It’s frightening to see communism gaining a foothold among the youth of the Western world, even among some Catholics. Academic institutions are forming young minds to see communism as a benevolent system that will erase injustices and bring about a golden age of equality for all.
Many communist sympathizers see Karl Marx — the chief brain behind communist theory — as a hero. They may not know that he was a big hypocrite.
Here are a couple of things to know about the real Karl Marx.
He exempted himself from the demands of communism.
One key feature of Marxist communism is the abolition of all rights of inheritance. This probably isn’t something a lot of young communist sympathizers think about. It means that the money they would inherit from their parents would be confiscated by the state. I doubt many of them actually want that, especially if they’re still living in their parents’ basement.
By the way, you know who inherited money from his parents? Marx, the guy who wanted to abolish rights of inheritance. Seems like he didn’t want to abolish those rights for himself, just everyone else. He later ended up poor and depended on money from his friend Engels — another man who inherited money.
Later communist leaders are even more hypocritical. Notice how in communist regimes such as Cuba and North Korea the masses are poor while the leaders enjoy great wealth and privilege.
So much for equality.
Marx didn’t have a place for God in his system.
There are plenty of atheistic communists. And then there are those who somehow think that communism is the best expression of Jesus’ call to help the poor and needy.
Marx would have probably laughed at the idea of Christian communism. While people debate whether he was an atheist in the strictest sense of the word, he definitely acted like one.
His vision of a utopia didn’t leave much positive room for religion. He called religion “the opium of the people” — an expression also used by Russia’s communist leader Vladimir Lenin.
Marx exalted humankind as the pinnacle and reference point of everything — a rival to God. His communism was a materialistic one.
While communism is best judged and rejected on its principles, Marx’s personal problems damaged the credibility of the system he championed. It always seems like the greatest proponents of communism never want to live up to its demands.
If you happen to meet a communist sympathizer, ask them if they’re really willing to give up all they have to enrich a few people at the top. They may initially think you’re talking about capitalism, but SURPRISE! Communism is a system for the privileged few.