Marx and the Bottom Line

The nineteenth-century German philosopher and economist Karl Marx has left an enduring mark on human history, with various socio-political movements arising from his materialistic interpretation of human history and the evolution of societies. Different socialist and communist organizations, for better or for worse, sprouted up as a response to his writings and exhortations. The past century has been very turbulent and bloody as a result of some of these movements, although others were peaceful and law-abiding. Countries that have truly attempted to create a Marxist society generally haven’t done all that well. But Marx, as I see it, did get one important thing right.

Marx put forth the notion that in human society, high-sounding and idealistic principles are only relevant in how they relate to the bottom line: pursuit of material gain. Being someone who has been indoctrinated his whole life with the notion that the spiritual transcends the material, this observation has taken a while to sink into my consciousness. But the more I think about it, the more I believe that Marx was correct.

When I think of non-profit organizations, for example, I naturally first think of how good it is that some people are so altruistic as to want to spend their time so selflessly helping others. But in truth, those heading these organizations have carved out secure niches for themselves, with incomes that don’t depend upon success in a competitive dog-eat-dog economy (as well as having tax breaks). Look at the changing perspective of local, state, and federal government on social vices like gambling, alcohol, and smoking. The bottom line that lends these “industries‘” officially-sanctioned support is that the government derives tax revenue from gamblers, smokers, and drinkers. Many of the discipleship and stewardship classes that are offered in churches have as an underlying motive not the interests of the churchgoers, but the material interests of the church, as the study material emphasizes how God requires the churchgoers to financially support the church (and its paid staff) as well as perform unpaid service in the form of volunteer work. And what about the issue of illegal immigration? Why do some Republicans ally themselves with Democrats and support a form of amnesty for these undocumented workers in the U.S. (or at least benign neglect)? I can’t speak for all of them, but it’s a well-known fact that businesses who are able to use legally-unprotected workers from abroad can financially exploit them and drastically reduce their own operating costs, thus increasing their profits. So some of the politicians may have different motives for their “merciful” attitude regarding undocumented immigrants. And why are we as a nation concentrating our attention so much in promoting democracy in the Middle East, and not, say, Africa? Could it just possibly be that our economic bottom line is tied up with our petroleum imports? Just think about all of the different issues surrounding us today and ask yourself whether or not there is really a material bottom line influencing them, regardless as to how the issues are being portrayed.

And it is with this sort of perspective that I believe a positive, but limited legacy of Karl Marx will endure, since his strength was, after all, based on his studies and criticisms of (his then) contemporary society and definitely not for his (in my opinion) flawed vision of a utopian future.