April 26, 2019
How 'Evolutionary Socialism' Saved Marx's Failing Theory
By Allen Gindler
This article concerns a particular flavor of socialism that is the most relevant to our time. Especially intriguing, this revision of Marxism was undertaken by a direct disciple of the founders of Marxism: Engels's personal friend and a prominent theoretician of German social democracy, Edward Bernstein. He originated the current of socialism called Evolutionary Socialism.
Several important points must first be made. When scientists present their completed theory for the judgment of peers and the broader scientific community, this theory begins to live its own life, separate from the author. Colleagues analyze the doctrine at face value, regardless of subjective opinions and author intent. Sometimes, the theory leads to results utterly overlooked and unexpected by the author himself. Take, for example, the concept of general relativity by Albert Einstein. Some solutions from Einstein's equations were so radical to him that he initially refused to accept them (Alexander Friedmann's solution for the non-static universe, Schwarzschild's solution for black holes). Nevertheless, those solutions, found by peers, happened to be correct and advance knowledge about nature.
Marx presented the theory of the historical development of human society called the materialist conception of history, or historical materialism. It is a theory of evolution characterized by a progressive exacerbation of the contradictions between the development of production relations and the development of productive forces. The conflict is supposed to be resolved by violent revolution, as a result of which harmony between production relations and productive forces is restored. The theory describes the progression of socio-economic formations beginning from primitive societies to capitalism. The doctrine also extrapolates that capitalism will be inevitably superseded by communism.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/04/how_evolutionary_socialism_saved_marxs_failing_theory.html
