What are the criticisms on the theory of marxism?

Answer 1

I will critique three aspects of Marxism; critiques of all theories which are called Marxist would be an unending task.

The material dialectic which Marx uses in his model of history has some merits, insofar as it does show us how much social arrangements depend on what is economically or just physically feasible. But his argument that this is fully or largely determinative of all apsects of society fails to account for the diversity of ways people possessing similar technologies use develop and share them within their cultures. For instance, despite a rough parity in population, technology and wealth, the people of the EU rely far more on trains than do citizens of the USA. Techonology and culture are mutually influencing, rather than simply culture resulting from technology.

Closely related is his assertion that people's morals, mores and general view of the world are determined by their material and social circumstance. It is today quite uncontroversial to say that these matter for the development of individuals' views. But to say that these views are products only of these ends conversation, and makes it difficult to advocate for proletarian revolution: one can hardly one the one hand revile a bourgeoisie for his oppression of the proletarians and claim that he should stop, but say that his own views - on which he is not really oppressing them economically but giving them no more than what they deserve - are equally valid, given his staion in life.

Finally, Marx's economics are a mixed bag. He is the intellectual descendant of Ricardo and other classical economists in many respects, but in others diverges sharply. His theory of value as derived from labor, and of capital as "dead labor" is intricately worked out, but is ultimately rejected by later economists. In most models today, value is found in the utility dreived from final goods by consumers, not in the amount of sweat put in by producers. The disutility from work matters for the determination of wages, which influence the cost at which goods are produced, but this disutility does not determine the value.

In historical practice, Marxist economics and economies tend to favor the production of goods over services; the latter are seen as skimming off the real value put in goods by laborers. Marixst nations have tended to underproduce consumer goods in favor of capital goods and military hardware, relative to other economies, but this can be attributed to later political strategic visions based on Marxism, rather than Marxism itself.

Answer 2

Critics of Marxism argue that it oversimplifies complex social dynamics, underestimates the role of individual agency, and fails to account for human nature's diversity. Additionally, some believe that Marxist regimes have often led to oppressive and totalitarian governments, contradicting their ideals of equality and freedom.