9. Marxism: The Spirituality that Lies in its Future
The bicentenary of Karl Marx is the period of an era in the backdrop
of a man who propounded it. The basis of Marxism is a product of
philosophical environment which thrived in industrialized Europe
very similar to the sages of India. Marxian Class theory stressed that
the world is split in classes which was already prevalent in the Hindu
society in the form of Varna or caste, the very reason why cults and
religious transformations in Buddhism and Jainism came into being.
Sometimes I feel that had Marx been in India for some length of
time he would have enunciated a philosophy having best ingredients
of both east and west as looking a problem from one angle is always
incomplete and incomprehensive.
Since my student life I have been hovering upon whether such an
admixture of spiritualism with Marxism is at all possible? Initially
when I learnt from many that Marx had opined religion as opium, I
couldnтАЩt believe myself but as years went by, I got convinced that his
dogmas of religion were correct. It has a reference even in
Upanishads, and Bhagwat Gita. And hence, assimilation of
materialism with spiritualism is the answer to the suffering
humankind which despite its several advancement has created a
wide between groups of people as neo-haves and neo-have nots and
their condition is parallel to the era of Marx. Here, Marx becomes
relevant despite Communists fall in USSR, relevant to the whole
humanity because now even those who are called religious
moderate and or fanatics do accept that welfare of humankind even
though the democracy is producing many nectars. Thus, Spiritual
Marxism or Vedantic Marxism would be an answer to the global
humanity which is facing its annihilation by self-destruction.
To Marx, a class is a group with intrinsic tendencies and interests
that differ from those of other groups within society, the basis of a 9
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10. fundamental antagonism between such groups. Marxian class theory
has been open to a range of alternate positions, most notably from
scholars such as E. P. Thompson and Mario Tronti. Both Thompson
and Tronti suggest class consciousness within the production process
precedes the formation of productive relationships. In this sense,
Marxian class theory often relates to discussion over preexisting
class struggles.
Class consciousness is an aspect of Marxist theory, referring to the
self-awareness of social classes, the capacity to act in its own
rational interests, or measuring the extent to which an individual is
conscious of the historical tasks their class (or class allegiance) sets
for them. Moreover, by definition, the objective interests of classes
are fundamentally in opposition; consequently, these opposing
interests and consciousnesses eventually lead to class conflict. Marx
first saw the development of class conflict confined to individual
factories and capitalists. However, given the maturation of
capitalism, the life conditions of bourgeoisie and proletariat began to
grow more desperate. This increased polarization and
homogenization within classes fostered an environment for
individual struggles to become more generalized. When increasing
class conflict is manifested at the societal level, class consciousness
and common interests are also increased. Consequently, when class
consciousness is augmented, policies are organized to ensure the
duration of such interest for the ruling class.
In Marxist theory, the capitalist stage of production consists of two
main classes: the bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the means of
production, and the much larger proletariat (or 'working class') who
must sell their own labour power. Marxists explain the history of
"civilized" societies in terms of a war of classes between those who
control production and those who produce the goods or services in
society. In the Marxist view of capitalism, this is a conflict between
capitalists (bourgeoisie) and wage-workers (the proletariat). For
Marxists, class antagonism is rooted in the situation that control
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11. over social production necessarily entails control over the class
which produces goodsтАФin capitalism this is the exploitation of
workers by the bourgeoisie.
The most important transformation of society for Marxists has been
the massive and rapid growth of the proletariat over the last two
hundred and fifty years. Marx assumes the inevitability of the
revolution of capitalist society into socialist society because of
eventual discontent. Citation needed the socialization of labor, in the
growth of large-scale production, capitalist interest groups and
organizations, as well as in the enormous increase in the dimensions
and power of finance capital provides the principal material
foundation for the unavoidable arrival of socialism. The physical,
intellectual and moral perpetrator of this transformation is the
proletariat. The proletariat's struggle against the bourgeoisie
inevitably becomes a political struggle with the goal of political
conquest by the proletariat. With the domination of the proletariat,
the socialization of production cannot help but lead to the means of
production to become the property of society. The direct
consequences of this transformation are a tremendous rise in labor
productivity, a shorter working day, and the replacement of small-
scale unified production by collective and improved labor.
Capitalism breaks for all time the ties between producer and owner,
once held by the bond of class conflict. Now a new union will be
formed based on the conscious application of science and the
concentration of collective labor. He also extended this
redistribution to the structure of power in families. Marx imagined
that with socialism women's status would increase, leading to the
break-up of the patriarchal family.
But all said and done, the spiritual aspect of Marxism is a long
sought conclusion which doesnтАЩt hold much ground as of now but
yes the relevance that the pages of history give to this concept may
well have an inkling to that.
- Raj Anand11
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