(Post)Modern Neo-Marxism

So far, I've briefly touched on the history of communism and the problems with it in practice. If you've read a little bit about those two topics, you'll start to see how flawed a Marxist system is (I use Marxism and communism interchangeably and for my purposes that's okay.) This blog will be mostly speculation and my ideas on why it seems that Marxism is becoming relevant again.

Recently, issues like healthcare and benefits are frequently discussed, and for the most part, it's because these things are just out of reach of the budget of a lot of the working class. People struggle to make money and fulfill their dreams, and, naturally, they criticize the system. Fundamentally, this is an unhealthy response for everyone involved especially the individual, but that's a different topic. From criticism of the system then comes resentment for it, and logically people try to come up with solutions.

The system I'm talking about is a generally capitalistic one like in the United States. When people start to resent a capitalistic system, they start to support other ones, namely, communism. The reason for the influx of support for communism recently has to do with the increased cost of living. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that for something that $20 in 1999, it would cost $31 dollars now.

Theoretically, as more people struggle in a capitalist system, the more will support a different one.

A lot of socialist support comes from college campuses, and I've seen students and professors use platforms to spread the ideology. I assume that professors tend to teach students their point of view and, naturally students will listen. This is further reinforced by the statistic that liberal professors outnumber conservative professors 12:1, and communism is a left-wing ideology. https://econjwatch.org/articles/faculty-voter-registration-in-economics-history-journalism-communications-law-and-psychology

As of now, I wouldn't say that it's really an issue but who knows what things are going to be like in 10 or 20 years. Ideologies are a dangerous way to identify yourself and a lot of people do identify themselves as a socialist or a conservative or whatever. Grouping yourself with others based on nothing but the general principle creates a divide in people, who might never interact with each other because they only associate themselves with likeminded people. The takeaway from this really should be: don't identify yourself with a group, but as an individual with your own ideas and perspectives.