20/11/2017
Why did Karl Marx say "If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist"?
In 1880 Marx was assisting French socialists in writing the program for the Worker's party of France, and had some serious disagreements with them. Marx had issues with demanding better work conditions and wages from the bourgeoisie. This is where the quote comes into proper context.
Marx wanted to destroy the idea that if demanding such reforms from the capitalists is believed to be mainstream Marxism, then he is not a Marxist.
The question is why Marx was against demanding such reforms in favor of the workers?
Well, for Marx those were tools to dilute the worker’s revolutionary spirit. Such reforms will keep the workers in delusion of a better future and keep them incorporated in the bourgeois culture.
In the communist manifesto, Marx warns his readers that one of the most dangerous Bourgeois is the one who will propose free healthcare and other social benefits because the workers will be appeased, not realizing their condition and their alienation and instead work within the confine of the system. Workers will not emancipate because the system will absorb them into it.
Therefore, Marx was actually destroying the delusion of the moderate socialists who did not see the need of a revolution or overthrow of the capitalist system rather resorted to parliamentary politics and democratic reforms to enhance the condition of the working class.
