Marx and Technology

There is nothing about Marxism that is American. Marx had disdain for religion - specifically Christianity, because the people owed allegiance to the church, not the government. He looked at the church, or Christ if you prefer, as interfering with his great experiment.

Few know that Marx despised automation and technology as well. Remember, automation is the synchronization of machines to humans. Films such as Metropolis, a silent classic, showed men walking in mechanical motion in unison with machines. Why would Marx be against machinery? Because it took the work which belonged to men, and gave it to machines. Marx worried about automation replacing labor, thus the life-blood of the proletariat (worker) would gradually be bled dry.

Ironically, labor is the device of God because of disobedience:

Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Mankind's new vocation was agrarian. The land was to feed mankind, and it was to take hard work to feed families. Pretty much until the "industrial revolution",  mankind were farmers and the other occupations supported the farmer. With another irony, Adam had the original vocation of "dressing and keeping the garden". Without thorns, thistles, or drought in the garden, that would have been an easy task. Thus, not prostitution, but farming is the world's oldest profession if one discounts Eve fornicating with the serpent in a spiritual sense!

Early on, mankind invented tools to make the toil less - first with stone and later with copper, bronze and steel. In theory, Marx would have even been against tools because they save time, and short-changed labor!

The "Industrial Revolution" started in England in 1760 and grew until around 1840. The automation turned fiber into clothing, a chore done mostly with simple tools and by hand until that time. Marx saw two dangers with the prosperity: (1) labor was less required since automation was doing most of the work, and (2) the classes were kept in their traditional places - the workers working and the elite gaining from the workers. He never considered that with the new prosperity, everybody was better off! Thus, not only religion but capitalism became the enemy. Marx could not tolerate that some were living off the sweat of the brow of others - the bourgeoisie off the proletariat.

The bourgeoisie were the middle class and nobility. Progressives claim gain for the middle class but they are those Marxists always hated.  The left is never ever for the middle class. It was the hatred for their capitalism and Christianity that created leftist principles!

Marx repeated the phrase of other communists: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". The goal of Marxism is to cease giving to the middle class, and give it to the workers, remembering at that time, that was meant to mean "the working poor" because the trades were part of the bourgeoisie. Of course, it is generous to help the poor with better pay and conditions, but communism is more legalized theft; he was playing Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham had not yet made theft legal, and never would!

Now, back to automation. Look at this communist outlook on automation:

In effect, as long as the capitalism mode of production remains, the introduction of new machinery, technology and/or full automation will only sow the seeds of resentment, alienation and universal nihilism increasingly deeper into the consciousness of the working population because “capital [is]…an alienated social power which has gain an autonomous position [over the working population via machinery] and [now] confronts society as a thing and as a power”, which subjugates everything to its insatiable logic and its mechanical processes. ("A Structural-Anarchism Critique of Automation In Relation of Artificially Fabricated Price, Value and Wage"; by Michel Luc Bellemare / July 12th, 2017).

Marxism is anti-automation, which is essentially stupidity because machines reduce "the sweat of the brow". As often with isms, communism does look forward to the day when workers become watchers and robots do all the work. Logic implies that to get to that point, technology is a necessity.

There was a fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which was gained by eating the forbidden fruit! It was because God knew the plan, knew mankind would fail him, and offered some degree of hope in addition to the spiritual hope he provided by grace. That hope is wisdom.

Genesis 3:6 ...the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise...

The wisdom tree, although forbidden, was still God's. Although mankind was to work hard for sustenance, God provided a way to work smarter!

When our work is God's will, it is God who provides the wisdom. Note that before the fall of man, God did all the hard work, but after the fall, mankind worked hard for God, but in his grace he provided the wisdom:

Exodus 36:1 Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. 

In building the sanctuary for God, God gave the Hebrews the wisdom and understanding. It is to be noted that as a whole God's people have been the most wise, and knowledgeable! They are not hated without reason. Pharaoh said it well:

Exodus 1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them (the Jews); lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 

Pharaoh feared the Jews because he knew their seed would grow powerful. Ever since Pharaoh, all nations have hated and feared the Jews. Marxism is no exception! Because of them being bourgeoisie, Marx made them the enemy of communism. Although Marx was by heritage Jewish and of a bourgeois family himself, he essentially turned on his own. The worst happenings in history seem to be by Jews gone bad! Much like Hitler, Marx seemed to despise his own Jewishness. Even in England at that time, the bourgeois Jews were hated because of their capitalism.

Jews are God's people. He seemed to have endowed the Hebrew people with exceptionalism. Although he hated this group, even Hitler realized the truth with this quotation: “Today,” wrote Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf, “[the Jew] passes as ‘smart’ and this in a certain sense he has been at all times.” I'm hard pressed to find intelligence quotients for the Jewish people because people fear it is bad science that one group is more intelligent than the next, although other groups are widely published.

I've never met a Jew who was not smarter than me! In my meekness, I recognize that I am not of the superior race, and care little about eugenics. In my life, it has no place other than to realize my own place.

In England, Germany, and elsewhere, the Jewish people were the most innovative. Even today more Nobel prizes are won by Jews than other races. (The American; "The 2011 Nobel Prize and the Debate over Jewish IQ";  Lazar Berman; October 19, 2011). Their wisdom and knowledge is well-known and always creates fear in the nations in which they live!

Christianity is an heir of Judaism. Because of Judeo-Christian values, western nations have always been successful and industrious. (It is to be noted that the oriental people are of higher IQ than occidentals in general but until lately, not as industrious). (https://iq-research.info/en/page/average-iq-by-country).  I did find that the average IQ of the Jewish people is the highest of all races:
 at 113, above the oriental at 106. (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994, pp. 273–278). This is no coincidence - they are God's people, and in the Abrahamic Covenant, God granted them prosperity. Hence, just as Pharaoh, all nations have persecuted the Jews because they feared their knowledge, wisdom, power, and industry.

I submit that much of Marxism is the fear of the Jewish people in spite of the many early Jewish Marxists. They seem to know their own brilliance and even fear their own elite!  With Judaism comes capitalism. Most capitalists of the modern age have been Jewish. Fear of industrial advancement seems to be proportional to fear of religion. The industrial boom was western in origin, and was brought on by Judeo- Christians in industry. Capitalism is the outcome of wisdom, and those who saw gain through the use of brain-power as corrupt, hated those who were enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

Religion of any sort beyond the New Age, does not propagate dishonest gain. Of course individual denominations and churches have, but those are not true religionists. As such, capitalism is good, and crony capitalism is at least un-Christlike. Unfortunately, the Church has been blamed for the worst type of capitalism.  My point is that good Jews and true Christians increase wealth by honest gain. Those who cheat the system are guilty of usury.

Exodus 22:25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

Jews are hated because they are noted for usury. However, be aware that usury is forbidden by God. Therefore, dishonest Jewish capitalists were not to blame for corruption. It was sinful people of all stripes but predominantly by secular Jews.  Like Pharaoh, Marx feared the Jews because of their wisdom and knowledge!

Using that wisdom, automation delivered them from their bondage of sweat and toil. With relieved work, came riches, and the wealth of Jews and Christians benefitted. Marx was jealous - even of his own heritage for he was both Jew and bourgeois. His fear of automation was more Pharaohic fear than fear of machine. He feared the Jews because of their wisdom and knowledge, and today people still have that fear!