Oguzhan Ozkan

As my good friend Emre Ceren thinks, Karl Marx was a man of high ideals, and I agree. Not only did he help transform Europe, his endeavours and determination also reshaped and rebuilt the world from top to bottom. His controversial legacy still lives on and remains a glimmer of hope for a significant number of people around the globe. Communism may be a debatable and slippery concept, but the man who pulled it out of thin air was a man of perseverance, and deserves respect no matter what our ideology, religion or view of life is.

“The Communist Manifesto” begins with a call to the oppressed, and Marx, who says that the history of the existing society is the history of class struggles, has a rather wide definition for oppression. One thing never changes: There are the oppressed and the oppressors; and the oppressed — the “proletariat” or workers, who comprise every layer of society below the “bourgeoisie” or capital owners — must unite. This is not a choice, but a crucial necessity for every living soul in the world who aims for a better future.

The discovery of America in the 15th century started a new era. It paved the way for modernization, mechanization and the global market. As the global market grew, the bourgeoisie prospered in a very unfair way, and proletarians were the ones to suffer from piteous working conditions and salaries.  Modern industry began in the 19th century. Altogether, this led to modernization and mechanization, and the global market was the victorious, profitable result of this long continuum-of-production phase.

Bourgeois governments formed new alliances with each other and built new armies to preserve their interests and shares. Scientific development was utilized to invent brand-new war machinery. There was not a single proletarian drop of sweat that wasn’t exploited by the oppressors. Every innovation and every economic improvement was to the detriment of the oppressed — and unfortunately, this vicious cycle is still prevailing over us so-called modern people, the descendants of the proletariat.

Marx thought that a communist revolution was inevitable. Given that all historical movements were movements of minorities, the proletariat created by the hands of the bourgeoisie was the immense majority. The struggle with the bourgeoisie would be a national struggle at first; the proletariat of each country should deal with with its own bourgeoisie. But in the course of events, the proletariat would understand that living under the rules of such oppressors was no longer compatible with the masses.

The progress of modern industry would be the bourgeoisie’s own grave-digger, ironically. The more the need for the workforce rose for the sake of the industry, the more the proletariat’s victory would be unavoidable. Time would reveal truth, according to Marx — by the hands of the oppressed, for the oppressed.

Marx is one of the most influential people to pass from the face of the earth, without a doubt. His findings, determinations and arguments are very important to resolve and analyze the relationship between the layers of society, which in this case are the oppressed and the oppressor.

However, although reducing every single detail of every movement to a struggle of class might be the answer for the 19th century’s world, it is not for the 21th century. The world is so much more complicated than it was in two centuries ago. Even though Marx’s findings on oppression are still valid and solid, his suggested solution, communism, is quite questionable. The exigencies of modern people are incomparably different from those of 19th-century society. If Marx was still alive (which might be an immense contribution to human knowledge), even he would accept this fact and revise, or maybe remodel, his recipe.

What we do know is he intended to make the world a better place than he found it.