's concept of a classical liberal economy is the absence of interference by the state. In World War I, Germany and its allies were overpowered by the Allied Powers in population, economic production, and military might, and its defeat was inevitable. Mises believed that Germany should not seek revenge for the peace of Versailles; rather it should adopt liberal ideas and a free-market economy by expanding the international division of labor, which would help all parties. For us and for humanity, Mises wrote, there is only one salvation: return to rationalistic liberalism. Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) was the leading spokesman of the Austrian School of economics throughout most of the twentieth century. Bettina Bien Greaves is a former resident scholar and trustee of the Foundation for Economic Education and was a senior staff member at FEE from 1951 to 1999. Please note: This title is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Necessary Illusions Noam Chomsky, 1989 Argues that the media serves the needs of those in power rather than performing a watchdog role, and looks at specific cases and issues |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Literature of the Low Countries Reinder P. Meijer, 1971 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: A Little Corner of Freedom Douglas R. Weiner, 1999-02-26 While researching Russia's historical efforts to protect nature, Douglas Weiner unearthed unexpected findings: a trail of documents that raised fundamental questions about the Soviet political system. These surprising documents attested to the unlikely survival of a critical-minded, scientist-led movement through the Stalin years and beyond. It appeared that, within scientific societies, alternative visions of land use, resrouce exploitation, habitat protection, and development were sustained and even publicly advocated. In sharp contrast to known Soviet practices, these scientific societies prided themselves on their traditions of free elections, foreign contacts, and a pre-revolutionary heritage. Weiner portrays nature protection activists not as do-or-die resisters to the system, nor as inoffensive do-gooders. Rather, they took advantage of an unpoliced realm of speech and activity and of the patronage by middle-level Soviet officials to struggle for a softer path to development. In the process, they defended independent social and professional identities in the face of a system that sought to impose official models of behavior, ethics, and identity for all. Written in a lively style, this absorbing story tells for the first time how organized participation in nature protection provided an arena for affirming and perpetuating self-generated social identities in the USSR and preserving a counterculture whose legacy survives today. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Monsters of the Market David McNally, 2011-07-12 Monsters of the Market investigates modern capitalism through the prism of the body panics it arouses. Examining Frankenstein, Marx s Capital and zombie fables from sub-Saharan Africa, it offers a novel account of the cultural and corporeal economy of global capitalism. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Money John Kenneth Galbraith, 2017-08-29 Money is nothing more than what is commonly exchanged for goods or services, so why has understanding it become so complicated? In Money, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith cuts through the confusions surrounding the subject to present a compelling and accessible account of a topic that affects us all. He tells the fascinating story of money, the key factors that shaped its development, and the lessons that can be learned from its history. He describes the creation and evolution of monetary systems and explains how finance, credit, and banks work in the global economy. Galbraith also shows that, when it comes to money, nothing is truly new—least of all inflation and fraud. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Violence and Its Causes Jean Marie Domenach, Unesco, 1981 |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: The Morals of the Market Jessica Whyte, 2019-11-05 The fatal embrace of human rights and neoliberalism Why did the rise of human rights in the 1970s coincide with the institutionalisation of neoliberalism? And why has the neoliberal age also been the age of human rights? Drawing on detailed archival research on the parallel histories of human rights and neoliberalism, Jessica Whyte uncovers the place of human rights in neoliberal attempts to develop a moral framework for a market society.In the wake of World War Two, neoliberals saw demands for new rights to social welfare and self-determination as threats to ‘civilisation’. Yet, rather than rejecting rights, they developed a distinctive account of human rights as tools to depoliticise civil society, protect private investments and shape liberal subjects. Honing in on neoliberal political thought, Whyte shows that the neoliberals developed a stark dichotomy between politics, conceived as conflictual, coercive and violent, and civil society, which they depicted as a realm of mutually-beneficial, voluntary, market relations between individual subjects of rights. In mobilising human rights to provide a moral language for a market society, neoliberals contributed far more than is often realised to today’s politics of human rights. |
| marxism unmasked from delusion to destruction: Late Marxism Fredric Jameson, 1990-01 In the name of an assault on totalization and identity, a number of contemporary theorists have been busily washing Marxism's dialectical and utopian projects down the plug-hole of postmodernism and post-politics. A case in point is recent interpretation of one of the greatest twentieth-century philosophers, Theodor Adorno. In this powerful book, Fredric Jameson proposes a radically different reading of Adorno's work, especially of his major works on philosophy and aesthetics: Negative Dialectics and Aesthetic Theory. Jameson argues persuasively that Adorno's contribution to the development of Marxism remains unique and indispensable. He shows how Adorno's work on aesthetics performs deconstructive operations yet is in sharp distinction to the now canonical deconstructive genre of writing. He explores the complexity of Adorno's very timely affirmation of philosophy -- of its possibility after the end of grand theory. Above all, he illuminates the subtlety and richness of Adorno's continuing emphasis on late capitalism as a totality within the very forms of our culture. In its lucidity, Late Marxism echoes the writing of its subject, to whose critical, utopian intelligence Jameson remains faithful. -- Jacket. |
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - amazon.com
Oct 16, 2006 · He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Jan 1, 2006 · He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Dec 22, 2017 · Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises delivered these nine lectures, which we have titled Marxism Unmasked, from June 23 to July 3, 1952, in San Francisco at a seminar …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction, - Mises Institute
Apr 1, 2009 · MARXISM UNMASKED: FROM DELUSION TO DESTRUCTION. Ludwig von Mises. Introduction by Richard M. Ebeling. Foundation for Economic Education, 2006, xvii + …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction. SEPTEMBER 09, 2009 by LUDWIG VON MISES. This is a collection of nine lectures Mises gave in San Francisco in 1952, all of which …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - Amazon.ca
He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and how the Marxists …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction Paperback
He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and how the Marxists …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - Digital Book
Mises's own lectures on the topic of Marxist intellectual history. Rare, passionate, personal.
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Mar 24, 2009 · Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction. by. von Mises, Ludwig. Usage. Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0. Publisher. The Foundation for Economic …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - amazon.com
Jan 1, 2006 · Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction Paperback – January 1, 2006. by Ludwig von Mises (Author), Bettina Bien Greaves (Compiler), Richard M. Ebeling …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - amazon.com
Oct 16, 2006 · He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Jan 1, 2006 · He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Dec 22, 2017 · Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises delivered these nine lectures, which we have titled Marxism Unmasked, from June 23 to July 3, 1952, in San Francisco at a seminar …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction, - Mises Institute
Apr 1, 2009 · MARXISM UNMASKED: FROM DELUSION TO DESTRUCTION. Ludwig von Mises. Introduction by Richard M. Ebeling. Foundation for Economic Education, 2006, xvii + …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction. SEPTEMBER 09, 2009 by LUDWIG VON MISES. This is a collection of nine lectures Mises gave in San Francisco in 1952, all of which …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - Amazon.ca
He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and how the Marxists …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction Paperback
He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and how the Marxists …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - Digital Book
Mises's own lectures on the topic of Marxist intellectual history. Rare, passionate, personal.
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
Mar 24, 2009 · Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction. by. von Mises, Ludwig. Usage. Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0. Publisher. The Foundation for Economic …
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction - amazon.com
Jan 1, 2006 · Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction Paperback – January 1, 2006. by Ludwig von Mises (Author), Bettina Bien Greaves (Compiler), Richard M. Ebeling …
