History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.89

v7.c96.s2.89

Most common pepople in India have a very vague notion of what socialism means. They believe that socialism is based on Marxism.²⁶⁵² Marx holds that revolution is the weapon or means by which the workers are to seize power, that his theory is scientific and based on a study of facts. He himself declared that he was no 'Marxist' (vide 'Naked God' p. 3 by Howard Fast, New York, 1957 and 'New Class' by Milovan Djilas p. 4 London, 5th Impression, 1958). These words of his are explained by Dr. Radhakrishnan as meaning that he was not pledged to the acceptance of a doctrine, final, complete and oppressive (vide 'Religion and Society,' 1947, p. 25). This is not the place to discuss the premises and predictions of Marx. But a few words may be said here. Marx had predicted that communism would prevail first in the most developed and industrialized nations. What happened is quite the opposite of this. Communism occurred in countries like Russia and China that were relatively very much less developed and industrialized. Another of his predictions was that the system of private ownership would make the rich richer and the poor poorer, would breed ruinous depressions and in the end the angry proletariat would revolt, would overthrow the exploiting classes and establish a communist society. This second prophecy has not materialized in almost all highly industrialized nations. On the contrary, several democratic States have provided security against unemployment, sickness and old age and in some countries employers have admitted representatives of workers into the management of industries. The 'Communist Manifesto' is the official Bible in the U. S. S. R. A recent work ' The 'Anatomy of the Soviet man' by Claus Mehnert, translated from German by Maurice Rosenbaum (1961), appears to the present author to contain a balanced and fair estimate of the working of Communism in U. S. S. R. He points out that the desire to rise socially and amass wealth and power is as common to the Soviet Union as to the rest of the world (p. 84), that the New Class does not constitute a *bourgeoisie* in the West European sense, that it is a State *bourgeoisie*, all members work for the State and are dependent on it (p. 73), that social distinctions are greater in U. S. S. R. than in U. S. A. (p. 109), that the greatest disproportion prevails between the incomes of Academicians, artists and writers on the one hand and ordinary men and workers on the other. It appears to the present author that Communism has so far been the best means for the exploitation of the proletariat.