Marxism

Marxism
Marxismis
a
method
of
socioeconomic analysis, originating
from the mid-to-late 19th century
works of German philosophers Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels, that
analyzes class relations and societal
conflict
using
a
materialist
interpretation
of
historical
development and a dialectical view
of social transformation.

Marx arrived at the conclusion that the most basic

and fundamental aspect of society is the economic
aspect. Marx concluded that man's relationship to the
production and acquisition of resources forms the
fundamental foundation upon which all other aspects of
society reside. Marx expressed this by saying that man's
relationship to the "means of production" forms the
foundation of society.
He concluded that economics was the most important
field of sociological study, because he surmised that all
characteristics of a society are a result of the economic
basis of that society. Therefore, Marx concluded that in
order to change the characteristics of a society it was
necessary to change the economic basis of that society,
i.e. man's relationship to the means of production.

Theory of Class-Struggle
The theory of class-struggle is that societies and
civilizations evolve through a process of struggle
between the conflicts of interests among classes, and
that dominant institutions in a society are a means of
support for the dominant class in that society; that
conflict within a society, and conflict between societies,
are a product of class struggle. The theory of classstruggle is not a claim that classesshouldstruggle, it is a
claim that classesdostruggle between each other. It is
an observation, not a doctrine. What Marxists termed the
"discovery" of class-struggle led to the concept that in
order to abolish the struggle it would be necessary to
abolish class distinction itself.

Marx viewed religion also as a product of

man's relationship to the means of
production. Marx viewed religion as a product
of man's unhappiness with life and as a
product of man's lack of understanding of
social and economic forces, and thus the
Marxist position on religion has always been
two fold: 1) that criticism of religion and the
advance of science are important elements
for combating religious views, and 2) that
religion will never be fully eliminated until
man has control over the economy and man
is no longer alienated from productive forces.

The basis of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion,

religion does not make man. Religion is the selfconsciousness and self-esteem of man who has either
not yet found himself or has already lost himself again.
But man is no abstract being encamped outside the
world. Man is the world of man, the state, society. This
state, this society, produce religion, an inverted worldconsciousness, because they are an inverted world.
Religion is the general theory of that world, its
encyclopedic compendium, its logic in a popular form, its
spiritualistic point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral
sanction, its solemn complement, its universal source of
consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization
of the human essence because the human essence has
no true reality. The struggle against religion is therefore
indirectly a fight against the world of which religion is the
spiritual aroma.

Religious distress is at the same

time the expression of real
distress and also the protest
against real distress. Religion is
the sigh of the oppressed creature,
the heart of a heartless world, just
as it is the spirit of spiritless
conditions. It is the opium of the
people.