Why a Marx ComebackSam Ghandchi
http://www.ghandchi.com/2032-marx-english.htm
چرا بازگشت مارکس
http://www.ghandchi.com/2032-marx.htm
Why a Marx Comeback
Sam Ghandchi
http://www.ghandchi.com/2032-marx-english.htm
چرا بازگشت مارکس
http://www.ghandchi.com/2032-marx.htm
Rene Descartes: Aristotle's most passionate disciples of today are not satisfied with an understanding of what is intelligibly explained by their author, but wish, besides that, to find in him the solution of problems about which he says nothing and perhaps never thought.
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A new interest in Marx who believed in class polarization of modern society is taking shape in his 200th birthday and the reason is because of the reality of post-industrial development of the last 40 years which has resulted in shrinking of the middle class (1). The growth of middle class was the basis of expansion of democracy in the world during the last century although Marxism failed to deliver democracy when it became the theory of government in half of the world in 20th Century (2). Marxism also failed to deliver social justice when party bosses in the Communist countries had luxurious lives with villas and their children going to prep schools in the West while ordinary workers suffered (3). Nonetheless, the socialist movement not only created welfare state thanks to Social Democratic parties in Europe, but even countries like the U.S. implemented social rights such as unemployment benefits or Medicare because of the outside pressure of such privileges in Western Europe and in the Communist countries. In other words, despite the disappointments in the performance of Communist countries, there was always the hope that Marx's ideas if executed differently might offer social justice and even democracy, whereas insightful critics of Marx such as Leszek Kolakowski (4), not only rejected such hopes but also by referring to human nature, never offered such a hope for the deprived in any possible alternative scheme of their own either (5). This is why a return to Marx appeals to the aspirations of the destitute whether they live under despotism of Iran's Islamic Republic (6) or are supporters of the Left living in the world democracies (7). While trying to go back to Marx is understandable, but the reason for the dilemma of social justice in 21st Century is the Computer Revolution (8) which creates a Winner-Take-All economic structure (9), and Marx's proposals cannot solve this dilemma (10); and a solution for the current problem is needed (11). Rene Descartes once said "Aristotle's most passionate disciples of today are not satisfied with an understanding of what is intelligibly explained by their author, but wish, besides that, to find in him the solution of problems about which he says nothing and perhaps never thought" (12). We can say the same about Marx's passionate disciples today who are not doing what Marx did which is studying society of the present epoch but just like the Aristotelians of Descartes' time are trying to interpret and reinterpret Marx's words. Many followers of religions such as Christianity or Islam do the same and hope to execute the religious tenets and words of their prophets differently to solve the current problems. We should not think of Marx like a prophet, hoping to find the answer to dilemma of social justice of 21st Century in Marx's works, rather, we need to go beyond Marx (13), although we should do what Marx did which was the study of economy and society of his time, in other words, we need to attempt to base our schemes on a deep understanding of reality as we can observe it today in the 21st Century (14).
Hoping for a democratic and secular futurist republic in Iran,
May 6, 2018
Footnotes:
1. Middle Class Shrinking is not a Trivial Matter
http://www.ghandchi.com/1705-middle-class-english.htm
تحلیل رفتن طبقه متوسط موضوع پیش پا افتاده ای نیست
http://www.ghandchi.com/1705-middle-class.htm
2. Marxist Thought & Monism
http://www.ghandchi.com/299-MarxismEng.htm
اندیشه مارکسیستی و مونیسم -یکتا گرائی
http://www.ghandchi.com/299-Marxism.htm
3. Is Socialism More Just? Second Edition
http://www.ghandchi.com/303-SocialismEng.htm
آیا سوسیالیسم عادلانه تر است؟ویرایش دوم
http://www.ghandchi.com/303-Socialism.htm
4. چرا کولاکوفسکی برای انقلاب 21
ایران اهمیت دارد
http://www.ghandchi.com/1946-leszek-kolakowski.htm
5. Marxism and Futurism
http://www.ghandchi.com/793-marxism-futurism-eng.htm
مارکسيسم و آينده نگری
http://www.ghandchi.com/793-marxism-futurism.htm
6. کن فیکون مارکسیستی سال 57 در ایران
http://www.ghandchi.com/1303-kon-faya-kun.htm
بعدالتحریر: برای ویرایش تازه تر به لینک زیر مراجعه کنید
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzL280jIylYBODc4N1lnRzNDcU0/view
7. Futurists and the Left: Differences and
Agreements
http://www.ghandchi.com/1484-futurists-and-left-english.htm
آینده نگرها و چپ: اختلافات و توافقات
http://www.ghandchi.com/1484-futurists-and-left.htm
8. Social Justice and the Computer
Revolution
http://www.ghandchi.com/238-SocialJustice.htm
عدالت اجتماعی و انقلاب کامپیوتری
http://www.ghandchi.com/265-EconJustice.htm
9. Mr. Piketty, Winner-Take-All is the Problem
http://www.ghandchi.com/835-piketty-winnertakeall-english.htm
آقای پیکتی، اینکه برنده همه چیز را تصاحب می کند مسأله است
http://www.ghandchi.com/835-piketty-winnertakeall.htm
10. Wealth and Justice in Future Iran
http://www.ghandchi.com/334-WealthEng.htm
ثروت و عدالت در ايران فردا
http://www.ghandchi.com/334-Wealth.htm
11. Alternative Income-Social Justice in
Post-Industrial Society
http://www.ghandchi.com/427-AlternativeIncomeEng.htm
درآمد آلترناتیو-عدالت اجتماعی در جامعه فراصنعتی
http://www.ghandchi.com/427-AlternativeIncome.htm
12. Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method, Philosophical Writings, Elizabeth Anscombe and Peter T. Geach, Bobbs-Merrill Educational Publishing, 1980, p. 51
13. Futurist Party Aims for What Marx Deferred to
Distant Future
http://www.ghandchi.com/1677-marx-omission-futurist-party-english.htm
حزب آینده نگر در پی هدفی که مارکس به آینده دور موکول می کرد
http://www.ghandchi.com/1677-marx-omission-futurist-party.htm
14.
New Variant to Meet Human Needs-An Electronic Book
http://www.ghandchi.com/human-variant-book-english.htm
واریانت جدید برای تأمین نیازهای بشر- کتاب الکترونیک
http://www.ghandchi.com/human-variant-book.htm
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http://www.ghandchi.com/2036-marx-anarchists-error.htm
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Was Wrong
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/why-marx-was-wrong-by-carl-bildt-2018-05
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