is there any flaws in Marx's theory on Communism?

Question

if you could please alabarate on your answers....

Answer 1

The flaw with Marx's theory is that he did not understand human nature. He envisioned the lower classes rising up and over throwing their rich and then settling down to live in this utopian society in which there would be not religion, no government, and no private ownership of anything. The problem with this vision is that it goes contrary to human nature. Despite what Marx thought about it, the need for some kind of religion seems to be hardwired into our psyches. The various communist governments of the world have actively tried to stamp out religion in their countries, sometimes ruthlessly so. However they have all failed. People, by and large, just won't give it up. Without some level of central control (government) there is too much disorder for a society's resources to be efficiently allocated. So, you get too much of some things one place and not enough of others elsewhere. (This can also happen if there is too much central control as the USSR found out.)

Finally, when no one owns anything and cannot see any personal benefit to working harder, they usually won't. This point needs a bit more attention. So, let me give you an example. Let's say that I am a laze bum who does not want to work. If there are know private possessions, then I am free to just go and take whatever I need with out doing anything to earn it. On the other hand we have Karl who is working hard to contribute to society. However, he sees me not doing any work but still the reward of Karl's hard work. So, Karl begins to think, "Why should I put in so much effort if Glenn isn't? He's not contributing anything, but is still getting all of the reward. Why should I work so hard to support him?" The end result is that people don't work as hard if they don't see any personal profit from the work. So, the economy stagnates.

So, what are the flaws of Karl Marx's theory of communism? The whole theory. It looks good on paper. However, it fails to take into account human nature. Therefore, it always fails in practice. The theories very foundations are flawed.

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pelister56,

You can complain about the inequalities of capitalism all you want, but it is capitalism that has provided you with the ability to easily get on here to whine. The fact of the matter is that every single attempt to implement communism has made most people equal...in poverty. (I say most people because those that rule in such countries have rarely shared the poverty of their subjects.) The subjects in such countries are the true slaves. It does not matter how hard they work, they have no hope of improving their lot in life.

On the other hand, capitalism gives people the opportunity to improve their lives according to the amount of effort they are willing to put in to their lives. I am a middle class American. The only debt that I have at the moment is my car. That I shall have paid off some time this fall. It is not capitalism that keeps people in debt. It is their own choices about how they spend their money.

Answer 2

Good question. The answer is really simple. The basis upon which communism is based is equality. It assumes that all humans have the same abilities and will contribute the same to the community thereby making the community better. Well, I don't know about you, but I am fairly certain that I cannot dribble a basketball as well as Chris Paul or block a shot as well as Yow Ming. I am fairly certain that I cannot finish 3 laps of freestyle before Michael Phelps finishes 4. Likewise, I am fairly certain that Hussein Obama cannot play a game of Cricket or fix a computer or give a public speech without a teleprompter better than I can. Human's are not equal and do not have the desire to be so. Each is an individual that needs help in some places and can help in others. Marx assumed that every baker bakes at the same level or every blacksmith shoes a horse the same. I use the example of the Olymipics to demonstrate that for centuries before Marx, humans learned that they were all unique and had different levels of abilities even in the same field. That is why the Greeks held the Olympics. So the biggest most defining flaw in Marx's theory is that humans are equally capable. Please note, that is also the basis for socialism. As my demonstration shows, humans are not the same or equally capable. Capitalism and democracy exploit those differences and therefore gives the individual the ability to succeed in their own environment regardless of how they compare to others in the same activity and/or class. EDIT for Erik, wow! I never saw that before. Thanks for providing support for what I am saying.

Answer 3

Flaws Of Communism

Answer 4

the whole theory is flawed in my opinion. communism is just against common sense, it's too idealistic.. the world is not utopia, capitalism is more natural. It goes with nature, survival of the fittest etc. People are naturally out for their best interest, and this along with competition leads to innovation and is good for the world. Sure there will be people at the bottom and at the top and some in the middle as far as class/income, but the bell curve applies to everything in life it's just natural.

Answer 5

True Communism as Karl Marx would have liked it has never been achieved. "Why's that?" you may ask.

Well, Karl Marx thought that the state (the government) would eventually just fall away because all citizens would be equal.
I think he was being unrealistic to think that a large nation could exist without some form of government...some governing body to create laws.

Answer 6

Forcing equality onto people is inhumane and has unintended consequences regardless of how good equality may sound.

If you knew beforehand that your teacher was going to give everyone in the class a C, would you waste your time working and studying hard?

Same goes for the production of goods and services. If you worked harder than everyone else to produce quality goods and the slacker down the street did nothing and ended up equal to you; what is your future motivation to ever produce anything again?

The result-- shortages in everything, like the people of the Soviet Union standing in bread lines.


Forced equality removes all human incentives to achieve.

Answer 7

Lets be clear here. Marx wrote Das Kapital. The Communist Manifesto were mostly Engel's ideas. See the other question for more details on flaws in the theory.

Answer 8

I worked an an engineer for years. This is a simple but crucial flaw. Marx just assumed that production would happen. Production does not just happen. Neither does innovation.
It is for these reasons that despite intense sales jobs, the more Marxist an economy is, the poorer it is for the average Joe.

Answer 9

One must take into account several arguments when looking at this. Perhaps the strongest evidence to date that there are no flaws in Marx's theory is to look at the powerhouse of stability and equality that is the USSR.

Answer 10

Yes, that people would actually entirely conform to the idea. There is no way to have a civilized society unless there are social classes and then there's always bound to be a crazy person here and there to mix things up a bit.