Sunday, November 11, 2018

Marxism and Freedom


-- Nasir Khan

“Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life.”
― Jamaican musician Bob Marley (1945-1981)
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To gain freedom from social, political and religious oppression is a great thing for every sentient human being. As we know we are living in a world where the 'ruling ideas of the age' we are living in, are related to Power - in all its nefarious forms. Political power, economic power, social power, religious power - all such different faces of power are intertwined; they contribute to the same goals and the same targets. Politically conscious people know that the targets are the ordinary people of any given society, whether in the advanced capitalist societies or the 'developing' countries. If the people became aware of the overall bondages they are subjected to, they will strive for freedom.


The fact remains that only a very tiny minority develops such consciousness; for the vast majority the established order is more like the divine writ, which none should question. However, the ideas and actions to challenge the established order are not easy either; they often have unexpected harsh reactions and consequences. The revolutionaries of the past ages have shown that nothing comes without struggle. In our age, it is still the revolutionary thought and praxis of Marxism that has to 'bear the cross’. This is despite all the howling of the jackals of reaction and their ilk.

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