Communism is an economic and socio-political theory proposed by Karl Marx that aims for a classless society structured on the end of wage labor and private property. Communist theory states that the main producers of wealth in society are the working class who are also perpetually exploited and marginalized by the unproductive capitalist owners of production. According to Marx, the only way to solve the problems caused by capitalism is for the working class to unite and overthrow the capitalist system itself via violent revolution.
For Marx, the end of capitalism is inevitable as the class conflict between those who have and those who have not caused by capitalism will ultimately lead to its destruction. However, class conflict in the United States is practically nonexistent as the American working-class has been tricked into accepting blame for the nation’s economic woes. The middle-class is too busy blaming middle-class pension plans and labor unions to remember the upper-class actually caused the great recession. As it stands now, public teachers and firefighters are to blame not private bankers or hedge managers. Not surprisingly, no one from the public sector has been prosecuted for the illegal activities that ultimately caused the economic recession.
CNN’s Lisa Desjardins posted a blog examining what the current deficit debate is really about and the consequences each plan would certainly have for middle-class Americans. However, how democratic is the United States when justice, safety, education, health-care, and representation are determined by ones economic class? The American people have stood idly by for decades as:
- Corporate lobbyists maintain more influence in Congress than the American people
- The U.S. Congress facilitates the outsourcing of American middle-class jobs
- Corporations receive bailouts and/or subsidies devoid of strings
- Tax cuts for the extremely wealthy are paid for by cutting services for the poor and elderly
- Colossal military spending goes unimpeded while the average American soldier is underpaid
How can the average worker achieve the “American dream” within the current capitalist system? Should the American working-class consider communism as a viable option?
–TERRANCE MULLINS
