Is Corbynism Marxism?
The Labor Party, born and active in the country that was the cradle of capitalism to which Karl Marx referred to to construct the economic analysis of Capital and therefore his political doctrine, was one of the first workers' parties to commit patricide. The Labor Party, which boasts among its founders Eleanor Marx, preferred Marxism to an incremental socialism with trade union traction which aims to improve the material conditions of workers rather than overthrowing the relations of production dominated by capital.
But today, without appearing hyperbole, one can say what one could never say: the Labor Party has become Marxist. The credit goes to Jeremy Corbyn who could become the first Marxist prime minister of Western Europe. Only a month ago he was given up for dead by the big progressive press, defined as a crypto-communist by the Economist who connotes him as a kind of Trump in reverse. And instead he brought Labor back on the shields with an exceptional electoral result. The pollsters gave him 80-90 seats and he took home 262. Bravo Jeremy!
Young people adore Corbyn not so much for his political ideas, which they may not even be able to grasp in their real scope, but for his absolute personal consistency and his rectitude. Something that has been completely lost among progressive politicians. Corbyn's children have attended public schools, the family is treated within the NHS, travels on public transport in second class and, if there are no seats, stands. When they took Clinton for an electoral round in the New York subway, he didn't even know where to insert the Metrocard to overcome the barriers and his staff had to intervene. Clinton travels in limousines, helicopters and private planes often made available by her solid sponsors. How does he talk about equality and think people believe it?
Corbyn does what he preaches and you can be sure he will do what he promises. And herein lies precisely the problem of Labour, as the columnist of The Economist points out. However, it is difficult to find a politician of this kind at the head of a major party anywhere in the world.
Marx has a lot to teach
Corbyn or not Corbyn, Marx is current: his analyzes of capitalism, of the inequalities that its development brings, his historical analyzes and even the materialistic conception of history have traits of extraordinary relevance. A theme to which our Giulio Sapelli dedicated a lectio magistralis, which later became a book.
An improbable acknowledgment of Marx's topicality came from the Economist, the most authoritative liberal think tank of our time. An article in the Bagehot column (in the UK section) has this astonishing title (there is however a bit of subtle irony, typical of the London masthead): Labor is right – Carlo Marx has a lot to teach today's politicians (Labour is right – Karl Marx has a lot to teach today's Politicians). With this eyelet: “The words of the chancellor of the shadow government have raised indignation. In reality, Marx becomes more and more relevant day after day” (The shadow chancellor's comment provoked scorn. Yet Marx becomes more relevant by the day). Let's see what the Economist writes. The English translation is by John Akwood.
The return of the renters
An implicit rule of British elections is that great thinkers should not be brought into play during the election campaign. On May 7, 2017 John Mc Donnell, the shadow government chancellor, broke this rule by quoting, not an ancient thinker, but Carlo Marx. In fact, he declared: “I think there is a lot to learn from reading Capital”. The next day Jeremy Corbin, the Labor Party secretary, referred to Marx as "a great economist".
Right-wing opinion has gone into a frenzy. The "Daily Telegraph" dismissed McDonnell and Corbyn as the "Marx Brothers". The "Daily Mail" reminded its readers of the liberticidal and bloody tradition of communism. David Gauke, a Conservative minister, warned the British against attempts by the "Marxist leadership of Labour" to turn the UK into "an experiment of the far left". He then added that Marx's thought is "absurd".
But McDonnell is right. There is a lot to learn from Marx. Indeed much of what Marx said seems to be becoming more relevant every day. The gist of his argument is that the capitalist class consists not of wealth creators but of rent seekers - people skilled at expropriating and appropriating the labor of others. Marx did not attach any importance to the role of entrepreneurship in the creation of value. He misunderstood the role of managers in improving productivity. A look at the British economy confirms that there are plenty of people out there looking for executive positions. In 1980, the bosses of the 100 largest public companies earned 25 times the salary of one of their employees. In 2016 they earn 130 times more. Their hefty salaries are accompanied by golden pensions, private health care and stratospheric severance pay.
From business to politics and vice versa: an explosive mix
All this bonanza is justified by the laws of the market: the companies claim that they hire managers from the free market and pay them according to their performance. In reality, most CEOs come from within the companies themselves: they are executives who have risen through their ranks rather than as free hitters. Between 2000 and 2008 the FTSE index fell by 30% but the pay of the bosses running companies increased by 80%. JK Galbraith once said that the salary of the heads of a large company is not proportionate to the results. It is often the gesture of a generous acknowledgment to oneself. British capitalism is even more subtle: CEOs sit on multiple boards of directors and are very committed to exchanging such gestures with each other”.
Rent-seeking is no less widespread in the political system. Politicians typically cash in on their experience in public life, turning from gamekeepers to smugglers when they retire to private life, lobbying institutions they once ruled, advising companies they once controlled, and giving glossy lectures to an outrageous fee. Tony Blair became rich after leaving public life and becoming an adviser to third world bankers and dictators. George Osborne, former chancellor of the exchequer, is also making cash: he has accumulated more than 800 thousand euros working as a fund manager for BlackRock one day a week. He earns hundreds of thousands of euros giving speeches and running a London newspaper, The Evening Standard.
Concentration and immiseration: two faces of advanced capitalism
Marx foresaw that mature capitalism would become increasingly concentrated. In fact, the number of listed companies fell as profits reached their all-time high. The concentration is particularly pronounced in the more advanced sectors of the economy. Google controls 85% of the traffic triggered by searches. Marx was also right that capitalism would be increasingly dominated by finance, which would become increasingly out of control and prone to crises.
And what about his most famous prediction – that capitalism inevitably produces the impoverishment of the poor while procuring profits for the super rich?
Imiseration is too strong a word to describe the conditions of the poor in a country with a welfare state and a minimum wage. Yet many trends are worrying. The average wage is still lower than before the 2008 financial crisis and is not expected to rise for several years. The advent of the Uber economy threatens to turn millions into precarious workers who eat only what they can hunt.
To all Marx
The problem with Marx is not that his analyzes are absurd, as Gauke claims, but that his cure is worse than the disease. And the problem with Corbyn and McDonnell is not that we have learned anything from Marx, but that they have learned nothing from the history of the last hundred years. McDonnell is not only a fan of Marx, but also of Lenin and Trotsky and Corbyn speaks of Fidel Castro as a "champion of social justice". A leaked draft of the Labor manifesto resurrects dormant political agendas, such as the nationalization of industries and the extension of collective bargaining.
The Conservative Party won the election, but it would be wrong to ignore Marx's lesson. As Trostky once said: "Dialectics may not interest you, but dialectics does interest you." The financial crisis shows that the economic system is frighteningly fragile. The Brexit vote shows that millions of people are deeply dissatisfied with the status quo.
The secret of the British political system has always been to make reforms to prevent social disorder. This means doing more than engaging in silly actions such as proposing a fixed energy price as the Conservatives propose (silly because the fixed price kills investment and ultimately leads to higher prices). Rather, it means preventing the formation of monopolies: antitrust rules need to be adapted to an era in which information is the most precious resource and the network effect brings enormous advantages to those who benefit from it. It means ending the CEO pay racket, at least giving shareholders more power. It means thinking seriously about job insecurity. And it means closing the sliding door between politics and business. The best way to avoid becoming Marx's next victim is to start taking him seriously.
