Marx in Soho
Marx in Soho is written by Howard Zinn, a historian, about the life of Karl Marx. Zinn wrote the play to show a rare perspective of Marx as a husband and father to his wife and children (Welchel 2009). The play portrays Marx as defending the principles of communism. The play reminds the audience that capitalism without a conscience will always bring about a revolution.
Communism is a system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the members of the community and all share in the common resources and wealth acquired (Ebrey et. al., 2005). It is a socioeconomic structure that promotes a society that has no class and state. Communism was also said to be the bloodiest form of regime since the people are ruled by fear. If they try to oppose the communist government, death awaits them. The government keeps the people in line by murdering those who dare question its leaders. The people were forced to work hard and they were intimidated to do so. Karl Marx was regarded as the father of communism. He criticized the dominant form of government during his time which was capitalism. Capitalism encourages competition among the people and gives rewards unequally. He argued that capitalist nations allowed the few wealthy people to amass a great fortune while the masses seemed to work harder with little reward for their efforts (Ebrey et. al., 2005). The rich kept the resources for themselves, often denying the poor of an equal opportunity.
In his Communist Manifesto, he spoke of a new social order that would eradicate the inequality of wealth among the people. He theorized that no one would possess anything more than the other. The rich would be forced to yield everything they had in excess to the poor. Poverty and starvation would no longer exist under this new social order. Karl Marx founded the ideal that after a revolutionary struggle, it would be a victory for the working class or the proletariat and a communist society
Communism is a system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the members of the community and all share in the common resources and wealth acquired (Ebrey et. al., 2005). It is a socioeconomic structure that promotes a society that has no class and state. Communism was also said to be the bloodiest form of regime since the people are ruled by fear. If they try to oppose the communist government, death awaits them. The government keeps the people in line by murdering those who dare question its leaders. The people were forced to work hard and they were intimidated to do so. Karl Marx was regarded as the father of communism. He criticized the dominant form of government during his time which was capitalism. Capitalism encourages competition among the people and gives rewards unequally. He argued that capitalist nations allowed the few wealthy people to amass a great fortune while the masses seemed to work harder with little reward for their efforts (Ebrey et. al., 2005). The rich kept the resources for themselves, often denying the poor of an equal opportunity.
In his Communist Manifesto, he spoke of a new social order that would eradicate the inequality of wealth among the people. He theorized that no one would possess anything more than the other. The rich would be forced to yield everything they had in excess to the poor. Poverty and starvation would no longer exist under this new social order. Karl Marx founded the ideal that after a revolutionary struggle, it would be a victory for the working class or the proletariat and a communist society
References: Boobbyer, P. (2000) ‘The Stalin Era’, Routledge Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Walthall, Anne and Palais, James. (2005) Pre-modern East Asia: to 1800: a cultural, social, and political history, Houghton Mifflin Viola, P. (1996) ‘Peasant Rebels Under Stalin: Collectivization and the Peasant’, Oxford University Press Welchel, E. (2009) ‘Reading, learning, teaching Howard Zinn’, Peter Lang