Antonov 1

Michal Antonov

GVPT 241

Section

Dr. James Glass

May 16, 2016

Marx is the Way to Go

Many philosophers offer different views on human and self and human

behavior. Both Sigmund Freud and Jerzy Kosinski argue that humans are

inherently violent creatures. Freud blames this on the absence of religion and

moral regulations, which he also considers illusions. Kosinski explains that

people become barbaric once civilization is removed. Either way, the chaotic

and savage nature of human beings without civilization and restrictions can

lead to the establishment of oppressive regimes. Robert Mill and Karl Marx

both offer a solution to prevent this from happening. Mill argues that as long

as individual free speech is applied to promote criticism and non-conformity

then oppression can be overcome, and a fair and just society can be

established. Marx, however, argues that the only way out of oppression is a

revolution, which can be violent. Despite the attractive idealism of Mills

philosophy, Freud and Kosinski's interpretation of human nature still stands,

and Marxs solution barbarity is the only realistic one.

In The Future of an Illusion Freud writes about his ideas on civilization

and religion. According to Freud civilization has two significant

characteristics, the first of which is the knowledge and capacity of the human
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race to control and extract wealth (Freud 6). Freud stands with other

philosophers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke on his view on human

nature. He agrees that humans are naturally cruel and violent beings and will

do anything to control and extract wealth. He explains that humans are

naturally destructive and that leads to disaster whenever they interact with

each other in society. This view leads to his conclusion of the second

characteristic of society, which has to do with regulations. These regulations

are what adjust the relations among people and the control of wealth (Freud

12).

These regulations come from an internal morality, a concept known to

most people as religion. Freud writes that religion arose from the fear of

cruelty and death as well as helplessness in a dark and cruel world. The

human race was helpless because according to Freud that human race was in

its infantile stage before the Age of Enlightenment. People turned to religion

because it gave people a way out of this dark and cruel world. For most

people, religion doctrine solves the riddles of the universe and reconciles us

to the sufferings of life (Freud 34).

However, Freud also writes that religion is an illusion. Freud defines

religion as the existence of a powerful divine person known as a Father

(God). Freud doesnt allude to the illusion of religion as a mistake, but rather

wish-fulfillment (Freud 40). He explains that religious is as strong as it is

among the masses because of three reasons: Past ancestors already

believed in them, the proofs of religious doctrine have been handed down
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from antiquity, and it is heresy to challenge the authenticity of the doctrine

(Freud 38). While he does admit that religion has made people do good

things and has thoroughly benefited human civilization, he also writes that

religion, in the past thousand years, religion has failed to satisfy the general

population. Natural science, for example, has identified the flaws in religious

documents and therefore has decreased its influence among the masses

(Freud 50). He also writes that religion can sometimes replace basic human

desires. Humans want sex, wealth, glory to satisfy instinctual drives. Religion

moves from the material to the mental; as compensation for good

behaviors, religion promises a reward, such as ascending into heaven after

death.

Freud argues that due to the natural instincts of humanity and religion,

humans are constantly stuck in an in-between state. Humans are held

between animal instinct and regulations, and also between building

civilization and rebelling against it. He writes that the only way for humans to

leave this in between state is to reject religion and live in a society that is

purely governed by scientific knowledge, a scientific utopia (Freud 63).

Jerzy Kosinski conveys Freud's version of human nature in his novel

The Painted Bird. The story follows a young boy who is sent away to a village

by his parents so that they can hide from the Nazis. After the boys foster

mother dies, he is left alone and travels from village to village. Because of

his looks (dark hair and olive skin), he is considered to be either a Jew or
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Gypsy. As a result, the boy is continuously treated brutally by the people that

he meets in his travels.

The circumstances that the boy faces mirror characteristics of the

setting of the story. The boy goes throughout villages in Eastern Europe,

which at the time was occupied by the Nazis. Kosinski portrays the

inhabitants of these villages as an uneducated and superstitious people,

whose only goal in life is to survive the harsh and unhappy conditions that

make up their existence. This prominent goal of survival has caused the

drive for power to be the key concept in their lives because it would satisfy

all of their basic needs in life. This doctrine about power keeps them from

questioning Nazi theories about genocide. These people now live in a

primitive society, without religion or any other internal morality to restrain

them. Instead, they have another doctrine to govern their lives, which

includes viewing Jews as God-killers and being wary of those who looked like

Gypsies. Due to this primitive society, the boy is forced to do anything in his

power to survive. Unfortunately, that includes transforming from victim to

oppressor. Towards the end, the boy meets a Soviet soldier named Mitka,

who teaches him that a man is responsible for getting revenge on those who

wronged him if he wishes to preserve his dignity and self-respect. Because

the boy has encountered nothing but violence during his journey, he sees

this philosophy as something plausible to live by.

Freud and Kosinski provide a theory of human nature that states that

humans are naturally cruel and barbaric, especially if they dont have any
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particular moral regulations to restrain them. This innate brutality causes

humans to build oppressive societies such as Nazi Germany, societies where

the only law that exists is power over the weak. Mill and Marx both present

their respective views on how to overcome these oppressive societies. In On

Liberty, Mill specifically refers to the freedom of opinion and expression. Free

speech is an individual right that must be protected. According to Mill, it

would be wrong to silence someone who held a particular opinion because it

robs the human race, posterity as well as the existing generation (Mill 14).

Silencing an individuals opinion is wrong for several reasons. For one, the

suppressed opinion may be valid, and by discovering something true the

person may have performed an excellent service to his or her society. In

addition to preventing tyranny of the majority debate on opinions is also

important because otherwise the meaning of the ruling opinion may be

lost. For example, when religious beliefs stop being challenged they lose

their living power. People will not understand the doctrines they believe in

which can lead to some serious mistakes.

In many regimes, freedom of opinion and expression is repressed to

the point where no one can express any dissenting opinion. Regimes like

these are usually despotic and authoritarian in nature. They are often the

regimes that have the most problems with religious persecution and wealth

inequality among their socioeconomic classes. These regimes often have a

problem with what is called tyranny of the majority. This is when those who

hold the majority opinion, or are part of a majority race, have the most
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power. The majority uses its authority to make decisions to place its interests

above those of an individual or minority group. In Nazi society, the majority

was the Nazi-Aryan race, and the minority was the Jewish people. Nazi

society ultimately allowed for the Nazi-Aryan race to seize power and

oppress the minority. To prevent this tyranny from taking place opinions must

differ and be debated upon. Therefore, reducing limits on freedom of

expression can lead to significant progress in human society. Mill also

believes in something that is called the harm principle. This principal states

that actions can only be punished when they harm others. The harm

principle is a big part of being of being critical of custom and habit. For

example, in Mills mind, since the Nazis intentionally hurt the Jews, punishing

the Nazis is justifiable. And in reality, the Nazis harm to the Jews class was a

significant part of the 1940s culture in Germany that was not questioned and

became a habit.

While Mills view on the role of speech and non-conformity is tempting

to side with, its way too idealistic. Mills admiration for free speech blinds

him to reality, and that is the true nature of humanity, as outlined by Freud

and Kosinski. Humans will do anything in their power to attain whatever their

heart desires, whether its food, money, or safety for their family. This innate

desire for satisfying needs is often the driving force behind oppressive

regimes. In Nazi society, for example, the ultimate goal was to preserve the

Aryan race and eliminate its enemies. This would give the Nazis power and

safety for its people. This goal blinded Nazi followers from seeing the truth
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because most of the time its difficult for the truth to triumph over

persecution. In Nazi society, the fact is that Jews and Gypsies pose no harm

to society and are innocent. And while many people tried to reveal that and

rebel against the oppressive Nazi regime, it was to no avail. The Nazis

succeeded in rounding up six million Jews for slaughter, and that is mainly

attributed to the Nazis threat to anyone who held any dissenting opinions.

People feared for their safety and focused on that instead of speaking out

against the Nazi norm. In this case, human brutality triumphed over freedom

of speech.

Marx lived during the Industrial Revolution, a period that was heavily

based on an economic system of private ownership. As a result of this

system, society is divided into two classes: the property owners (commonly

known as the bourgeoisie) and the property-less workers (the Proletariat).

The bourgeoisie continually oppresses the workers with terrible working

conditions and impoverishment. The worker does not only suffer from these

circumstances but also from alienation. The worker becomes isolated from

the fruits of his labor, himself, his human identity, and from other humans.

The fruits of the workers labor are owned by someone else due to

capitalism, and therefore, the worker regards that person as hostile and

becomes alienated from the entire system of capitalism.

Marx further captures the innate cruelty of human nature Das Kapital.

In his writings, he talks about commodities, which are objects that humans

seek to satisfy their needs and wants. Commodities are the reason that
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capitalism was such a thriving system during Marxs time. Factory owners

want to accumulate wealth so that they can accumulate the objects of their

desire. The way that these company owners acquire wealth is by making a

profit off of these commodities (Das Kapital 9). Marx points out in his work

that the production of commodities is not only a financial process but also a

social process. The means of production is dependent on wage labor to

generate profit, and that includes the exploitation of the workforce, and that

is when the capitalist buys the labor power and puts the worker to use

making products for his profit. This exploitative relationship between the

capitalist and the worker is what gives rise to hostilities between classes

(Das Kapital 10).

Contrary to Mill, Marx states in his philosophy that that only way to

overcome this oppression is through revolution and radical transformation of

society. In The Communist Manifesto, He describes that the aim of the

Communists is a revolution, and also the, formation of the proletariat into

a class, [the] overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, [and the] conquest of

political power by the proletariat (Marx 22). In The Painted Bird, Kosinski

describes how the boys alienation from society eventually caused him to

exhibit violence towards others. In Marxs philosophy, the workers have been

alienated for so long that they have begun to display hostility towards the

oppressive bourgeoisie. Therefore, the revolution will be a radical one, one

that can turn out massive scope and bloody in scale. And this makes sense,

because when a group has been exploited and oppressed for so long, they
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can give in to their basic human instincts of brutality and violence. Similar to

The Painted Bird, Marx intends for the oppressed to become the rulers. The

Proletariat will become the ruling class and will use all of its power seize all

capital and property from the bourgeoisie give it to the State. During a

revolution, however, all moral rules and regulations are set aside. This

coincides with Freuds philosophy, where the absence of religion and moral

restrictions lead to succumbing to animal instinct. While Marxs way of

overcoming oppression is not preferable because the impending violence, it

happens to be the most realistic way. Humans are naturally violent creatures,

and most times the only way to stop being the being the victim is to seize

power and victimize the oppressors.

Freud and Kosinski establish in their works that humans are inherently

violent creatures that will do anything to satisfy their needs. That is a

philosophy that has been argued for many years by numerous philosophers.

This natural behavior is what led to oppressive regimes such as Nazi

Germany, and what will continue to lead to future ones. Mill argues that as

long as members of society are mindful of each others opinions and respect

them, then these oppressive regimes can be demolished and even

prevented. However, his outlook is too idealistic and nave because he fails

to consider Freud and Kosinskis view. Marx, however, does take this view

into account and writes that most of the time, the only way to overcome

oppressive regimes is not with words and civil disobedience, but with fire.
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