Capitalism
Unless we accept the claim that Lenin's coup that gave birth to an entirely new state, and indeed to a new era in the history of mankind, we must recognize in today's Soviet Union the old empire of the Russians -- the only empire that survived into the mid 1980s (Luttwak, 1).
In their Communist Manifesto of 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels applied the term communism to a final stage of socialism in which all class differences would disappear and humankind would live in harmony. Marx and Engels claimed to have discovered a scientific approach to socialism based on the laws of history. They declared that the course of history was determined by the clash of opposing forces rooted in the economic system and the ownership of property. Just as the feudal system
had given way to capitalism, so in time capitalism would give way to socialism. The class struggle of the future would be between the bourgeoisie, who were the capitalist employers, and the proletariat, who were the workers. The struggle would end,
according to Marx, in the socialist revolution and the attainment of full communism (Groilers Encyclopedia).
Socialism, of which Marxism-Leninism is a takeoff, originated in the West. Designed in France and Germany, it was brought into Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century and promptly attracted support among the country's educated, public-
minded elite, who at that time were called intelligentsia (Pipes, 21). After Revolution broke out over Europe in 1848 the modern working class appeared on the scene as a major historical force. However, Russia remained out of the changes that Europe was experiencing. As a socialist movement and inclination, the Russian Social-Democratic Party continued the traditions of all the Russian Revolutions of the past, with the goal of conquering political freedom (Daniels 7).
As early as 1894, when he was twenty-four, Lenin had become a revolutionary agitator and a convinced Marxist. He exhibited his new faith and his polemical talents in a diatribe of that year against the peasant-oriented socialism of the Populists led by N.K. Mikhiaiovsky (Wren, 3).
While Marxism had been winning adherents among the Russian revolutionary intelligentsia for more than a decade previously, a claimed Marxist party was bit organized until 1898. In that year a ...
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...lies had been defeated (Farah, 582).
Communism had now been established and Russia had become a socialist country. Russia was also given a new name: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This in theory meant that the means of production was in the hands of the state. The state,
in turn, would build the future, classless society. But still, the power was in the hands of the party (Farah, 583). The next decade was ruled by a collective dictatorship of the top party leaders. At the top level individuals still spoke for themselves, and considerable freedom for factional controversy remained despite the principles of unity laid down in 1921.
Bibliography:
Daniels, Robert V., A Documentary History of Communism. New York: Random House Publishing, 1960.
Farah, Mounir, The Human Experience. Columbus: Bell & Howess Co.,1990.
Luttwak, Edward N., The Grand Strategy of the Soviet Union. New York: St. Martins Press, 1983.
Pipes, Richard, Survival is Not Enough. New York: S&S Publishing, 1975.
Stoessinger, John G., Nations in Darkness. Boston: Howard Books, 1985.
Wren, Christopher S., The End of the Line. San Francisco: Blackhawk Publishing, 1988.
The end of 19th century, Western Society was changing physically, philosophically, economically, and politically. It was an influential and critical time in that the Industrial Revolution created a new class. Many contemporary observers realized the dramatic changes in society. Among these were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who observed the conditions of the working man, or the proletariat, and saw a change in how goods and wealth were distributed. In their Communist Manifesto, they described their observations of the inequalities between the emerging wealthy middle class and the proletariat as well as the condition of the proletariat. They argued that the proletariat was at the mercy of the new emerging middle class, or bourgeoisie, and could only be rescued by Communism: a new economic form.
The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is one of the most controversial and timeless books written in our history. A “catcher in the rye” is someone that’s stands at the edge of a rye field and saves children from falling over a cliff. Holden Caulfield, a troubled young teenager and also the main character of the novel, pictures himself as being this “catcher in the rye” protecting all children from losing their innocence. Towards the end of Catcher in The Rye he realizes that this idea is something impossible because growing up and getting old is inevitable even for him. Throughout the course of the novel we notice how Holden is digging himself deeper into a hole as he transitions from adolescence to adulthood. He continues to head into the direction of despair as we see how purposeless his life becomes. Holden thinks by moving to a new environment the course of his life would change but it doesn’t. It just continues to get worst until eventually we learn that he is in a ward somewhere in California. Holden Caulfield has nothing to live for so maybe he should just give up entirely.
It is apparent from reading The Catcher in the Rye that one of the novel’s main themes is alienation. The theme of alienation is most clearly visible as a form of self-protection through the actions of the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield. Caulfield’s self-imposed isolation as a form of protection can be seen in his physical seclusion from the outside world, in his constant acts of lying, and in his condemnation of society as being “phony.”
One thing which all three men, Stalin, Trotsky, and Bukharin, all shared was a common error. After Vladimir Lenin’s death, they contributed to the wishes which Lenin had not wished for which were to build a personality cult around Lenin for his consistent Marxism. This process which the men did became sanctifying communist leadership which Lenin had not done and instead examined the reality of facts instead of what the powerful, overshadowing leader proclaimed. The Marx theory laid the foundation to the science of socialists.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
Many readers are able to relate to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye making it a classic. The characters display a variety of personalities making it very easy for readers to understand and follow the different dilemmas throughout the novel. However the greatest dilemma is Holden’s downfall, not only his alienation from society but himself. He believed throughout the whole novel that he had a grasp on his life all while it continued to slip away. Holden’s estrangement following Allie’s death caused him to become dormant, abrasive to others and cynical.
In The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the two German philosophers saw history as the struggle between the working class and the Bourgeois, or middle class (textbook 708). The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848, during the peak of the Industrial Revolution, a time when the Bourgeois made huge profits in manufacturing at the expense of the working class. According to Marx and Engels, the fruits of the Industrial Revolution created a new class of the oppressed modern working class, the Proletariat, which had never before existed because it was neither like serfdom or slave hood in that it was dependent on the Bourgeois to hire them for wage labor. This was the class the two philosophers envisioned would set off a revolution that would overthrow capitalism to end the perpetual class struggle and create a fair society known as Communism.
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
The Russian Revolution (1917) was a series of economic and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party.
Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others.
The Russian revolution was made with the goal of creating an egalitarian government that was based off of Karl Marx’s socialism principles. In short, they used Karl Marx’s socialist principles as a basis for their communist government that developed after the revolution.
The theme of alienation is demonstrated by Holden. He alienates himself from the world because he fears change and false people, he wants love and security. Holden alienates himself from all the changes that occur around him. Holden isolated himself when he didn't go down to the seats for the final football game at Pency. He isolates himself because he gets kicked out of all the schools he goes to. All those changes scare Holden off, he becomes afraid to feel secure. Holden also alienates himself because he trusts no one, he thinks everybody is phony. When Holden was in a bar and he lied and said he had to go, just to not talk to his brothers old girl friend; Holden thought she was annoying and left the bar even though he didn't feel like it. Holden is also alienated by his inability to love. Holden seems not to care about his old girlfriend Sally, he told her he loved her but he didn’t mean it.
Isolation, a state of alienation often enforced to protect one’s self from any unwanted persons and/or societal functions. This protective barrier otherwise known as isolation is usually established when one has not yet resolved their own inner conflicts and is instead accusing society and its members. Isolation is not only a physical state, but a state of mind that can severely impact one’s mentality. In recent years, a professor from the University of Chicago centered his attention on examining the minds of the socially isolated. While conducting multiple cerebral experiments, the professor along with his colleagues discovered that “The brains of lonely people react differently than those with strong social networks.” The human mind is created in a peculiar way, to therefore experience regular communication with others, to be able to share ideas and ultimately create strong social connections. However when the mind lacks these fundamentals on a daily basis, it can have a huge underlying effect on one’s overall persona and can drastically alter one’s view on society and its components. Through protagonist, Holden Caulfield’s character in J.D Salinger’s novel; “The Catcher in the Rye”, readers are able to examine to which extent constant isolation can truly influence and alter one’s moral beliefs and/or personal convictions. In the novel, Holden Caulfield voluntarily isolates himself physically, emotionally and socially, as a method of self protection against what he perceives to be a victimizing world around him. As each chapter progresses, Holden Caulfield is delineated by his constant isolation, eventually leading it to become such a crucial aspect in his life that it ultimately shapes not...
Born from the revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe, Marxism sought to end the class struggles that were destroying the continent. The solution to the problems of all nations occurred to Marx to be Socialism, a branch that is presently known as Marxism. Under this seemingly “utopian” socioeconomic system, equality was granted to all citizens who were in essence a community of one. “. . . universal free education; arming of the people; a progressive income tax; limitations upon inheritance; state ownership of banks. . .”(Palmer 506). These rights of which constituted Marxism eventually went on to be incorporated in Leninism and modern-day socialism. At least in its beginning, the intent of Marxism and the Communist League were noble towards the goal o...
Marx states that at the final stage, “Finally, in times when the class struggle nears the decisive hour, the progress of dissolution going on within the ruling class, in fact within the whole range of old society, assumes such a violent, glaring character, that a small section of the ruling class cuts itself adrift, and joins the revolutionary class, the class that holds the future in its hands. Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a genuinely revolutionary class. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of Modern Industry.” The final stage of political evolution is the decimation of classes. Marx says that capitalism will eventually destroy itself and the almighty working class will prevail. After capitalism is ruined, communism will be the only and best option