American Marxism has recently become a “call to action” for both the neoconservative and devout leftist. Somehow the term “Marxist” has found its way into the American vernacular as an expression associated with political policies intended to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor, and the belief that political power should be concentrated in a central authority. Some believe by violent means, if necessary.
Marx never argued for a particular political philosophy or authority. Instead he argued, rather convincingly, for a greater transfer of equity to the labor forces of production which he believed to be unfairly exploited by an oppressive capitalist economic system. He referred to this alliance as a “commune”.
It wasn’t until Stalin co-opted the economic theories of the Communist Manifesto for the creation of a one party totalitarian state that Marx became associated with violent political dogma. Stalin seized the economic oppression expressed by the Manifesto as a convenient device to advance the concept of political equity never foreseen by Marx, and one man’s call to action for workplace reform became another man’s bloody political revolution.
American Marxism is the turf where America’s twenty-first century political struggle is going to be contested. The Neo-Leftist promises Modern Marxism as the foundational principle for economic equity and social justice, with the claim that America was founded on a course of “White Supremacy”. This movement in recent years has been accellerated by demands for reparations and income redistribution. The political Right warns that Modern Marxism is just the beginning as the Left also asserts systemic racism as the legacy of Western Civilization, with the intent of bringing an end to the traditions of Constitutional democracy.
Where do you stand? There is plenty of room for discussion.