Book Review: "Marxism: Philosophy and Economics" by Thomas Sowell

Great Overview of Marx's Thought, Life, and Legacy

Given Sowell's fierce advocacy of free markets, some may find it surprising that he was a Marxist early in life. This early sympathy is just one factor that allows Sowell to present Marx’s ideas fairly while clearly discussing their problems.

Overall Rating: 5.0/5.0

Fairly presenting Marx's thinking is something few can be trusted to do. The temptation to misrepresent either to demonize or glorify, even if unwittingly, is too strong for nearly all. Sowell, however, brings a rare combination of strengths to the task.

Sowell's Qualifications

First, Sowell was a Marxist in his early years; thus, he is familiar with how someone could look at Marx's work favorably. Second, Sowell's specialty is intellectual history, and he insists on getting his information from primary sources as opposed to relying on secondhand interpretations. Third, Sowell is a man of great integrity: even when he disagrees with someone's ideas, he presents them fairly. Truth first and dealing with reality as it really is are paramount to Sowell.

As an example of Sowell's ability to dispassionately engage with ideas, he does not ultimately agree with, consider that it was Sowell who did extensive research on the differences between black IQ scores and those of other races. Although Sowell went in 90% sure that the differences would not be found to be due to genetics, he was prepared to accept results to the contrary if that was what the evidence showed. If it turned out that way, he said it was still better to deal with reality as it really is. When engaging with those who did think the differences were due to genetics, Sowell engaged with them based on the merits of their actual arguments and admitted that their position was logically possible, something that had to be decided based on logic and evidence and something worthy of serious study as opposed to summary dismissal. Sowell is brilliant enough that he does not need to deal with strawmen; he can take on beliefs as they actually are.

Marx on Religion and Alienation

Nearly everyone who reads this book, whether left-leaning or right-leaning, will learn something about Marx they did not already know. For instance, although Marx was, of course, an atheist, he believed in religious freedom. He thought religion was something that people turned to because of the alienation created in them by the capitalist system. This led to them projecting their true ideals onto something not real. The solution was not to ban religion but to change the conditions leading to that alienation and the resultant turn to religion. Sowell emphasizes the centrality of the notion of alienation in Marx's thinking, which leads to the inability of most people to fully develop under capitalism due to its stultifying effects on workers.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Sowell also clarifies what Marx thought a "dictatorship of the proletariat" would look like: it would be a democratic republic with a constitution but where capital and land would be controlled by the majority, thus giving them effective "dictatorial" power. Sowell traces Marx's thought on "from each according to ability; to each according to need." According to Marx, this would be the final state after humanity's development under socialism increased its cooperativeness and made the state no longer necessary. Along these lines, Marx recognized that large appropriations of property would not be wise initially. Marx's thought is not completely clear, but he seems to have thought there would always be a need for a free market to determine what was produced in what quantities, even after the revolution.

Sowell points out that "revolution" did not necessarily mean violence to Marx. Indeed, he preferred to see a non-violent revolution but would not rule out violence if necessary. Marx, for instance, thought the Paris Commune was making a mistake as capitalist powers at that point feared what could be done through legal means more than through violence.

The Dialectic

Sowell spends much time dealing with Hegel's philosophy and its centrality to Marx. Ultimately, Marx thought he was describing laws of historical progress that led humanity through various stages. Capitalism was necessary, but its internal contradictions meant it was only there to pave the way toward something better. Its role was to produce the possibility of some individuals well off enough, such as Marx and Engels, that they could escape worker's alienation, see the exploitativeness of the system for what it was, and work toward bringing about history's next phase: a phase only possible due to the enormous productivity made possible due to capitalist innovation. Sowell, having a bird's eye view over all of Marx's work, is able to point out that towards the end of his life, Marx was questioning whether the revolution truly was inevitable. Sowell points this out as an occasion in which Marx's strong rhetoric did not match his real feelings as revealed in private correspondence.

Sowell's Style of Presentation

Although the book’s page count is low, the information density is even higher than in Sowell's other works. Some chapters cannot be listened to in audio format because they require rereading. Since the mathematics of Marx's work is discussed, the intended audience for this book may also be different from that of most of Sowell's other works. The mathematics, however, is not difficult: it is only high school level.

Normally, until the final two overview chapters, Sowell merely presents Marx's thoughts without adding his own commentary on their validity. Sowell does make an exception when discussing the mathematics of Marx's "law" (not "theory"), as he called it, of value. In this case, Marx's reasoning is so poor that it is good that Sowell does point out the flaws; otherwise, one wonders, "Did Marx really make that leap just by stating it with no evidence or reasoning?" Cross-checking with the first chapter of Kapital, the reader can verify that, yes, Marx really did do that. Sowell goes on to outline absurd assumptions in Marx's theory: for example, workers would try to minimize the percentage of their work that was "stolen" by capitalists instead of trying to maximize their income.

Discussion of Marx's Character

The penultimate chapter gives an overview of Marx's character and the outline of his life. Sowell conjectures and presents evidence that Marx was "megalomaniacal." Marx grew up as a spoiled child with a huge sense of entitlement throughout his life. He always spent way beyond his means to the point where his family lived in squalor, with three of his children dying, although he did have enough income that if he had made even a reasonable effort, they could have lived comfortably instead. Personally, Marx was exploitive: for instance, praising someone's work when he wanted something from them but then deriding it behind their back when discussing it with Engels. Sowell also discusses Marx's "blood-thirsty" streak and his delight in destroying anyone who disagreed with him. In political life, Marx sought dictatorial control of the organizations he would belong to and, if he could not get it, was willing to destroy them instead. Marx also seems to be a man with little self-control: getting his maid pregnant even while his own wife was also pregnant, drinking heavily throughout his life, spending his days absorbed in reading at the London Museum and writing Kapital as opposed to providing a life that could take his family out of poverty instead.

Sowell's Discussion of Marxism’s Soundness and Its Impact on Leninism

The final chapter is more typical of Sowell's other writings: Here, Sowell describes why Marx's ideas were so flawed that they play no role in modern economics. He discusses their historical failure. Although Lenin did indeed depart significantly from Marx, Sowell describes how the example of Marx's personal actions and his writing style contributed to the authoritarianism that Lenin and others were able to read into Marx.

Conclusion

At the end of reading this book, you see that much about Marx has been misrepresented, although approximately equally by both the right and the left. Triangulating with Engels’ Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, which many Marxists consider to be the best introduction to Marxism, I found no inconsistencies. This suggests that both Engels and Sowell had a deep understanding of Marx's work, although one regarded it highly favorably while the other is a leading critic.

Sowell's delving into Marx's personality is helpful because once it is clear that Marx's economic theories were built on nothing mathematically or scientifically sound, one would otherwise be left to wonder why he believed what he did. Indeed, Sowell points out that Marx was intelligent enough and had, indeed, thought about subjects that were "this close" that they should have revealed the problems with his theories to him. What is left is the inescapable conclusion that Marx's thinking was mostly just projections of his troubled personality. Apparently, however, he is not the only one suffering from such projections and has, of course, had an enormous influence over human history.

Today, variants of Marxism and some classical Marxism are growing in popularity, so, as with Sowell's other writings, this remains a timely book to read even if, by review count, it is less popular than his other writings.