Orthodox Marxism

What does this mean, this term orthodox Marxism? No, it is not that vulgar idea that there can only be a single type of Marxist research, thesis, philosophical message, or even idea; in truth we know that there are many various streams of Marxist practice and theory that are equally powerful and relevant. Marx was not a myth creator (nor a faith preacher) and his research, analyses, theses, theoretical and philosophical ideas were not supernatural in their scope. He was a social analyst and this is where the power of his analyses and their theses have their base. The critique of capitalist society is the main focus and the theses in his research reflect this basic analytical starting point. The total philosophy of Marx is best stated by his own statement regarding philosophy in general: “the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it” (Marx, Theses on Feuerbach). Praxis is the point! Yes, the intent to ‘change the world’ is the starting point of the total analysis from the Young Marx to the Old Marx and it is this plan that attracts fellow researchers to follow in the shadows of his immense ideas.  But even this is not the totality of ‘orthodox Marxism’ rather it is just the tipping point; to change the world is what points all Marxist researchers into action but there is something else that sustains them as the keepers of this strange orthodoxy.

 Orthodox Marxists desire not to rearrange Marx or even prove that he was right (this is a vulgar interpretation) but the point is to change our material social-life and to provide the best possible critiques and analyses about its processes, this is the point.

Here is what orthodox Marxism is and Georg Lukacs stated it best and with the most authority almost a hundred years ago:

“Let us assume for the sake of argument that recent research had disproved once and for all every one of Marx’s individual theses. Even if this were to be proved [it has not been], every serious ‘orthodox’ Marxist would still be able to accept all such modern findings without reservation and hence dismiss all of Marx’s theses in toto [as a whole] – without having to renounce his orthodoxy for a single moment. Orthodox Marxism, therefore does not imply the uncritical acceptance of the results of Marx’s investigations. It is not the ‘belief’ in this or that thesis, nor the exegesis of a ‘sacred’ book. On the contrary, orthodoxy refers to exclusively to method. It is the scientific conviction that dialectical materialism is the road to truth and that its methods can be developed, expanded and deepened only along the lines laid down by its founders” (Lukacs, What is Orthodox Marxism)

This is kind of orthodoxy that is based on the search for truth that neither upholds a utopian outlook nor a mythological worldview!

The Lesson of Victor Kravchenko

Victor Kravchenko defected from the USSR in 1944 while in New York. He wrote a stunning memoir entitled I Chose Freedom, in which he decried the crimes and evils of the Stalinist Soviet Union. Needless to say the book was a best-seller and a great indictment as to the superiority of liberal-democratic-capitalism over the evils of all communist practice. Kravchenko became a celebrity of some regard and was hailed as a Cold War hero. A few years later (post 1949), Kravchenko became worried that the McCarthyite anti-communist witch-hunt, which was prevalent in US politics for decades, was not only a hypocritical image of Stalinism rather it was a mirror image. Kravchenko then wrote a new book entitled I Chose Justice which was an attempt to leave behind Stalin and McCarthy as ideological archetypes. The book was a failure.

His success and fame were done with and the true face of liberal-democratic-capitalism showed its power. Kravchenko then moved from the US to Bolivia where he set-up collectives of poor rural farmers, which indicated a return to his true roots and beliefs.  But after this was a failure he returned to New York where he shot himself.

What is the lesson to be learned in his life?

Slavoj Zizek states it best:

“Today, new Kravchenkos are emerging from everywhere, from the US to India, China and Japan, from Latin America to Africa, the Middle East to Western and Eastern Europe. They are disparate and speak different languages but they are not as few as they appear –  and the greatest fear of the rulers is that these voices will start to reverberate and reinforce each other in solidarity.  Aware that the odds are pulling us toward catastrophe, these actors are ready to act against all odds. Disappointed by twentieth-century Communism, they are ready to ‘begin from the beginning’ and reinvent it on a new basis. Decried by enemies as dangerous utopians, they are the only people who have really awakened from the utopian dream which holds most of us under its sway (156).”

“In the Christian past, it was common for people who had led dissolute lives to return to the safe haven of the church in old age, so they might die reconciled with God. Something similar is happening today with many anti-communist Leftists. In their final years, they return to communism as if, after their life of depraved betrayal, they want to die reconciled with the communist Idea. As with the old Christians, these conversions carry the same basic message: that we have spent our lives rebelling vainly against what we knew all the time to be the truth. So, when even a great anti-communist like Kravchenko can in a certain sense return to his faith, our message today should be: do not be afraid, join us, come back!  You’ve had your anti-communist fun, and you are pardoned for it – time to get serious once again!  (156-157)”

Yes, indeed it is time for all Leftists to come back and join the only Idea that can effectively eradicate, critique, and expose liberal-democratic-capitalism for what it really is and what it is really doing to our lives today. Come back and join us all, in the hopes of changing all our lives for the better.

Quotations from:

Zizek, Slavoj. 2009. First As Tragedy, Then As Farce. New York: Verso Books.