Pyramid Comment

This journal takes an alternative view on current affairs and other subjects. The approach is likely to be contentious and is arguably speculative. The content of any article is also a reminder of the status of those affairs at that date. All comments have been disabled. Any and all unsolicited or unauthorised links are absolutely disavowed.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Marxism And The Labour Party


Marxism 
Marxism Today
Marxism and the World Today
Marxism Today - Ten Theses
The Communist Manifesto
Marxism (Classical)
The Communist Party
ANIMAL FARM - A FAIRY STORY

"If there is to be revolution, there must be a revolutionary party. Without a revolutionary party, without a party built on the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory and in the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary style, it is impossible to lead the working class and the broad masses of the people in defeating imperialism and its running dogs."

"Revolutionary Forces of the World Unite, Fight Against Imperialist Aggression!" (November 1948), Selected Works,  Vol. IV, p. 284.

  • Classical Marxism refers to the theory expounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and is often used to distinguish between the accepted interpretation of Classical Marxism and "what Marx believed". Shortly before he died in 1883, Marx wrote a letter to the French workers' leader Jules Guesde and to his own son-in-law Paul Lafargue, both of whom claimed to represent Marxist principles, in which he accused them of "revolutionary phrase-mongering" and denying the value of reformist struggles. Essentially: "If that is Marxism, then I am not a Marxist". Hal Draper (American Marx scholar) remarked:
"there are few thinkers in modern history whose
thought has been so badly misrepresented by
Marxists and anti-Marxists, alike."

Hijacking an ideology to suit
a different purpose

Marxism (Orthodox)

  • The version of Marxism which emerged after the death of Karl Marx was known as Orthodox Marxism and is the term used to describe the official philosophy of the Second International up to the First World War and of the Third International thereafter. The ethos of Orthodox Marxism is to simplify, codify and organise Marxist thought, clearing up any perceived ambiguities and contradictions.
Political practice or theory based on an interpretation of the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels can be classified as Marxism and it is a theoretical-practical framework based on the analysis of "the conflicts between the powerful and the subjugated".

As political and economic scenarios continue to descend and fester, it becomes more obvious that capitalism just illustrates that wealth creation doesn't exist. That wealth isn't created, but taken. The building of wealth is simply moving from the possession of the one to another: Redistribution. Technically, theft by appropriation. The widening of the division between those with and those without. Those with acquire more at the expense of those who 'lose' it: Winners And Losers. Any acquired 'wealth' is simply taken and it's been happening for centuries. The building of any personal wealth doesn't create, but simply moves 'ownership'.

Blair To Cameron: The Transfer Of A Legacy
Gordon Brown And Marxism
    Ralph Miliband (father)


    Sibling rivalry is argued as being divisive in the contest for the Labour party leadership, but it can be considered as doubling the chances of a Miliband winning the contest. Paternal influence is likely to be significant in ideological thinking and so a possible Marxist influence cannot be ignored. The Labour Party appears to be a better place for this ideology to exist than in any other party or government. However, Marxism does not have an exclusive home.

    Dr Gordon Brown - PhD thesis is entitled:

    The Labour Party and Political Change
    in Scotland 1918–29

    A post doc thesis could be entitled:

    The Labour Party and Political Change
    in England 1997-2010

    The Unions are major sponsors of the Labour party with the rank and file membership assumed to support the ideological ethos, but it is possible that such support is weaker than imagined. The workers have little say in the 'running' of the union that is supposed to represent them, just like the allegorical novel Animal Farm. The connection of Marxism and unions in the UK is a very real (potential) future problem.

    Social Class: Harriet Harman (Official Profile)
    The Ups and Downs of Harman and 'Social Class'

    Marxism is a mixture of political philosophy, economic and sociological view based upon a materialist interpretation of history. A Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Three primary (alleged) aspects of Marxism:

    • The struggle between social classes: the productive capacity of society is the foundation of society and as this capacity increases over time the social relations of production and class relations evolve through this struggle of the classes. It passes through definite stages: primitive communism, slavery, feudalism and capitalism. The legal, political, ideological and other aspects (art etc) of society are derived from the relations of production as is the consciousness of the individuals of which the society is composed.
    • The critique of capitalism: Marx argued that in a capitalist society, an economic minority (the bourgeoisie) dominate and exploit the majority working class (proletariat) and he argued that capitalism is exploitative. Specifically the way in which unpaid labour (surplus value) is extracted from the working class (the labour theory of value), extending and critiquing the work of earlier political economists on value. He argued that while the production process is socialised, ownership remains in the hands of the bourgeoisie. This forms the fundamental contradiction of the capitalist society. Without the elimination of the shackle of private ownership as the means of production, human society is unable to achieve further development.

    posted by Louis Brothnias @ 1:50 am