Saturday, November 22, 2008
The revolutionary visions of Rosa Luxemberg
The revolutionary Marxist, Rosa Luxemberg had a vision to bring Socialism to the people when they needed it. Surrounded by a bourgeois lifestyle, she aimed to bring the working class up to her level, and give them a livable life. Unfortunately, Rosa encountered multiple Marxists who held different views, such as Vladimir Lenin. She was ultimately killed for her persistence.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Of the various Marxists that sprung up in the early 20th Century, Rosa Luxemburg is considered to be Socialism’s token revolutionary. She believed that Germany was ready for revolution, and that it was important for the working class to participate. Unfortunately, she was faced with other Marxists of dissimilar tastes, such as the orthodox Kaustky who was forever waiting for the ‘right time’ to have a revolution, the evolutionary Bernstein, who came to believe that revolution was unnecessary, and that Capitalism would eventually revise itself into Socialism, or Lenin, the Marxist who failed to follow Marx. Ultimately, Rosa endured a negative relationship with the SDP as a result of her belief in Marxism being currently relevant.
Her following of Marxism differed from the rest due to her humanitarian character. Luxemburg was incredibly attuned to the people, and understood when Germany was ready for revolution. Her philosophy entailed coupling spontaneity with organization, such that one must follow the natural evolution of class struggle and organize the people when they were ready for revolution. For this reason, Rosa was in constant disagreement with her colleagues in the Social Democratic Party. She and her mentor, Karl Kautsky, ultimately parted ways as a result of her fierce desire for revolution up until WWI, and his, along with the rest of the SDP’s denial of her request. Rosa ultimately became revolutionarily pessimistic .
Assuming she was correct, Rosa’s insight directly correlates with Marx’s theory of the inevitable destruction of Capitalism. Rosa seems incredibly attuned to Marx in the sense that she sees when crisis is at its peak and when a Socialist revolution would be most effective. Had Rosa been accurate in her determination of the nature of class crisis in 1905 Germany, she would have been incredibly aligned with Marxist theory. It was her surrounding party that was not.
One of Luxemburg’s fellow Marxists with whom she disagreed was Vladimir Lenin. They showed similarities in their ideologies, such as the need for revolution to transition to Socialism, or their theories on the final crisis of Capitalism. They even shared a similar view on the need to defy the militaristic state , the “organ of class rule” and it’s counter-intuitivism, as wars are meant to ensure peace via destruction.
However, they greatly differ in their methods: as a humanitarian and romantic, Luxemburg hoped to educate the people and let them rise up – she is for the people, by the people. Lenin, on the other hand, chose to organize through the party and create a planned government, with a working body and democratically elected officials, subject to instant recall and working man’s wages . Her desire to pull people up to her level, as opposed to Lenin’s sacrificing to bring everyone down shows certain idealism in Rosa. She is unconcerned, seemingly, with ridding Germany of the muck of ages and creating a new people as Lenin does ; she surrounds herself with a bourgeois lifestyle, whereas Lenin sees no need for such material possessions .
Finally, where they differ the most in ideology is in their timing for revolution. In 1917, in a country with poorly developed modes of production, Lenin led the people to overthrow and destroy the state. In his attempt to cut the “thousand threads” linking the Capitalists to the state, and bringing the working class to power in the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat , Lenin failed. Rather, he was left with a true dictatorship in a purely ‘realm of necessity’ type of Socialism, which Rosa blames on his poor timing and lack of true Marxist understanding – Russia was not ready for a Marxist revolution. It appears that Rosa was right all along.
You make a lot of good points here that I didn't even notice between Luxemburg and Lenin. It never came to mind of the comparison you made about Lenin and Luxemburg and how she saw a bourgeois lifestyle and Lenin didn't care for material possessions.
I really like how you compared Marx and Luxemburg because I had trouble explaining how they relate, but you did a really good job at that. Your argument was very clear about they both believed in revolution during a crisis and her disagreement with the SPD.
Everything seems to flow and have and order which makes it easy to understand your argument.
Post a Comment