Herbert Marcuse wrote a famous essay in the 1960’s entitled “Essay on Liberation.” The writing is somewhat difficult and convoluted which means interpretation can be challenging. However, the main thesis of Marcuse’s essay appears to be that the productivity of capitalism is inhibiting the rise of the socialist revolution. He addresses this thesis by addressing how a man can take care of himself without being dependent on the capitalist system and by asserting there can be no freedom from labor in the current capitalist system.
In this post, we will attempt to provide a summary of this essay succinctly. In particular, will focus on only chapter one of this essay entitled “Biological Foundation of Socialism”
Biological Foundation for Socialism
The first part of Marcuse’s essay addresses the biological foundation for socialism. From what I can assess the term “biological” means the innate need or basis for socialism. In other words, Marcuse builds a case for socialism as a natural state of man in the first part of his essay.
Marcuse lays out two problems with capitalism, which are the increase in production and the exploitation of products. For Marcuse, capitalist societies overproduce but at the same time do not provide enough for the people trapped in this oppressive system. For people to be free they must break their dependence on this market system with its focus on consumption. However, Marcuse later goes on to prescribe a controlled market as the alternative which has its problems of efficiency as demonstrated by other communist states such as the Soviet Union.
Marcuse also shares that capitalism is transformative. By transformative Marcuse is probably referring to how capitalism changes the nature, character, and or values of the individual. The accusation of the transformative nature of capitalism may also be why Marxists in general speak of transformation. However, when Marxists speak of transformation they believe it relates to awakening man to his true socialist nature rather than the capitalist lie. For Marcuse, the change of an individual brought about by capitalism causes exploitation as the individual buys into an oppressive system. Anyone familiar with the term “rat race” may have sympathy with Marcuse”s views.
Marcuse desires to free man from this exploitative system. This gives the impression that people should not have to do anything they don’t want to do. The problem is that many communist and socialist countries still have exploitive systems that force people to do things after the revolution. In other words, there is no system in which man is truly free. Everyone has to spend time doing things they do not want. The only difference is who is your master and what are the benefits of serving him.
Marcuse then goes on to explain why the Marxist revolution has not taken place. He claims that poverty doesn’t bring revolution, as Marx argued. With the success of capitalism, the proletariat was beginning to move into the middle class. The problem with the economic success of the middle class is that they hate the idea of revolution. This disdain for revolution is because of the middle class’s investment in the current system. In other words, capitalism blunts the desire for true freedom because it bribes individuals with economic gain.
Marcuse’s solution to the middle class’s stabilization was to focus on the radicalization of the super poor and blacks. In later parts of his essay, he adds students to this potential pool of revolutionaries. By shifting the focus away from the traditional proletariat, who are essentially sell-outs, to other oppressed groups, the revolution can continue.
The impact of this statement is felt today. Now, we have a plethora of groups who are crying out about the oppression of capitalism and other norms of society such as sexuality, health, race, etc. The idea of radicalizing various ethnic, sexual, and other minorities for the sake of revolution may have started with the ideas of Marcuse in the 1960s.
Conclusion
Marcuse lays out several key terms of his essay in this first chapter. Establishing this foundation is key as we will see how the rest of the essay is a variation of the ideas presented here.