QURTABA UNIVERSITY

Submitted By :SHOAIB ULLAH

Submitted To : SIR FAHD ALI
Program : Bs English
SUBJECT : INRTO TO IR
ASSIGNMENT : 1
ID : 13607
Semester :5 th
Question No # 1
write a short paragraph about the life of
karl marx?
Ans :
Karl marx :
Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a philosopher, author, social
th eorist, and an economist. He is famous for his theories
about capitalism and communism. Marx, in conjunction
with Friedrich Engels, published The Communist
Manifesto in 1848; later in life, he wrote Das Kapital (the
first volume was published in Berlin in 1867; the second
and third volumes were published posthumously in 1885
and 1894, respectively), which discussed
the labor theory of value

His Early Life:

Born in Trier, Prussia (now Germany), on May 5, 1818,
Marx was the son of a successful Jewish lawyer who
converted to Lutheranism before Marx’s birth. Marx studied
law in Bonn and Berlin, and at Berlin, was introduced to the
philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel. He became involved in
radicalism at a young age through the Young Hegelians, a
group of students who criticized the political and religious
establishments of the day. Marx received his doctorate from
the University of Jena in 1841. His radical beliefs prevented
him from securing a teaching position, so instead, he took a
job as a journalist and later became the editor of
Rheinische Zeitung, a liberal newspaper in Cologne.
 Famous Works:
The Communist Manifesto summarizes Marx and Engels's
theories about the nature of society and politics and is an
attempt to explain the goals of Marxism, and, later,
socialism. When writing The Communist Manifesto, Marx
and Engels explained how they thought capitalism was
unsustainable and how the capitalist society that existed at
the time of the writing would eventually be replaced by a
socialist one.

Question No # 2
Briefly explain the theory of Marxism in your own
words?

Ans:
Theory of Marxism:
A young reporter asked a leading capitalist how he made
his fortune. "It was really quite simple", the capitalist
answered. I bought an apple for 5 cents, spent the evening
polishing it, and sold it the next day for 10 cents. With this I
bought two apples, spent the evening polishing them,and
sold them for 2O. And so it went until I amassed 80. It was
at this point that my wife's father died and left us a million
dollars". Is this true? Is it fair? What does it all mean? There
are no more hotly contested questions in our society than
why some are
rich and others poor—and whether things have to be this
way.
Karl Marx sought the answers to these questions by trying
to understand how our capitalist society works (for whom it
works better, for whom worse), how it arose out of feudalism
and where it is likely to lead. Concentrating on the social and
economic relations in which people earn their livings, Marx
saw behind capitalism's law and order appearance a struggle
of two main classes: the capitalists, who own the productive
resources, and the workers or proletariat, who must work in
order to survive. "Marxism" is essentially Marx's analysis of
the complex and developing relations between these two
classes.

Marxist philosophy:
Marx's study of capitalism was grounded in a philosophy
that is both dialectical and materialist. With dialectics,
changes and interaction are brought into focus and
emphasized by being viewed as essential parts of whatever
institutions and processes are undergoing change and
interaction. In this way, the system of capitalism, the wider
context, is never lost sight of when studying any event within
it, an election or an economic crisis for example; nor are its
real past and future possibilities, the historical context, ever
neglected when dealing with how something appears in the
present. Whatever Marx's subject of the moment, his
dialectical approach to it insures that his fuller subject is
always capitalist society as it developed and is still
developing. The actual changes that occur in history are
seen here as the outcome of opposing tendencies, or
"contradictions", which evolve in the ordinary functioning of
society.
 Unlike Hegel's dialectic, which operates solely on ideas,
Marx's dialectic is materialist. Marx was primarily concerned
with capitalism as lived rather than as thought about, but
people's lives also involve consciousness. Whereas Hegel
examined ideas apart from the people who held them, Marx's
materialism puts ideas back into the heads of living people
and treats both as parts of a world that is forever being
remade through human activities, particularly in production.
In this interaction, social conditions and behavior are found
to have a greater affect on the character and development of
people's ideas than these ideas do on social conditions and
behavior.

MARXISM TODAY:

Capitalism has obviously changed a lot in the hundred

years since Marx wrote. In the basic relations and
structures which distinguish capitalism from feudalism and
socialism, however, it has changed very little, and these are
the main features of capitalism addressed in Marx's
theories. Workers, for example, may earn more money now
than they did in the last century, but so do the capitalists.
Consequently, the wealth and income gaps between the
two classes is as great or greater than ever. The workers'
relations to their labor, products and capitalists (which are
traced in the theory of alienation and the labor theory of
value) are basically unchanged from Marx's day. Probably
the greatest difference between our capitalism and Marx's
has to do with the more direct involvement of the state in
the capitalist economy (primarily to bolster flagging profits)
and, as a consequence of this, the expanded role of
 ideology to disguise the increasingly obvious ties between
the agencies of the state and the capitalist class.
From its beginnings, Marxism has been under attack
from all sides, but the major criticisms have been directed
against claims that Marx never made. For example, some
have mistakenly viewed Marx's materialism as evidence
that he ignored the role of ideas in history and in people's
lives. Viewed as an "economic determinism", Marxism has
also been criticized for presenting politics, culture, religion,
etc. as simple effects of a one-way economic cause. (This
would be undialectical.) Viewed as a claim that labor is the
only factor in determining prices (equated here with
"value"), the labor theory of value has been wrongly
attacked for ignoring the effect of competition on prices.
And viewing what are projections of capitalism's tendencies
into the future as inviolable predictions, Marx has been
accused of making false predictions.

Question No # 3
Enlist the names of countries which were
inspired by the socialist revolutions?
Ans :SOCIALIST NATIONS:

Between capitalist and communist society there lies the period of the
revolutionary transformation of the one into the other.
Corresponding to this is also a political transition period in which the
state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the
proletariat.
countries:
The term socialist has been thrown around quite a bit in the past few
years. Not since the cold war has the term garnered so much
attention in the press and from politicians. But when you look at
countries who actually have a socialist economic structure, you can
see some similarities to the United States – but there are some really
stark differences.

Below, you will see some of the most socialistic nations in the world
today:

• Canada
• China
• Denmark
• Finland
• Netherlands
• Sweden
• Norway
• Belgium
• Ireland
• New Zealand
Despite popular myths, there is very little connection between
economic performance and welfare expenditure. Many of the
countries on this list are proof of that, such as Denmark and
Finland. Even though both countries are more socialistic than
America, the workforce remains stronger.

Canada:
Like the Netherlands, Canada also has mostly a free market economy,
but has a very extensive welfare system that includes free health and
medical care. Canadians remain more open-minded and liberal than
Americans, and Canada is ranked as one of the best top five countries
to live in by the United Nations and the Human Development Index
(HDI) rankings.

China:
In China the government manages and controls the economy. Many
of the domestic companies are owned and run by the government.
Recently, the Chinese economy has become more geared towards
capitalism, but is still officially socialist. Life in China remains
relatively less stressful and more relaxed than life in capitalist
countries like America.

Denmark:
Denmark has a wide range of welfare benefits that they offer their
citizens. As a result, they also have the highest taxes in the world.
Equality is considered the most important value in Denmark. Small
businesses thrive, with over 70 percent of companies having 50
employees or less.

Finland:
Finland has one of the world’s best education systems, with no
tuition fees and also giving free meals to their students. The literacy
rate in Finland is 100 percent. Finland has one of the highest
standards of living in the world. Like Denmark and other European
countries, equality is considered one of the most important values in
society. Whereas in the Netherlands, government control over the
economy remains at a minimum, but a socialist welfare system
remains. The lifestyle in the Netherlands is very egalitarian and
organized, where even bosses do not discipline or treat their
subordinates rudely.
Sweden:
Sweden has a large welfare system, but due to a high national debt,
required much government intervention in the economy. In Norway,
the government controls certain key aspects of the national
economy, and they also have one of the best welfare systems in the
world, with Norway having one of the highest standards of living in
all of Europe. Norway is not a member of the European Union.

Belgium:
Lastly, Belgium has most of the same social security benefits that
New Zealand offers, including invalid and old age pensions. The
welfare system causes much of the country’s budget deficit though,
and so is considered by some to be a burden on society.

Ireland:
Ireland has arguably one of the best welfare systems in the world,
with unemployment checks higher on average than Denmark or
Switzerland’s average. Around 25 percent of Ireland’s GDP goes
towards paying for the welfare system, as compared to 15 percent of
America’ GDP towards America’s social support programs.

New Zealand:
New Zealand may not be a socialist country, but the welfare system
in the country is very wide ranging, offering support for housing,
unemployment, health, child care, and education as well. Therefore,
New Zealand has many of the characteristics of a socialist country,
even while remaining officially free market
. THE END