10 MARXISM AND DARWINISM. 



the fact that this theory serves them as a weapon in 

 the class struggle. For it is the class struggle thai 

 engages almost all the people. 



This can be seen most clearly in Marxism. Were 

 the Marxian economic teachings of no importance in 

 the modern class struggle, then none but a few pro- 

 fessional economists would spend their time on them. 

 It is, however, owing to the fact that Marxism serves 

 the proletarians as a weapon in the struggle against 

 capitalism that the scientific struggles are centered 

 on this theory. It is owing to this service that Marx's 

 name is honored by millions who know even very 

 little of his teaching, and is despised by thousands 

 that understand nothing of his theory. It is owing 

 to the great role the Marxian theory plays in the class 

 struggle that his theory is diligently studied by the 

 large mass and that it dominates the human mind. 



The proletarian class struggle existed before Marx 

 for it is the offspring of capitalist exploitation. It was 

 nothing more than natural that the workers, being 

 exploited, should think about and demand another 

 system of society where exploitation would be abol- 

 ished. But all they could do was to hope and dream 

 about it. They were not sure of its coming to pass. 

 Marx gave to the labor movement and Socialism a 

 theoretical foundation. His social theory showed that 

 social systems were in a continuous flow wherein 

 capitalism was only a temporary form. His studies 

 of capitalism showed that owing to the continuous 

 development of perfection of technique, capitalism 

 must necessarily develop to Socialism. This new sys- 

 tem of production can only be established by the prole- 

 tarians struggling against the capitalists, whose inter- 

 est it is to maintain the old system of production. So- 



