What Marxism Actually Is

Marxism is a revolutionary theory focused on class struggle, the abolition of private property, and the replacement of capitalism with a classless society.  Its goal is to overthrow the entire economic system.

What Affirmative Action Actually Is

Affirmative action is a policy tool designed to increase opportunities for historically underrepresented groups in education and employment. It operates within capitalist systems, under civil rights Law, and is subject to strict legal scrutiny.

Affirmative action gives preferential treatment to one or more subsets of the population based upon social engineering concepts rather than merit.

Affirmative action can act as a counterforce to profitability because companies are forced to hire less qualified employees to fill their quotas.

Where the Confusion Comes From

• Some intellectual traditions influencing modern equity discourse, such as critical theory, have roots in Western Marxist thought.  For example, critical theory frequently examines power dynamics in society, a key aspect of Marxist analysis.
• Both examine power structures and systemic barriers.
• However, affirmative action is reformist, not revolutionary. It doesn’t seek to abolish markets or private property.

Bottom Line

Affirmative action may or may not constitute Marxism, depending on the participant’s ideology and who the beneficiaries are.  It’s a legal, policy, and social engineering mechanism designed to promote fairness and diversity within existing economic and legal frameworks.

If a person benefits from the preferential treatment of affirmative action, they do not view it as Marxism.  Suppose productive people and corporations must contend with the degradation of being overlooked for a job for which they are more qualified than the one selected.  In that case, they will view it as Marxism. Meritocracy is often ignored due to racial preferential treatment of a particular ethnic or ideological group.

I personally view affirmative action as a Marxist ideology.

Does this approach improve access, compliance, and performance without violating the Law or eroding meritocracy?  This is the real question for leaders, and affirmative action provides a practical solution.

Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 19th century.  Its core ideas include:

Key Principles of Marxism

• Historical Materialism
  History is driven by material (economic) conditions and class struggles, not ideas alone.
• Class Struggle
  Society is divided into classes:
1. Bourgeoisie: Owners of the means of production (factories, land, capital).
2. Proletariat: Workers who sell their labor.
   Marxism posits that the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat for its own profit.
• Surplus Value and Exploitation
  Workers produce more value than they are paid for; the difference (surplus value) is taken as profit by capitalists.  This means that the wealth created by workers is not fully returned to them, but instead, it is accumulated by the capitalist class.
• Abolition of Private Property
  Marxism advocates for the elimination of private ownership of the means of production, replacing it with collective ownership.
• Goal: Classless, Stateless Society
  Through revolution, capitalism would be replaced by socialism, and eventually communism—a society without classes or state structures.

What Marxism Is NOT

• It is not simply about fairness or diversity.
• It differs from social democracy and affirmative action.
• It is a comprehensive critique of capitalism and a blueprint for systemic change.

Key Milestones

• 1848 – Communist Manifesto: Marx & Engels publish the foundational text.
• 1867 – Das Kapital: Marx analyzes capitalism and the concept of surplus value.
• 1917 – Russian Revolution: Bolsheviks establish the first Marxist state.
• 1920s – Frankfurt School: Birth of critical theory, blending Marxism with sociology.
• 1949 – Chinese Revolution: Mao Zedong leads the communist revolution.
• 1960s – Neo-Marxism & Critical Theory: Expansion into culture, race, and identity.
• 1989 – Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Collapse of the Soviet bloc challenges Marxist regimes.
• 2000s–Present: Marxist ideas continue to influence academia, the media, and social movements.