Marxism is academically defined today as the philosophical, political and economic teaching founded in the nineteenth century by Karl Marx. There are different interpretations of Marxism associated with a variety of political parties and movements. Political Marxism is a type of socialism, alongside left anarchism, Christian socialism, and non-Marxist democratic socialism/social democracy.
Having said that, it is time to get real, and in today’s reality Marxism is something more than what has been described. Today’s Marxism is perhaps the most powerful ghost that ever existed, or that was ever imagined by fiction writers of all time. It is the global ghost of anti-capitalism, and as such, it has been growing all the more potent as Globalist capitalism is retreating around the world.
There is a peculiar factor, which has much helped its current surge. Twenty years ago, at the time when the USSR was breaking up, America was gloating not just because her most formidable rival was falling apart, but because it appeared (at least within the national boundaries of the United States) that the dawn of a new American century was upon us, and that Marxism and all that communist nonsense now lay buried under the rubble. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Marxism is not some thing of the past. It is a symbol for the present and the future of a principled opposition to capitalism, and especially to American imperialism. One can say that Marx himself got lucky, having become larger than life, larger than the historical Marx. But it is certainly to his credit that he has qualified for this role.
It is therefore most fitting that we should conclude the Marxian subsection of the Magnificent Shadows on this magnificent note.
Having said that, it is time to get real, and in today’s reality Marxism is something more than what has been described. Today’s Marxism is perhaps the most powerful ghost that ever existed, or that was ever imagined by fiction writers of all time. It is the global ghost of anti-capitalism, and as such, it has been growing all the more potent as Globalist capitalism is retreating around the world.
There is a peculiar factor, which has much helped its current surge. Twenty years ago, at the time when the USSR was breaking up, America was gloating not just because her most formidable rival was falling apart, but because it appeared (at least within the national boundaries of the United States) that the dawn of a new American century was upon us, and that Marxism and all that communist nonsense now lay buried under the rubble. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Marxism is not some thing of the past. It is a symbol for the present and the future of a principled opposition to capitalism, and especially to American imperialism. One can say that Marx himself got lucky, having become larger than life, larger than the historical Marx. But it is certainly to his credit that he has qualified for this role.
It is therefore most fitting that we should conclude the Marxian subsection of the Magnificent Shadows on this magnificent note.
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