Marx Rises Again

To mark the 200th anniversary of Marx’s birth, a massive statue of Marx was erected in downtown Trier, his hometown. It was donated by China, which presents itself as the heir to the socialist tradition, and there was major controversy in Trier over whether the city should accept it. Debate continued unabated because Marx’s ideas had brought great disaster upon humanity, and because the statue was a gift from China. Nevertheless, the Trier city council accepted it. As a result, Trier will likely see a steady stream of Chinese tourists.

A grand commemorative event was also held in China. In a speech lasting about an hour, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “Marxism provided the Party and the state with ideological guidance as a theoretical weapon, and enabled China to transform itself from an old Eastern power into a miracle of development unprecedented in human intellectual history,” adding that “the Party must continue to absorb the scientific wisdom and theoretical capabilities of Marxism and uphold and develop ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.’”

China is ignoring the fact that it achieved economic growth by breaking free from the constraints of communism and embracing capitalism, and is instead attributing that achievement to socialism. With the collapse of the communist states of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, socialism was judged to have come to a historical end. Yet Marx’s socialism has revived and is once again threatening capitalism.

China has politically maintained communist ideology while embracing the market economy. When Deng Xiaoping chose the path of opening up, China expanded exchanges with capitalist countries and achieved economic growth. Having seized the fruits of that growth, the Chinese government is increasing its influence over the world order.

Of course, China’s model has its limits. Although it has partially adopted the market economy, a significant portion of its economy is still operated in a socialist manner through planning policies and the control policies of big government. Its political and legal order also still departs from capitalism, which limits its ability to grow into an advanced country. Because these structural limitations could cause political turmoil, China is trying to avoid crisis by strengthening political control.

Socialism’s challenge to capitalism poses a serious risk even within countries that have achieved growth. Criticism of capitalism stimulates instinctive emotions and leads to anti-market policies that cloud rational judgment. As hostility toward capitalism grows in many countries, some are undermining the principles of the market economy on their own and damaging the strengths of capitalism.

The thinker who made clear that such a socialist path is not the path to freedom but the road to dictatorship and slavery was Friedrich Hayek. In his book The Road to Serfdom, he warned that “in a society that embraces socialist ideas, totalitarian tendencies expand and freedom is ultimately lost.”

It was Marx who called humanity’s way of life, which had grown through capital accumulation, capitalism. Because capitalism, the system of the free market economy, is more practical and more successful than any other ideology, humanity has been able to achieve prosperity and realize the value of equality by making the most of its strengths.

The socialist legacy left by Marx should not be overestimated. History teaches that every experiment that placed excessive faith in socialism and sought to replace the principles of the free democratic market economy ended in vain and failure.

Sung-no Choi, President, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: 다시 고개 드는 마르크스

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2018-05-07

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=press&pn=26&idx=10904