Marx vs Lenin
The way Marx and Lenin saw the society marks the difference between their philosophies. Marx and Lenin were two thinkers who made enormous contributions to the subject of sociology by virtue of their thought. They showed differences in their approaches when it came to the perceptions of society and the layers of the society, the social conflicts and their causes, and the like. It is interesting to note that their philosophies were called as Marxism and Leninism respectively. This article attempts to examine the difference between these two thinkers.
Who is Lenin?
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born in 1870 in Russia. He was a communist revolutionary. Lenin was the head of the government from 1917 to 1922. Lenin taught us how capitalism works. In fact, he called for the highest stage of capitalism. In short, it can be said that Lenin’s perception ranged from Imperialism to Capitalism. The transition took place from Imperialism to Capitalism according to the philosophy of Lenin.
He explained how the activists could carry out the final act in the revolution in a country like Russia. Lenin called for the importance of a dedicated revolutionary party. He stressed the factor of dedication in officiating as a revolutionary party.
Who is Marx?
Karl Marx was born in 1818 in Germany. He is one of the most prominent figures in sociology. He was not only a sociologist but also a philosopher as well as an economist. Marx’s perception of the society takes a conflict approach. He believed that in the society there are only two classes. They are the haves and the have-nots (working class). He gave a lot of importance to production in an economy. He would call the working class as comprising of peasants and laborers. Marx would say that there was always differentiation between the agricultural landowners and the peasants. Similarly, differentiation existed between the factory owners and workers. This differentiation, according to Karl Marx, often led to a kind of struggle between the agricultural landowners and peasants in the first case, and the factory owners and workers in the second case.
Many later sociologists felt that Karl Marx could see the differentiation only because of the non-perception of layers in a society. According to Lenin, society possessed of different layers and hence the tension and the struggled lessened between people from the higher class and people from the lower class. These are the differences between Marx and Lenin.
What is the difference between Marx and Lenin?
• Connection:
• Lenin was heavily influenced by the ideas of Marx.
• However, in implementation, he diverted from the original ideas of Marx.
• View:
• Marx stated that the revolution of the working class was inevitable; this is why he even state that all history is a history of class struggle.
• Lenin pointed out that along with imperialism a condition for revolution does not emerge.
• Notion about Revolution:
• Marx believed that communist revolutions would take place in highly developed countries.
• However, the communist revolution of Lenin took place in Russia which was economically stagnant.
Images Courtesy: Lenin and Marx via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
