A theoretical and practical analysis of the philosophies of Karl Marx and John Locke

Karl Marx, a German author, and John Locke, a British educator, are both very well known philosophers. Both have written essays on the ideal government: Marx created Marxism and Locke defined democracy. Both forms of government have been tried throughout the course of time. Both, however, came from two different types of men, from two different time periods in history, and in reaction to two different types of government. Though Marx and Locke would have agreed that power would be given to the people in the ideal government, when put into practice, their theories fall apart.

Marxism was a classless form of government. Actually, there was no government in Marxism, the people ruled themselves. In theory, people were all at a common level; the only person that was to be higher than others was an administrator, whose only role was to make sure that the will of the people was carried out. It became the job of the people to regulate the country, to maintain equality and make sure that all of the capital that was produced was dispersed evenly among all of the people:

“The distinguishing feature of communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property. But modern bourgeois private propert

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National Archives and Records Administration ( NARA ). , Buckler, John, and Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The “inherent evil” of the people must also be taken into account while looking at a true democracy, because it amounts to little more than mob rule ( Sightler ). When they vote, their opinions drive the country in certain directions. While Marxism is better in the fact that it does provide higher job opportunity, it fails because, even if people do not work, they receive dispersed capital, and so there is no incentive to work. He thought that the government should exist only to keep the country organized, to protect the natural rights of the people, including life and liberty, and to safeguard the property of the people. Machiavelli and the Moral Dilemma of Statecraft. Marxism, however, has failed as a form of government. The first thing that they share is that they both arose from a common need for government. Locke, when writing about this government, lived in an absolute monarchy, where all decisions are made by one man.

Approximate Word count = 2178
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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