I must admit, before I start the main part of this entry, that my understanding of Karl Marx is rather limited. I’ve never read any of Marx’s actual books (they are, however, on my list of 500+ books to read) so all my knowledge on the subject is based on other people’s writing about him.
Anyway, it is my understanding that Marx, after having done an in-depth study of history, believed that he could determine the future based on what had happened in the past. He saw changes in society, changes which, he said, were ones which suggested the future coming of communism. Communism would then be achieved after several, or one global, revolutionary wars. After this there would be no change because communism would be the perfect political ideology and nobody would like to change it.
So, for this entry, I’m going to assume that Marx was actually 100% correct, that he had accurately predicted what exactly was going to happen. Surely, though, if he was right, by publishing his ideas, he’s put history on another track and in another direction? The publication of his ideas has meant that dictators have read and abused his ideas, using them for their own gains. Marx writing down what would happen suddenly means that it can’t happen. Imagine if, instead of a philosopher, Marx had been a time traveller, he’d gone to the future, seen communism and a perfect world, learned how it all happened, came back and wrote it all in a book. Surely, history would be different now because all the people know what will happen, and so then will behave differently and cause it not to happen? This would, paradoxically, mean that Marx could have been right, but by being right he made it wrong.
Anyway, it is my understanding that Marx, after having done an in-depth study of history, believed that he could determine the future based on what had happened in the past. He saw changes in society, changes which, he said, were ones which suggested the future coming of communism. Communism would then be achieved after several, or one global, revolutionary wars. After this there would be no change because communism would be the perfect political ideology and nobody would like to change it.
So, for this entry, I’m going to assume that Marx was actually 100% correct, that he had accurately predicted what exactly was going to happen. Surely, though, if he was right, by publishing his ideas, he’s put history on another track and in another direction? The publication of his ideas has meant that dictators have read and abused his ideas, using them for their own gains. Marx writing down what would happen suddenly means that it can’t happen. Imagine if, instead of a philosopher, Marx had been a time traveller, he’d gone to the future, seen communism and a perfect world, learned how it all happened, came back and wrote it all in a book. Surely, history would be different now because all the people know what will happen, and so then will behave differently and cause it not to happen? This would, paradoxically, mean that Marx could have been right, but by being right he made it wrong.
