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The Beginnings Of Marxism?

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The Beginnings of Marxism? Written in 1847 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the Communist Manifesto laid out ideas that would change the course of world history. It fully defined the “Marxist” ideology in which Communism was the goal of humanity. Thirty years after Marx’s death, the people of Russia over threw their leaders and founded a Communist government based on Marxist ideologies. This government was initially lead by Vladimir Lenin who took direct inspiration from Marx. After Lenin died, a man named Joseph Stalin took over and his dedication to Marxism is debatable.

What is Marxism?
The basic idea of Marxism is that the world will slowly change from an unjust society ruled by a few to one without need for a …show more content…

4) Arguably, this is due to the inherent issues with socialism and communism, but it should also be pointed out Stalin’s “Five-Year Plan”. This plan essentially took resources away from the population in order rapidly industrialize the nation. (Fitzpatrick, 1999) The whole Marxist philosophy was based on gradual change and Stalin’s prioritizing speed over the people goes against this principal.
Stalin and the Abolition of the Bourgeoisie Class
Getting rid of private property was a step in Marx’s wider goal: the replacement of the Bourgeoisie as the most powerful class. “The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.” (Marx & Engels, 1969) If the bourgeoisie had no private property, they would not remain capitalists. This would mean the great working class would have control of the country. Even though Stalin did get rid of the Bourgeoisie class, he failed to follow through with the Marxist ideology. In Stalinist Russia, the State owned the means of production, so class was based on your relationship to the state and how well off it allowed you to live. (Fitzpatrick, 1999) This

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