The Stages of Human History
Socialism has been one of the influential and powerful philosophies of the 19th and 20th centuries. The doctrine of socialism believed that the means of production ought to belong to workers. Socialism, however, contrasted with capitalism, which encompass small but rich class of capitalist. The capitalist owns the means of production and employs workers who have little say in the affairs of the company policies. Nonetheless, socialism was too democratic and idealistic, and this doomed the socialist communal experiments. Marxism, on the other hand, was radical and was named after Karl Marx who in 1848 published of The Communist Manifesto. Unlike the other socialists, Marx asserted that the present order had to be destroyed by revolution before an actual socialist society evolved. Nevertheless, the current paper has two parts. Part 1 will analyze the five stages of human history. Part 2 will answer whether USA should make college education free by adopting the “progressive income tax advocated in The Communist Manifesto.
Part 1
Marx relied on economic determinism. This was the notion that the methodology used by the society to distribute and produce its wealth determines its political, social laws, structure and religion. Additionally, Marx claims that in human’s history, the society developed along different stage and proposed the theory of “the stage of history”. In his first stage which he referred to as the primitive stage, Marx asserted that people lived in a lifestyle of gathering and hunting. The only classes are both genders in the first stage according to Marx. He also adds that the stage was for survival. Indeed, people shared all their clothing and food in the primitive stage primarily because all their life was dependent on sharing. They did not share because of their belief in communalism as will be discussed later in this paper. Men form the ruling class in the stage and deploy the idealism of their superiority. “Superrich have derailed the natural ties that humans had and replaced them with a form of slavery in their quest for self grandiose and self interest. This has relegated religion and personal and genuine relationships between man to lower echelons of social ties,” (Marx and Engels 15).
The second stage according to Marx is oriental despotism. In this stage, the live of people was dependent on animal herding and agriculture. The hunting experienced in the first stage developed into agriculture. One of the populations developed from agriculture, specialized class emerged and then they would be unequal. . “Over time a disconnect and restraint between the feudal relations and the exiting productive forces emerged,” (Marx and Engels 17)
As a result, there arise two upper classes, which are the warrior aristocrats and priests. Here people have an idea of the God King, who ruled the society as a God. The priest had indicated to the people that the Kind is God and individuals had been living in false consciousness. People were duped and believed in the lie. These smoothened things and people did not revolt or say anything about the new developed faith. The class of worriers and the priest are on the same level, which is the upper class. Below them officials and the merchants, peasants and slaves follow in that order. The other branch of the stage is Geco-Roman Slave economy, which is composed of masters and slaves. The mode of production remained the same. Slave in the society have no rights, but they have a good life. In Greece, they had the right to go to court. However, in Roma, salves were mistreated and the Masters dominated.
Feudalism was the third stage. It is a regressive stage. The mode of production in this stage is herding and primitive agriculture. It declined due to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The ruling class was comprised of the class of knights and the peasants are the subject class.
In this way arose feudal Socialism: half lamentation, half lampoon; half an echo of the past, half menace of the future; at times, by its bitter, witty and incisive criticism, striking the bourgeoisie to the very heart’s core; but always ludicrous in its effect, through total incapacity to comprehend the march of modern history (Marx and Engel 28).
Capitalism was the fourth stage and the mode of production turned out to be industry. There were factories using machines for production, factory workers and small businesses in this stage. According to Marx, the aforementioned facets were ruled by the rich oligarchy. The stage was industrial capitalism and not industrial revolution. The key aim of the industries was to make money and they were operated by the businesses. Money was the main motivation and the factories were also attached to industries that were characterised by the same motive of making more money. Superrich businesspersons here are the ruling class. They used religion to dominate the subject class. If you are rich, then it’s a sign that God is rewarding you. It is the role of intelluctuals to break the workers and break their false consciousess. They proposed that people should not follow the big businessmen and the profit should belong to workers.
Modern Industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist. Masses of labourers, crowded into the factory, are organised like soldiers. As privates of the industrial army, they are placed under the command of a perfect hierarchy of officers and sergeants. Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois State; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooked, and, above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself. The more openly this despotism proclaims gain to be its end and aim, the pettier, the more hateful and the more embittering it is. (Marx and Engels 28)
Socialism was the fifth stage. This is the next stage that Marx wants to create. The class is not characterised by private owners, social classes or even religion. However, temporary dictatorship of the communist party could be available though ruling for the workers. Since the workers lack the appropriate education for running the economy and the factories, Marx advocated for temporary dictatorship of the party to run the country for them for some while. The communist’s dictators developed universities and schools and created beginning of classless society. But absolute power was in their hands. Women are liberated in the stage. “To this section belong economists, philanthropists, humanitarians, improvers of the condition of the working class, organisers of charity, members of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, temperance fanatics, hole-and-corner reformers of every imaginable kind. This form of socialism has, moreover, been worked out into complete systems” (Marx and Engels 31).
Communism is the final stage and forms the future utopia in Marx’s mind. In this stage, history has come in circle and return to communal sharing, but in a high-technology industrial mode of production. The people in this stage are liberated and democratic and there are national and local democratic countils. There is a lack of state or a central government. There exists “Species being”, which means self-actualization. For example, one can be a farmer in the morning, a poet in the afternoon, and a violinist at night. After people work for six hours a day, they can develop their own talent. “Hence, they reject all political and especially all revolutionary action; they wish to attain their ends by peaceful means, necessarily doomed to failure, and by the force of example, to pave the way for the new social Gospel,” (Marx and Engels 32).
Part 2
The USA should not make college education free by adopting the “progressive income tax” as advocated in The Communist Manifesto. Expenditures always increase to meet income. Therefore, the state’s expenditure will always increase to meet its potential income. This implies that the politico, with the total earnings of the people at their potential legal disposal has to inevitably shift towards taking it all. In payback for votes, the politico will give it back as legalized patronage or welfare. Additionally, the progressive tax if combined with principle of universe suffrage can lead o destruction of rich and dissipation of productive capital. The productive capital provides the society the margin of comfort required by individuals with the poor included.
In addition, the communists incessantly bang about “equality” which can be achieved comfortably by through flat-tax. Flat-tax is the fairest system and could be used to ensure the ultimate goal of Marx of “from each based on his abilities” and “to each based on his need”. Therefore, the US college education should not be made free by adopting the progressive income tax because this would just bring injustice to the economy.