A Pen for Liberation

What is Class? A group of people sharing common relations to labor and the means of production. BOURGEOISIE CLASS (CAPITALISTS) The bourgeoisie is a social class that came to own the means of production during the epoch(beginning) of modern industrialization and whose societal concerns are the value of property and the preservation of capital to  ensure the perpetuation of their economic supremacy in society. PROLETARIAT CLASS (WORKING CLASS) Proletariat class is the class of wage earners in an economic society whose only possession of significant material value is their labour power(How much work they can do). The proletariat are oppressed by capitalism and the wage system. This oppression gives the proletariat common economic and political interests that transcended national boundaries. These common interests put the proletariat in a position to unite and take power away from the capitalist class. PETTY BOURGEOISIE (MIDDLE CLASS) The term "Petty Bourgeoisie" to identify the...

MATERIALIST DIALECTICS Marx and Engels set Hegelian dialectics aright and put it on a materialist basis as partly indicated by feuerbach. The result is an original and epoch making advance in philosophy. Hegelian Dialectics states that development is first of all the self development of before it is realised in material world. Hegel, Marx-Engels  Feuerbach correctly pointed out that ideas are merely the sensuous reflection of the material world in human perception. He fell short of Marxist comprehension of endless interaction between cognition, reality and capability of man for critical revolutionary activity. Marx and Engels stated that change is an endless process because anything at any stage always consists of contradictory aspects. Materialist dialectics or the law of contradiction is the law of motion inherent in matter; springs from the differences and interaction of things and operates in a two way interaction of matter and consciousness. In the philosophical works of Marx ...

As we know a Communist society passes through two phases of development: the lower phase known as Socialism, and the higher phase known as Communism. This passage discuss the eight principles of socialism.  Dictatorship of the proletariat -the workers' state The dictatorship of the proletariat is the power of the working majority, opposing the power of the former exploiters. As long as private property exists, the dictatorship of the proletariat is necessary.  Societal ownership of the means of production The property of society is the basis of socialism, the source of the wealth and power of the Socialist State & the people. Under socialism, the means of production belong to society in the form of cooperatives and state property.  Nationalization of banks, unification of the financial sphere With the help of nationalization, the working class conquers the main spheres of the national economy, deprives the bourgeoisie of its economic support, and begins a radical tra...

This blog will discuss about the journey to the communist society with respect to Marxism in most simplified terms. This module doens't explain any Detailed definitions. I prepared this thread for the beginners who want to learn Marxism.   Economic crisis. This is exactly as it sounds. Capitalism has a pattern of recessions and depressions. Capitalism is unstable. As the system moves further along, these economic downturns become more and more frequent eventually leading to collapse.  Immiseration of the Proletariat. These economic crises impact the lower and middle class more, plunging them deeper into poverty and eventually making the inequality of capitalism impossible to ignore. As the exploitation continues, it will strengthen the working class.  Revolutionary Class Consciousness. The class divide becomes too obvious to ignore. This causes the working class to critically examine the situation gaining them class consciousness and making them realize the ruling class m...

  The Philosophy and Science of Marxism Dialectical Materialism   Marxist dialectical materialism developed in opposition to Hegelian dialectical idealism and Feuerbachian mechanical materialism. Marx's Dialectical Materialism shows us the eternally changing nature of all phenomena. The validity of this philosophy is proven in the field of natural science. For example the constantly changing nature of all phenomena can be seen in Darwin's theory of evolution.   Historical Materialism Historical materialism is the science of society that explains the development of society. It explains how society goes through changes as the forces of production develops. As a consequence of the development of the economic system (forces of production and the relation to them), the ideas of that society changes. We can see this through the development of society from feudalism to capitalism and how our ideas have changed in capitalism. The Political Economy of Marxism Marx continued A...

  A very commonly used argument which comes from circles that do not have any idea of what Marxism is (needless to say about the right wing!? ), is that Marxism is not relevant to Indian conditions. The argument becomes even more farcical when it is supported by the claim that it is because Marx never lived in India or didn't know about the "peculiar" Indian conditions, and thus his theory is only relevant to Europe. But how true is such a claim? To answer this, we again need to recall as to what Marxism is. Marxism is a method of studying human society. It provides a broad framework through which one can conduct the study of a society and of its elements. This way, Marxism is specifically, a science. Marx has given a method, which can be applied on different societies of different conditions. Lets go through a simple analogy. Say Galileo Galilei has given a formula to calculate speed of an object. This formula requires certain inputs like time and distance. Now these inp...

Marx’s general ideas about society are known as his theory of historical materialism. "Materialism simply means that it is matter or material reality, which is the basis for any change." According to Marx’s theory of historical materialism, societies pass through six stages; Primitive Communism → Slavery or Imperialism → Feudalism→ Capitalism →Socialism →Communism Stage 1 - Primitive Communism Men performed the same economic function - hunter gathering. They worked together in order to survive. There was no private property and there were no classes. Eventually the most successful hunter gatherers gained power and control over the others. Stage 2 - Imperialism The strong man ruled. He began by owning all the land but when threatened by outsiders, he would grant land to others in return for military services. A new land-owning aristocracy was therefore created. Stage 3 - Feudalism Land was owned by the aristocracy who exploited the peasantry who worked it. There wa...

The three terms are often mistaken to mean the same thing, but the first thing you need to understand is how they are differ from each other. Marxism is a science. It is a method, a tool using which you can study the society. It can be used to Study the different stages of human society development or different social institutions existing in a society. Socialism is one of the stages of human society development which, as the Marxist method of society has shown, comes after capitalism. Socialism is the transition phase between two different stages of human society- capitalism and communism. Thus, while socialism might not be fully rid of everything that exists in capitalism, it is a stage which is moving towards communism. Under socialism, production is controlled by the society under a proletarian State. This State, representing the masses, progressively do away the imprints of capitalism, rectifies the inherent contradictions of capitalism and readies the society and its people for c...