Do You Know These Two Things About Marx?
I didn’t know much about Karl Marx; I read parts of the Communist Manifesto but didn’t fully grasp his ideas. I definitely had some false stereotypes about him until I attended an amazing lecture by Dr. John Filling, one of Cambridge’s philosophy lecturers. If you haven’t looked into Marx, here are two false ideas you may have about him.
1. Marx Doesn’t Prioritize Equality Above All Else
Many hold the idea that Marx’s number one value is equality. However, he believes that equality is an ancient French value that should definitely NOT be prioritized over freedom. Marx’s avid attention to freedom can be witnessed in his justification for communism, where he states that it will allow individuals to become much more free compared to capitalism because everyone will own the means of production i.e. the machinery and tools for producing goods. If Marx could choose between freedom and equality, Marx would choose freedom without a single moment of hesitation.
2. Marx Quite Likes Capitalism
After reading this title, you may be quite confused. Wasn’t Marx one of the main proponents against capitalism? Dr. John Filling says that Marx actually quite liked capitalism, that the Communist Manifesto was actually “a hymn for capitalism,” not really an attack. Marx states that, in a capitalist world, the proletariats (workers/laborers) are much more free compared to previous governmental systems such as feudalism because the people have rights over their labor; if workers don’t want to work for a capitalist, they can opt out. Marx actually said that capitalism was the best system ever yet to have been implemented. Of course, in his criticisms, he states that communism is superior to capitalism. Nevertheless, finding problems with an idea is not equivalent to disliking it.
Final notes
Until a few days ago, I had a totally false perception of Karl Marx. By learning more about Marx, not only did I get to understand his ideas better, but I got to further realize that I must have so many misconceptions about other philosophers that I do not know much about. Understanding the very likely possibility of having many misunderstandings about other thinkers (a reference to Socrates and Confucius) motivates me to study more about philosophy.
