Marx's Central Bank

[T.A.Frawley]

A I've been studying everything so many things are running together that I may have this topic completely screw up.

What is the purpose of a Central Bank in communism? Does it have something to with being a means of taking control of the wealth of the Bourgeoisie through making them pay extremely high taxes so as to make it impossible for them to continue owning all the means of production.

[Cliff Paul]

Are you referring to one of the 10 planks outlined in the communist manifesto?

[T.A.Frawley]

Are you referring to one of the 10 planks outlined in the communist manifesto?

Yes sir!

[Cliff Paul]

Yes sir!

Oh, those were outlined by Marx as goals that a revolutionary party (keep in mind this was written in the 1840's) should strive towards. It's not a theoretical piece about what communism would look like, it's basically a political polemic.

Furthermore, when it was written Marx was 30 years old and still years away from really laying out the foundations of Marxism. By the 1870's he pretty much says the measures outlined in the manifesto are "antiquated" and not relevant.

[T.A.Frawley]

Oh, those were outlined by Marx as goals that a revolutionary party (keep in mind this was written in the 1840's) should strive towards. It's not a theoretical piece about what communism would look like, it's basically a political polemic.

Furthermore, when it was written Marx was 30 years old and still years away from really laying out the foundations of Marxism. By the 1870's he pretty much says the measures outlined in the manifesto are "antiquated" and not relevant.

Thank you very much!

By the way do you know any websites or books from a 21st century perspective of communism. Someone like a 21st century Marx, Lennon, etc.

[G4b3n]

When you read Marx, it is important to note the differences between his early more humanist years in which he is still out growing his initial Hegelainism and that of the Older Marx who develops and focuses almost exclusively on the understanding and critique of capitalist political economy. I do not wish to make the dichotomy of "young" and "old" Marx like some do, but the differences are there.

I believe you are referring to the call for "centralization of credit in the hands of the state by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly". Here Marx is speaking theoretically after the worker's have established their political supremacy as a class by whatever means necessary (how this is done and why becomes more clear down the road).

After the working class has established supremacy, it must continue the struggle against the bourgeoisie. It is now simply in a better position from which to carry out the struggle, having now in its possession the state, which is always a tool of the dominant class. The centralization of credit would be described as one of the many outlets through which the working class (as the ruling class) continues its struggle made possible by state authority. The "purpose" beyond suppressing bourgeois by depriving them of one of their many former means of economic dominance derived from capitalist production can be debated, but that is the idea.

Always remember to differentiate between the bourgeois state and the worker's state when you are advocating or discussing theory. The notion that Marxists advocate for or even believe it possible for the bourgeoisie to tax itself out of existence is an ultra reactionary false narrative designed to associate the liberal left with the radical left.


Thank you very much!

By the way do you know any websites or books from a 21st century perspective of communism. Someone like a 21st century Marx, Lennon, etc.

The Left is highly sectarian, so you will not normally find someone speaking for communism generally. Ironically, those who go out of their way to avoid sectarianism end up forming de facto sects of their own. And anyone who claims the authority to speak for a historical sect is either a dissociated academic or a cult leader. Generally speaking.