Three Sources and Component Parts of Marxism

VI Lenin addressing a rally

Understanding Marxism as interpreted by Lenin in ‘The Three Sources and Component Parts of Marxism’

Materialism

1. Throughout Europe, and especially in the French Revolution was led a revolution against all kinds of feudal and medieval systems and practices.
2. Marx and Engels defended philosophical materialism, which the enemies of democracy reject for being too abstract, and for being opposed to superstitious/religious beliefs which they use to indoctrinate the poor.
3. Marx developed 18th century materialism into a dialectal materialism- a superior form based on German philosophy and Hegel’s system.
4. It was more scientific, human, and realistic than other philosophies, to comprehend human society, history and politics in their entirety.

Marx’s philosophy is a consummate philosophical materialism which has provided mankind, and especially the working class, with powerful instruments of knowledge.

Surplus-value

1. Marx’s most important work ‘Das Kapital’, studies a capitalist economy.
2. England is where the classical political economy developed. Marx developed and continued the works of Adam Smith and David Ricardo.
3. He proved that the value of every commodity is determined by the quantity of socially necessary labour time spent on its production.
4. Where the bourgeoise saw yet another mechanical relation between commodities or profit (a reified perspective of reality), Marx showed that it was in reality a relation between people.
5. Money represents the gradual convergence or quantitative change of personal and economic life. Capital represents a higher stage of this change, a qualitative change of man’s labour into a commodity.
6. Capital when created through the labour of the worker, crushes the worker, creating more unemployment. Similarly, in agriculture, capitalist technology vastly outmatches the peasant, impoverishing them.
7. By this, capitalism leads to an increase in productivity of labour, but binds the labourers to the chains of a handful of capitalists.

By increasing the dependence of the workers on capital, the capitalist system creates the great power of united labour.

Marx traced the development of capitalism from embryonic commodity economy, from simple exchange, to its highest forms, to large-scale production.

And the experience of all capitalist countries, old and new, year by year demonstrates clearly the truth of this Marxian doctrine to increasing numbers of workers.

Capitalism has triumphed all over the world, but this triumph is only the prelude to the triumph of labour over capital.

Socialist Politics

1. When feudalism was overthrown and ‘free’ capitalism established, it was clear that freedom for one meant oppression for another class, lower than the capitalists- the workers.
2. Utopian socialism condemned capitalism, but only hoped capitalists would see sense in morals and labour rights. It could not explain the real nature of wage-slavery under capitalism, laws of development under capitalism and prove social force to be powerful enough to change the system.
3. All capitalist revolutions against feudalism which succeeded were desperate struggle.

The genius of Marx lies in his having been the first to deduce from this the lesson world history teaches and to apply that lesson consistently. The deduction he made is the doctrine of the class struggle.

The resistance of the ruling classes can only be shattered through great, independent, democratic, desperate struggle.

The proletariat is becoming enlightened and educated by waging its class struggle; it is ridding itself of the prejudices of bourgeois society; it is rallying its ranks ever more closely and is learning to gauge the measure of its successes; it is steeling its forces and is growing irresistibly.