The economic theory described by Marx known as Marxism focuses on the control of capital. Capital being the means of production (land, buildings, tools, materials, workers and currency). Marx saw capitalism as being socially unjust because it naturally creates an unequal distribution of wealth. Hence, the core principal behind his theory which states "from each according to his ability to each according to his need." In modern terms, this is commonly referred to as wealth redistribution. It's the mechanism in Marx’s theory he believed would promote social justice.
In order to facilitate this principal, Marx realized a strong centralized government was needed in order to control capital and it's distribution in society. There are four main economic systems under the umbrella of Marx's theory. They are Fascism, Nazism, Socialism and Communism. What are their differences? All of them follow Marx's concept of capital being controlled by the state. The differences are defined by ownership.
In a Fascist system, private ownership of capital is allowed however the government controls all aspects of use. Under Communism, the government controls capital through direct ownership of all of it. Nazism and Socialism are both hybrids in regard to ownership. Under Nazism, the government owns some corporations. The rest are controlled by heavy regulation and taxation. Socialism seeks to control capital by government ownership of major industry components such as healthcare, transportation, communication, and/or utilities. Ownership of these major industries allows government to leverage control over the rest of the economy. In order for these economic systems to exist they require a compatible political system that normally comes in the form of an oligarchy, which means ruled by a few.
These are quite different from a capitalist system where capital is both owned and controlled by the private sector. A capitalist system requires a compatible political system of limited government. A limited government allows citizens to make decisions over the use of capital. This promotes competition, which in turn promotes innovation. In a Marxist system innovation is suppressed for citizens are not rewarded for their efforts.
When government is allowed to expand and become a larger and larger portion of GDP then capitalism will eventually be replaced by one of the Marxist systems as control of capital is transferred from the private to the public sector. This is what we are currently seeing occur in our country. The question is which system do we allow to win this battle- a capitalist system which allows citizens to retain their inalienable rights or a Marxist system where these rights would no longer exist for government would control capital and therefore the lives of citizens.
