The question is not was Marx right or wrong, the question is what was he right about and what was he wrong about. Many Marxists today seem to view Marx as some sort of infallible pope who's ideas must be interpreted literally and applied brutally. I find Marx to be a brilliant mind, but I do not think he was right about everything, and that is ok. Ideas were meant to be built upon. Therefore we must take his ideas and build upon them, not continually reapply them.
Revolution
There is more than one way towards a revolution not just through pure physical force. When the revolution is out matched militarily then it makes little to no sense to pursue that avenue. What makes more sense is slowly changing the system from within. Its like the frog in the boiling water. He was placed in there on a stove in lukewarm water. The temperature was slowly raised and he did not know it, before long he was boiling in water. This is the only avenue. A forceful revolution would not work, it would delegitimize the movement and the party in the minds of the people. We would be painted as dangerous anarchists looking to destroy the system and create chaos. If we work carefully we can vote for candidates that will bring us slowly towards our goal or get involved in the system ourselves looking to create change and slowly, but surely, change the hearts and minds of the people.
Religion
Marx believed that in a communist system religion would wither away and eventually die. Now this may be true but we have never actually witnessed it and in many instances communist leaders have tried to force its demise, which has only strengthened its resolve. I am not against all religion, in fact I think many religions are compatible with socialism and communism. What I do despise is false religion and what I mean by that is religion that has aligned itself with the capitalist system, which uses religion as a vehicle for monetary gain and to motivate people politically. These I find abhorrent and unacceptable. Religion is meant to guide people spiritually, its not meant to extort the people so the bourgeois preacher can live large, and it should in no way advocate that its people vote a certain way either. Its purpose is to guide you to God and nothing else. If religion and faith are products of evolution then they will wither away as we evolve, but this process should not be forced. Forcing someone to do or believe anything will only further entrench them in this belief.
Capitalism
If Marx was right about anything its capitalism. One of the most influential books in my life is Das Kapital. This awoke me to the reality that capitalism is a worse form of slavery than actual slavery. In fact the ancient Greeks found slavery to be more preferable than being a paid worker. I find it to be disgusting that someone labors tirelessly bringing in millions of dollars for a company and in return is not even paid a wage decent enough to live on. That is not a fair days work for a fair days pay, not in the slightest.
So, we must look at Marx practically and build on his ideas. Look at what he had right and what he had wrong and improve on that in order to perfect communism and its implementation. We cannot interpret Marx literally, we must interpret him practically and apply the revolution cautiously and according to the situation we are currently in.
Revolution
There is more than one way towards a revolution not just through pure physical force. When the revolution is out matched militarily then it makes little to no sense to pursue that avenue. What makes more sense is slowly changing the system from within. Its like the frog in the boiling water. He was placed in there on a stove in lukewarm water. The temperature was slowly raised and he did not know it, before long he was boiling in water. This is the only avenue. A forceful revolution would not work, it would delegitimize the movement and the party in the minds of the people. We would be painted as dangerous anarchists looking to destroy the system and create chaos. If we work carefully we can vote for candidates that will bring us slowly towards our goal or get involved in the system ourselves looking to create change and slowly, but surely, change the hearts and minds of the people.
Religion
Marx believed that in a communist system religion would wither away and eventually die. Now this may be true but we have never actually witnessed it and in many instances communist leaders have tried to force its demise, which has only strengthened its resolve. I am not against all religion, in fact I think many religions are compatible with socialism and communism. What I do despise is false religion and what I mean by that is religion that has aligned itself with the capitalist system, which uses religion as a vehicle for monetary gain and to motivate people politically. These I find abhorrent and unacceptable. Religion is meant to guide people spiritually, its not meant to extort the people so the bourgeois preacher can live large, and it should in no way advocate that its people vote a certain way either. Its purpose is to guide you to God and nothing else. If religion and faith are products of evolution then they will wither away as we evolve, but this process should not be forced. Forcing someone to do or believe anything will only further entrench them in this belief.
Capitalism
If Marx was right about anything its capitalism. One of the most influential books in my life is Das Kapital. This awoke me to the reality that capitalism is a worse form of slavery than actual slavery. In fact the ancient Greeks found slavery to be more preferable than being a paid worker. I find it to be disgusting that someone labors tirelessly bringing in millions of dollars for a company and in return is not even paid a wage decent enough to live on. That is not a fair days work for a fair days pay, not in the slightest.
So, we must look at Marx practically and build on his ideas. Look at what he had right and what he had wrong and improve on that in order to perfect communism and its implementation. We cannot interpret Marx literally, we must interpret him practically and apply the revolution cautiously and according to the situation we are currently in.
