Marxism and Reincarnation

Now in late adulthood, I am finally discovering Marxism.

Until now, I tended to think: avoid extremes. The best socioeconomic solution is a regulated capitalism, I thought, and that our current troubles are due to deregulation and refusal to enforce existing regulations.

That begs the question: why can’t we keep the progress we make? Will we always be going in circles?

But now I find myself leaning toward the tenet of true socialism, that we need to do away with capitalism altogether. No compromises.

Why?

Can I prove we need this? No, I cannot. How do I know it then? I am no expert in economics or Marxism.

Will you laugh when I say: my instinct convinces me?

Perhaps what I call “instinct” are convictions that have grown from a lifetime of experiences. It is not scientific. It is not from deep and thorough philosophic debate. There is no mathematical or logical rigor.

So, what separates me from a cultist? Good question. I can say that my desire to find the truth is sincere. I am not seeking to fatten my wallet, as are the apologists who proclaim “greed is good”.

Instead of calculating “What’s in it for me?”, I listen as my instinct asserts the nobrainer: “We are all in the same boat.” If our destinies are indeed so bound together, why can’t we affirm this truth in our collective behavior? What do we really need competition and capitalism for?

If Marx is right, not only do we not need it, but capitalism is degrading our human nature as well as poisoning the planet. We desperately need to evolve beyond it.

It seems a bit odd, even to me, how I came to Marxism / socialism.

About a year or two ago, I noticed bittersweet twinges deep within, frequently when I was reading something about socialism, communism or the U.S.S.R. There seemed to be a chord striking, resonating from a period in time corresponding to about the first decade of my life: the 1950s. But, this did not make sense to me. Practically all of my life has been spent in Kentucky. I never lived or visited abroad. I only know how to speak English.

Then came to me a drive to construct a time line or history of that period and beyond, both personal and global. Until then, history had always bored me. Now it seems vital.

I have not been able to find a correlation between these early memories and the passages on socialism that stir them. There seems to be no logical or rational connection. The recollections are always deeply personal and emotional, as if they were inspired by an odor instead of a philosophical debate.

I found myself wondering about reincarnation, the universal subconscious, etc., but these musings are not completely formed at present.

Wouldn’t it be a hoot, however, if socialism eventually prevailed over capitalism because socialists are continuously reincarnated while capitalists are not?