get paid in amazon gift cards
|
from
1917 on, marxism-leninism provided the foundations of soviet
ideology and organization until three-quarters of a century later,
when the soviet state faltered and suddenly crumbled to dust. |
one
of the main reasons why the communist ideological foundations
collapsed was that marxism preached what even the early christians
did not believe was possible or practical. it advocated universal,
forcible redistribution: paradise on earth was to be achieved by the
abolition of property on which the capitalist mode of production was
based.
there is no doubt that marx was largely right in identifying
many ills of the capitalist society. but capitalism cannot be
reduced to its evils. it makes and breaks people抯 destinies,
plunging some to the very bottom of destitution and poverty while
allowing others to develop their creative potential and enjoy life
to the full. it has provided millions and millions with welfare and
reasonable prosperity. on the whole, countries with developed
capitalist patterns have been able to ensure living standards for
the mass of the population unattainable under any other
socioeconomic system that has ever existed. from the point of view
of everyday human experience, this may be the most important and
valuable advantage that distinguishes capitalism from all precapitalist socioeconomic systems.
in
addition, capitalist patterns, however cruel some of them may seem,
appear to be more in tune with basic human instincts and passions
than the utopian egalitarian blueprints of the founders of marxism.
the marxist picture of humankind抯 triumphant march upward through
the five socioeconomic formations, from primitive society to
communism, obscures the tremendous stability of some of the
essential characteristics of human nature.
in the course of
biological evolution, even when humans ceased to exist as animals,
when they acquired the ability to make tools and developed the power
of abstract thinking, they still had preserved the sum total of
their primordial instincts and inclinations. these instincts
developed into human passions. they change little from century to
century and even from millennium to millennium. an authoritative
source provides a revealing catalog of some of the most enduring
traits of human nature:
|
|
again jesus called the crowd to him and said, 揕isten to me,
everyone, and understand this. nothing outside a man can make him
憉nclean?by going into him. rather, it is what comes out of a man
that makes him 憉nclean.?/span>
揑f
anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.?/span>
after he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples
asked him about this parable. 揂re you so dull??he asked. 揇on抰
you see that nothing that enters a man from outside can make him
unclean? for it does not go into his heart but into his stomach, and
then out of his body.?. . .
he
went on: 揥hat comes out of a man is what makes him 憉nclean? for
from within, out of men抯 hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. all these evils come
from inside and make the man 憉nclean.挃 (mark 7:14?3)
|
|
there is no reason to think that much has changed in human nature
after two thousand years since these words were first spoken. the
darker sides of human nature have not gone away. they remain part of
people抯 everyday existence and continue to have a powerful
influence on the course of human development.
