General Discussion

He had been studying Marxism - not just the economic philosophy, but the historical theory, which posited that communism would arise from feudal agrarian societies through urbanization, industrialization, an expanding middle class, and more equal representation in leadership.

But where were Marxist revolutions happening? China, Russia, Cuba, Southeast Asia, subsaharan Africa - places that were still largely feudal and agrarian at the time, and where leadership was decidedly authoritarian. The historical theory didn't seem to work.. The only Marxist governments in industrialized countries were in Eastern Europe, where they were imposed by occupying Soviet forces after the Second World War.

This would seem to have proved the Marxist view of history wrong, but Marxists would find ways to explain them away. "That example doesn't count," they'd say. "Governments were less stable in the wake of the First World War, or there were major efforts to overthrow colonial systems after the Second World War. Or maybe something else. But the Marxist theory of history is still valid!"