Are You a Marxist? - A Forced-Choice Exercise

     "According to Karl Marx, capitalism is the exploitation of man by man; under socialism it is the other way around."

     - Russian Saying

Background:
19th century Europe saw a flourishing of political and economic philosophies.  In Western Europe, much 18th century political and economic philosophy promoted Absolute Monarchies and  Mercantilism, both of which morphed into the 19th century ideology of Conservatism.  With the advent of the French Revolution and Napoleonic conquests came the spread of Nationalism. Though Liberalism had its roots in 18th century philosophy as well, it became a significant force in the 19th century, manifesting itself particularly in the tumultuous revolutions of 1848. Later, in response to the Industrial Revolution and the ideas of Darwin,  Socialism and Social Darwinism emerged and profoundly impacted 19th century politics and government. The influence of these five ideologies is still felt today.  This activity explores those philosophies and our modern responses to them.
  
Purpose: (The basics):

The goal of this activity is to both have a deeper understanding of some of the philosophical positions of the 19th century: Conservatism, Liberalism, Socialism, Social Darwinism, and Nationalism.   Those terms (particularly "liberal" and "conservative" had a very different meaning in the 19th century than they do today.  We will explore our own views and share them with each other on these various issues.

Process:
  
 A. Print and Read - The night before the debate, print out the following questions.  Then read them.  Decide, for each one, whether you agree or disagree with each statement.

   1.  The best leaders in any society are those who are well-educated, have clearly handled their money well enough to accrue wealth for themselves, and come from family backgrounds which have prepared them for positions of power.

   2. There should be no privately owned land; the State should provide housing for all and eliminate homelessness.

   3. Religious organizations should have to pay the same rates of taxes as any other corporation or business; the government should not give money to religious schools; the government should stay out of all religious issues as much as possible, but allow people to practice whatever they want.

   4. If people don't learn the functional basics of the language of the country they are living in, within a certain amount of time (five years, for example) they should be sent back to where they came from.

   5. The government should determine and set the exchange rate values of foreign currency, not international banks or private speculators.

   6. Utilities (water, garbage, electricity) should charge whatever they want, allowing the market to regulate price, not the state; if they charge too much, people will stop using them as much.

   7. If the government of an allied nation becomes destabilized through radical revolution, it is necessary and proper to intervene and try to re-establish order and governance in that nation.

   8. The government should force companies to pay women the same wages as men, for the same work.

   9. Newspapers should be free to print whatever they want, even if they express opinions which are contrary to the wishes of the government.

   10. Most poor people in the world are poor because they have not made a strong enough effort to climb out of their poverty.

   11. The primary job of the military is to protect people's land, property, and foreign investments.

   12. Disabled workers should receive the same amount of money per hour of work even if they produce half the output of an "abled" worker.

   13. People who owe large amounts of money to other individuals and don't repay it should be arrested, tried and put in jail.

   14. Colonies should be encouraged to become free, independent nations which trade with the mother country freely.

   15. Workers in third-world countries ought to get paid the same for their labor that workers in first world countries do, when they are working for the same companies or their subsidiaries.

   16. In every nation, education should focus on the cultural and historical significance of one's own country far more than that of the rest of the world.

 B. Prepare - Decide whether you agree or disagree with each of these statements.  Place a "+" sign next to the ones you agree with and a "-" sign next to the ones you do not agree with.  If you encounter one you do not understand you need to place a "?" sign next to it AND write out your question for clarification (not just a comment like: I don't get it.) 

 C. Ask - Come to class ready to ask for clarification.  I will take basic questions on the rules you have put "?" marks next to.  Once these are taken care of, the debate will begin.

 D. Debate - I will read off each of the statements.  Each person must then decide if they basically agree with the stated rule or disagree with it.  If you agree you will move to the one side of the class marked by a "+" on the board.  If you disagree, move to the side that has a "-" on the board.  No people allowed waffling in the middle.  Everyone must choose.  For the sake of ease of movement, you may sit on TOP of a desk, or stand, but no sitting IN a desk.   I will then bring out a stuffed animal.  Only the person with the stuffed animal is allowed to speak (other than the teacher).  When that person is finished speaking, they may throw the animal to a person who wants to speak on the other side (hand raised).  If there *is* no person on the opposite side who wants to add anything, then they may pass it to a person on their own side who wants to add something. 

 E. Keep Score - At the end of each statement, the teacher will give a "score" value to those who agreed with  the statement.  Students will keep track of their scores.  After all 15 questions have been read and discussed, and scores have been given for each affirmative answer, students will tally up their total scores (which will range from 0 to 55,555).  Based on your score you will see if you are more of a 19th century Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, Social Darwinist, and/or Nationalist.

Please remember at all times to BE RESPECTFUL.  Though you may criticize and disagree with your peers, avoid personal attacks.  Have fun and enjoy getting to know your fellow classmates!

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"Are You a Marxist?" FAQ’s:

Question: Isn't this just the same as the Courtly Love Debate?

Answer: Well, that it is a forced-choice exercise is the same, but during this debate you will be keeping a scorecard of your responses.  At the end of the debate we will see who falls into which 19th century categories. 

Question: How will we "score" these questions?

Answer: I don't want to give away the surprise, nor do I want students to try to second guess the answers.  Just be honest in your thought about the questions.  If any students want to develop a quiz I can link to this site, let me know and I'll provide extra credit.  (One similar to the "Russian Composers" quiz.)

Question: Can you pleeeeeeease explain how the scoring system works? 

Answer: But that ruins it!  I will put Spolier answers down below, but I really vastly prefer you not read them!

Question: In looking at some of these questions it seems like they may correspond to more than one of the five categories (Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, Social Darwinist, and Nationalist).  Am I right in thinking some of these ideologies overlap on some of these issues?

Answer: Absolutely.  There were some Conservatives who had Social Darwinist tendencies.  There were some Liberals who agreed at times with Conservatives in their opposition to Socialists.  Sometimes the Socialists aligned themselves to the Nationalists.  Basically you could have a great range of mix and match.

*****************SPOILER!!!   SPOILER!!!!  SPOILER!!!! *******************

Take the test by writing a + or - next to each of the 16 questions.  For each answer to which you have written a -, you will score 0 points.  For each statement you wrote a + next to, give yourself the points indicated on the chart below.  Add up your final score which could range from 0 to 55,555.  Each of the columns (10's and 1,000's for example) represents a different 19th century philosophy.  Use the scale at the bottom to determine where your sympathies lie.

A. Conservatism - marked in the 100's column

B. Liberalism - marked in the 1,000 column

C. Socialism - marked in the 10,000 column

D. Social Darwinism - marked in the 1's column

E. Nationalism - marked in the 10's column

Thus there are a potential of 5 "hits" in each category.  Your score on each scale is determined on a 0 to 5 preference ranking:  0 - 1 Low; 2 - 3 Moderate; 4 - 5 High.

What it means:

You scored high in the 10,000's column - you are a Commie-Pinko!  You'd gladly take from the Rich and give to the Poor.  Karl Marx is your hero.  Join the Spartacus Youth League today!   You scored low in the 10,000's column - you are a capitalist pig!  "Better Dead than Red!" is your slogan and you delight in enslaving the poor to do the biddings of the Capitalist Venture.

You scored high in the 1,000's column - you should register immediately with the Libertarian Party! You want government to butt out of all your business.  Heck - even public utilities (like water) should be left to the hand of the market. You scored low in the 1,000's column?  You must be a governmental control-freak!  You want the Powers of the State to control everything - to manage everything - to BE everything.

You scored high in the 100's column - you are a reactionary conservative blue-blood stick-in-the-mud.  You scored low in the 100's column - that makes you that dirty word in the late 20th century: a Liberal!

You scored high in the 10's column and you are a flag-waving, patriotic, nationalist (My Country, Right or Wrong)!  You scored low in the 10's column and you are clearly an internationalist flunkie seeking to put all nations under the yoke of the United Nations.

High in the 1's?  You spit on poor people, make fun of the stupid, praise the rich, and believe that anyone more successful than yourself obviously deserves to be more successful than you are.  Low in the 1's?  You are doomed to a life of working in soup-kitchens helping out the poor and helpless, or joining a community of nuns who will serve lepers in India, or teaching in a public school.  Either that or you are just a hypocrite who believes all men are created equal but doesn't feel much compunction to do anything about it.