Some of Marx's predictions have indeed come true. Others are not so clear-cut. For example, profits do tend to fall within a business cycle, but they do not fall as steadily outside the business cycle. Some have risen instead. Most significantly, even though indicators reflect Marxist philosophy, capitalism continues to thrive in the United States, Japan, and Great Britain, even if it has partly disappeared in Western Europe.
Russia, the communist bloc countries, and China are another matter. During the most intensive rule of communism, capitalism has remained suppressed except for a trickle of imports from the West, such as Coca-Cola, drilling equipment, medicines, and computers. However, with the 1989 thaw in Cold War tensions, capitalism was one of the first aspects of Western democracy to penetrate the Iron Curtain as McDonald's brought "burgers and fries" to Moscow.
Obviously, Marx's vision of the future has proved too inflexible. Like the laws of gravity, he expected the weakening of capitalism to fall into place without the slightest deviation. However, he failed to predict many mitigating factors, such as improvements in the lives of workers. Further, in no case where communism has triumphed has the revolution taken place in an industrialized nation at the hands of the workers themselves. Russia, China, and Cuba were all primarily agrarian economies when the revolutions occurred. The same could be said for the satellite nations of Eastern Europe, except for Czechoslovakia.
Another worthy consideration is the fact that each Communist country was taken over from without and during wartime. These nations did capitulate according to Marx's predictions, but largely from the work of professional revolutionaries. On the other hand, Germany and Italy, which chose fascism over communism during the late 1930s, today exhibit both state capitalism and private capitalism working in partnership.
Non-communist economists find the weakest point in Das Kapital to be the theory of surplus value, for it does not satisfactorily explain prices. Likewise, these economists do not accept labor as the sole measure of value. Yet, economists have not derived an agreed-upon substitute measure of value.
Furthermore, liberals and humanitarians cannot accept Marx's economic interpretation of history. They deny that history evolves purely from economics—to the exclusion of religion, nationalism, and human will. Also, they spurn the Marxian notion that the hero has a subordinate role in the motivation of historical events. On the other hand, until the time of Marx, historians had all but overlooked the effect of economics in human affairs.
Undeniably, with all the flaws in his predictions, Marx made a sizable impact. No communist nation or party fails to pay homage to his teachings. While capitalism has not collapsed as Marx predicted, it has been forced to adapt. Socialism has risen throughout the world since Marx's time—and communism is an unyielding, inexorable variety of socialism.
In the U.S., socialism has been avoided largely as the result of support of competition through government anti-trust legislation and regulation of public utilities. From the impoverished nations of Latin America to the emerging nations of Africa and Asia, the communist banner of Karl Marx continues to wave—proof that his concepts cannot be lightly dismissed. In truth, Marx is entitled to be called the Prophet of the Proletariat.
Here are a few terms to help clarify Marx's philosophy:
Marxism
Karl Marx's version of communism. While a typical Communist may believe that the final goal of communism will come into existence by a number of methods, the Marxist accepts Marx's every word and explanation as the only way. Both forms of communism accept the concept of revolutionary socialism —the attainment of a classless society by violent and bloody revolution, as opposed to the peaceful and democratic method of socialists. In terms of "left" and "right," Marxists are further left than Communists, who are, in turn, to the "left" of Socialists.
Scientific Socialism
Laws evolved by Marx and Engels which explain the economic determination of history, the class struggle, the inevitable downfall of capitalism, and the triumph of the proletariat.
Capitalists
Financial backers of production; also called the "haute bourgeoisie," or high middle class.
Bourgeoisie
The middle class, technically divided between rich capitalists ("haute bourgeoisie") and small shopkeepers, government officials, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and independent farmers. A term generally applied to people with private property. (Bourgeois is the adjective form.)
Proletariat
The workers, or the lowly wage earners.
Anarchism
Rebellion against all forms of government. Anarchists are not content to wait for the withering away of the state. They believe in ending government rule by assassinating public officials. Because they disdain any type of government, anarchists are at the extreme "left" of all political groups.
The early modern theorist of the benefits of anarchism was William Godwin, whose Political Justice (1793) expressed a utopian ideal. The father of anarchism, however, is Pierre Proudhon (1809-65) who quarreled violently with Marx and whose book What Is Property? answered the question in the title by stating that "Property is theft." The anarchist who championed direct action through violence was Mikhail Bakunin, who originally followed Marxism but, in time, became Marx's bitter enemy.
