Gonzales, Timothy Joseph C.

4PHL1

Critique of the Gotha Programme

One of the basic interesting facts that Marx have mentioned in the beginning of the
critique was that each nations have the same kind of society which is a capitalist society but then
pretends to show to the people that they are all have different kinds of state, Marx clearly
believes that the presence of the state is a mere illusion and fiction, the presence of the state is
only a curtain that serves to protect and hide down the operations of the ruling class or
bourgeoisie, whatever the condition of the state is, might be poor or rich country, all of them
protects only the interests of the capitalists, thus he begins a question: What is a free state?

According to Marx, the present condition of our state should be revolutionized, the word
“free” must not be abstract from a certain class or it should not favor only a certain class of the
society especially the ruling class, but rather a state in order to be free, must be free from any
conditions which affects its freedom in being a state. Marx would like to contend that any form
of the capitalist influence must die, since some of the capitalists insist on the notion that the
concept of fair distribution in a capitalist society exists, but Marx questioned this, what fair of
distribution are we talking about? Does it really even exists? Even though these are not the exact
words of Karl Marx, his whole point was to prove that in a capitalist society the presence of
equality will not be present and the presence of fair share will not exists, only the capitalists are
able to feel and reflect upon the fair distribution of resources, because practically they own the
system of production itself!

Marx also would like to criticize the people, who are part of the bourgeoisie society, who
intends to create a reformation in a capitalist society, a reformation that would maintain system
of production to be in private hands and “fair” distribution would be change, However, Marx
points out that this kind of assertion and recommendation is foolish, since equal distribution
would practically not be followed and moreover, it would just open up more opportunities to the
capitalists to even own more properties, opening up also more opportunities them to make the
society fall into their hands and demands and make the proletariat go deeper into starvation and
misery. Marx then, proposes a solution, in order to for the influence of the capitalist to be turned
into dissolution, annihilation and destruction, the society and the state must undergo in a
revolution in which it will be turn into a communist society wherein the concept of private
property will be devoid and the concept of legitimate equality will be re-established not in the
terms of a certain class or interest of a certain individual but rather the whole communal being.