Introduction to Marxism

A short and simplified introduction to the ideas of Marxism, particularly for history students.

[alexhrissis]

This is a great coherent overview and introduction in Marxism, very helpful! I enjoyed it, thank you!

[kabamfatu]

This video is very helpful. Thank you!!

[heberpelagio]

The success of Stalin - the man who used to boast that he conquered the United States "from the plow to the atomic bomb in just a generation" - compared to Gorbachev's failure shows that a socialist economy is unable to function with a minimum of efficiency without requiring a massive dose of political violence. In an attempt to reform a decadent regime, Gorbachev moved faster with the process of economic opening in the hope of removing the predictable resistance that the Soviet bureaucracy would create to economic reform measures, as thorough proof with the failed attempt. coup d'état in August 1991 - which ended up precipitating the final crisis of socialism and the dissolution of the USSR itself

Its Chinese parallel - Deng Xiaoping - adopted a logic diametrically opposed to that of Gorbachev: it prioritized the achievement of economic prosperity (adopting in practice capitalism) precisely to delay any attempt at political opening, as was evident with the acceleration of the economy. reforms after the Tiananmen Square massacre.

It is important to note that it was Karl Marx himself who, in his Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, discerned the scenario in which the conditions for a social revolution process are formed, describing it as follows:

'At a certain stage in its development, the material productive forces of society contradict existing production relations or - which is only their legal expression - with the property relations in which they have been active until then. From the forms of development of the productive forces, these relations are transformed into fetters of them. So, it is a time of social revolution. ' (Reproduced according to MARX, K. Preface to the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, organized by Florestan Fernandes and published under the title K. Marx: Theory and historical process of the social revolution, In Marx & Engels, Great Social Scientists Collection, History, vol. 36. São Paulo: Ática, 1983. p. 232. Commemorative edition of the centenary of Karl Marx's death)

By rejecting the pursuit of profit maximization as an instrument to stimulate innovation, socialist countries ended up condemning themselves to obsolescence. Thus, they lost the chance to incorporate the productivity gains made possible by technological progress. That is why the capitalist countries managed to provide a greater rise in the standard of living of their population, even without pursuing the egalitarian ideal. Therefore, until the “final crisis of socialism” (to paraphrase K. Marx's own definitions once again), it was only a matter of time. But religious fanatics do not give up on their faith, even against the indisputable proof of the facts, which completely refute it!

[spellman]

Marx didn't distinguish between socialism & communism just a lower & higher stage of communism. Lenin is the man who made those distinctions.
The DotP & socialism are not the same thing:

[matthewcotton]

Read Socialiam: Utopian and Scientific by Engels

[ryanhoffman]

Pragmatism is a great American Ideology. Put Marxism to the test of Pragmatic measurement and you find that Marxism has no values, in fact Marxism breaks down Moral values and values that incentives for improvement of life. Marxism is also very racist. Fascism is just a branch of Marxism. Capitalism is still the better system. Capitalism is individual ideology, far more values of morals come to realization and growth of a better progressive future.