Marxism: History and Economy

Marxism regards history as a series of conflicts between the dominated majority and the dominating minority to gain power over the means and excess of production. After people have exited from their first state of nature, where they have been equal by default; they have found themselves cast into two main categories.

The category of those who spend all their lives laboring in the fields and other places of production; and the category of those who usurp the labor of the working class to increase their capital. If we examine history carefully, we see how the economies of ancient and modern societies are based on slavery and exploitation.

All through human history, the masters made their wealth on the expense of the labor of their subjects. The subject works hard in the field or in the factory. The subject, whether aided by machinery or not, generates commodities through his labor. These commodities are valued according to their market price and not according to any intrinsic value in them. Their value is automatically turned into money in the hands of the master. The master gives little money to cover the minimum basic needs of the subjects; and the rest of the money turns into capital. By doing so, the capitalists ensure that their capital grows bigger and bigger, while their subjects conditions remain at the minimal level possible.

To keep this state of affairs current, the capitalists rely on a network of oppressive tools. And they die hard to keep their tools live and constantly upgraded. Religion, traditions, rigid patriarchal order, high culture, literature, philosophy are among these tools. However, Marxism sees that the capitalist culture is inherently unstable because of the insidious contradictions and conflicts it generates between the classes. Therefore, capitalist culture will come to an end altogether once the workers and the oppressed realize their potential and begin the struggle to own the means of production. Then a new phase in history, without contradictions, will begin and bring everlasting peace.