Karl Marx, Socialism & the Tea Party Movement

Karl Marx once said, "Democracy is the road to socialism." In his Critique of Capitalism, Marx mentioned quite a few things that seem to be almost prophetic when you consider the fact that he died in 1883.

If you have been counting signs at Tea Party rallies, you know that socialism is very much on their minds. At a Tea Party rally in Minnesota one lady said, "I want Medicare. I just don’t want the government involved in it." Sorry, lady, but Medicare is a government program and, yes, it is an example of socialism. In other words, it is a government program designed to provide a benefit to the people paid for by taxes, just like the Interstate Highway System…and your local police and fire departments.

Another lady interviewed by the New York Times at the Washington Tax Day Rally was Jodine White of Rocklin, California. Jodine finally said, "I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security. I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind."

What I find extremely intriguing, though, is that Karl Marx could easily have been a modern-day Tea Party leader, you know, if you look at it from the perspective of losing things you need. Of course, one major difference is that Marx blamed corporate capitalism rather than government for the problems of the masses.

Known as the Marxian Laws of Capitalism, Marx mentioned the following issues:

1. a reserve army of the unemployed
2. a falling rate of profit
3. business crises
4. increasing concentration of industry into fewer firms, and
5. and increasing misery among the people (continued below)

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Reserve Army of the Unemployed

What is the purpose of having a large number of unemployed persons? It simply allows the corporation to hold down wages "because there are a large number of people willing to do the job at this wage." Today, not only does America have a sizable army of unemployed, but many of the jobs have been sent beyond our national borders or workers have been brought to America from low-wage areas of the world.

The basic rule still holds: it allows corporations to hold down wages.

Falling Rate of Profit

Corporations use falling rate of profit, especially in today’s stock market world, to justify just about anything and everything. Stock analysts are wooed and feted as though the corporation is seeking a lifelong mate, and, perhaps they are! Assuming you haven’t had your head in a hole for the past two decades, how many times have you heard that employees are being laid off? Why? To guard against a falling rate of profit.

Perhaps there has been a change or two in employee benefits to guard against a falling rate of profit. Corporations are changing health insurance plans to lower their costs. Corporations have stopped making contributions to a retirement plan (if they have one at all) or have reduced or stopped their 401K match.

Why don’t employees just pack up and go somewhere else? See Reserve Army of the Unemployed above.

Business Crises

The Global Economy is the buzzword for business crisis. Corporations "must" layoff employees in order to compete. Corporations "must" send jobs overseas in order to compete. Corporations must hire low-wage workers from other countries in order to compete. Corporations "must" scale back employee pay and benefits in order to compete. Maintain a Reserve Army of Unemployed and protecting the Rate of Profit are seen as business crises.

Increasing Concentration of Industry into Fewer Firms

Karl Marx was truly a prophet if he envisioned the world of corporate mergers we live in today. Even Ross Perot’s old mega-company, Electronic Data Systems, has been swallowed by Hewlett Packard. And you’d need a scorecard to keep up with bank mergers. A lack of serious government oversight led to "too big to fail" and we have seen firsthand how that has impacted the American and world economy.

How many jobs have been lost due to corporate mergers? And why are mergers the "big" thing? To protect the rate of profit, maintain an army of unemployed and be able to compete in the global economy, of course.

Increasing Misery Among the People

Now we have a link to the American Tea Party Movement. The signs they carry and the talks they give seek light above the darkness of misery they perceive. But they’re not the truly miserable. Look to the millions of Americans without health insurance. Look to the millions of Americans who are unemployed or underemployed.

Many of these were riding the same economic bubble that permeated American society. Lured by easy credit and adjustable rate mortgages they became part of the boom that went bust. Ronald Reagan’s trickle down economic theory has never been more evident as scandals of Bernie Madoff, Wall Street and others trickled down to wipe out the life savings of many Americans.

The Goldman Sachs scandal may very well prove to be the tip of the iceberg as Wall Street firms created investment instruments to rob the poor and give to the rich.

Misery has visited and is visiting the people, and it’s doing it in so many places.

Misplaced Frustration

The American Tea Party Movement places blame at the door of government, and I will agree that goverment failed to protect its citizens. The lion’s share of that failure, though, lies in government not providing adequate oversight of corporate wheelings and dealings.

How do you get government to protect the citizens from corporations? By doing the very things Tea Partiers don’t want done: government oversight.

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