Karl Marx: Analysis that leads to paralysis

Many years ago when I was in seminary, trying to unravel the mysteries of life, I noticed an unusual phenomenon. It was possible after endless probing and analysis to arrive at a point where any action could be so severely critiqued as to arrive at a point of complete inaction.

I notice that this phenomenon of analysis leading to paralysis is not only a danger of seminarians. It can also afflict materialist Marxists as well. A friend of mine is an astute Marxist analyst. He does not vote. When asked what actions he takes as a result of his analysis he said, “Nothing”.

When I was in Dar es Salaam, many yeas ago, I listened to and observed Marxist intellectuals analyze the world’s ills. When asked what could be done, the usual answer was revolution. The whole system needed to be changed, and if this was not possible then very little could be done. I thought to myself, these are the ‘all or nothing boys’ (they were in fact almost all males). All or nothing people usually end up doing nothing, because the “all” is not going to happen very soon.

Now, I don’t think that Marx would approve of all of this. In Marx’s tombstone in London, England, there is the inscription;

“Workers of the world unite. The philosophers of the world have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it”.

It is generally agreed that recent attempts to change the world using the Marxist model have not been very successful. What is easy to forget is that Marx realised that all of the analysis had to lead to a practical outcome, a solution. Analysis without application is vapid and therefore ultimately useless.

Marx’s great contribution is to enable us to see the inner working of global capitalism. It is a system that now has many problems. The question remains – what can we do to change it? It seems to me that our best hope is to struggle for a change within the social democratic structures that exist.  Our best resource here is an educated, aware and educated citizenry. I am still impressed by the saying of Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has”.

Ottawa, November, 2010