Deck 5: Socialism and Communism: From More to Marx

Question 1

All socialists agree that one of the major obstacles to human freedom is

A) religious belief, which divides people into fiercely antagonistic groups.
B) the desire to cooperate and get along with others, which prevents people from thinking freely.
C) the division of society into social classes based on who does or does not own the means of production.
D) the drive to compete and outshine others that is part of human nature.
E) the difficulty of spelling Marxist terms, such as bourgeoisie.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which aspect of Hegel's philosophy had the most influence on Karl Marx?

A) Hegel's philosophy of religion, which stressed how alienation led to sin
B) Hegel's physiocratic philosophy of economics
C) Hegel's philosophy of history, in which history moves through the clash of opposing forces
D) Hegel's philosophy of property, in which mixing your labor with something makes it yours
E) Hegel's philosophy of music, which emphasizes the dialectic between opera and rap

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to Robert Owen, drunkenness, theft, and other social evils are caused by

A) a deformed social system that rewards greed and selfishness.
B) a society in which no one is responsible because property is publicly owned and controlled.
C) original sin.
D) the failure of parents to take responsibility for the education of their children.
E) excessive exposure to television sitcoms.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Marx says that workers under capitalism are alienated from

A) the product of their labor.
B) other workers.
C) their creative potential.
D) all of the above are correct.
E) none of the above is correct.

Question 5

In Utopia, Thomas More apparently recommends that private property should be abolished because

A) the Industrial Revolution was causing the poor to grow poorer while the rich grew richer.
B) he thought that private property was the root cause of false consciousness.
C) envy and greed can be held in check only when people do not own private property.
D) the desire for private property leads people to conform, not to be real individuals.
E) he knew that he had to take an unworldly position in order to become a saint.

Question 6

According to Marx, the "revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat" eventually will be
Followed by

A) the immiseration of the proletariat.
B) the seizure of state power by the working class.
C) the development of revolutionary class consciousness.
D) the withering away of the state.
E) an awesome concert and light show.

Question 7

Marx refers to the class of workers who sell their labor to capitalists as the

A) Bolsheviks.
B) Soviets.
C) bourgeoisie.
D) proletariat.
E) recidivists.

Question 8

The basic belief that socialists typically share is that

A) Karl Marx's program for society should be followed without question.
B) the major means of production (mines, mills, factories, etc.) should be owned and controlled publicly rather than privately.
C) human nature is selfish and individualistic.
D) capitalism and government are by nature evil and should be overthrown.
E) every member of society should have the same abilities and income.

Question 9

Marx's conception of history differs most notably from Hegel's in that Marx believes that history ________, while Hegel believes that history ________.

A) unfolds by the conflict between ideas; develops through the cooperation of ideas
B) is marked by alienation; shows little record of alienation
C) is the story of the control of material resources; is the story of the evolution of the human spirit
D) is the story of the evolution of the human spirit; is the story of the control of material resources
E) is an interesting subject; is boring

Question 10

In Charles Fourier's ideal community, or phalanstery, people will happily work because they will be able to do the work that suits their talents and interests. Fourier based this claim on his principle of

A) the labor theory of value.
B) market socialism.
C) attractive labor.
D) fraternity.
E) the Protestant work ethic.

Question 11

After the revolution, Marx says, there will be a "dictatorship of the proletariat" that

A) takes control of the government in order to prevent a bourgeois counterrevolution.
B) establishes a totalitarian state that controls every aspect of people's lives.
C) enables the bourgeoisie to use the power of the state to crush all opposition from the working class.
D) makes everyone work and gives everyone an equal share of the profits.
E) denies basic rights and liberties to the proletarians.

Question 12

In general, socialists believe that

A) every member of society should receive an equal share of society's wealth.
B) at least the major forms of property should be publicly owned and controlled.
C) common ownership of property includes "the community of women and children."
D) people should be free to do as they want as long as they do not harm or threaten harm to others.
E) the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles.

Question 13

In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels argue that capitalism is a creative and progressive force because it creates

A) equal rights and opportunities for everyone.
B) jobs in factories and mines for people who would otherwise be unemployed.
C) more goods and services at lower prices, thus raising the standard of living for everyone.
D) pollution of the air and water, destruction of the environment, and the extinction of species.
E) a worldwide market, destroys feudalism, and promotes industry and technology.

Question 14

In the mature, fully developed communist society of the future, Marx says,

A) people will live in communities of about 1600 people, and there will be no need for a government.
B) people will be free to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, and criticize poetry after dinner.
C) there will be no money, and toilets will be made of gold.
D) people who do dangerous work will be rewarded with leisure rather than money.
E) the Communist Party will be the dictator of the proletariat.

Question 15

After the revolution, but before reaching full communism, Marx says, society must follow the principle:

A) "From each according to his ability, to each according to his labor."
B) "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
C) "Inequality is justified only if it works to the benefit of the worst-off people in society."
D) "Equal pay for everyone, but more free time for those who produce the most."
E) "Immiserate the proletariat."

Question 16

The stage of Marx's revolutionary sequence in which the workers realize that capitalism is responsible for their poverty and oppression is the stage of

A) shock and awe.
B) revolutionary class consciousness.
C) the dictatorship of the proletariat.
D) the immiseration of the proletariat.
E) mature or fully developed communism.

Question 17

Marx's term for the class that controls the "forces of production" in capitalist society is the

A) proletariat.
B) Bolsheviks.
C) Soviets.
D) bourgeoisie.
E) revisionists.

Question 18

Which of the following was the utopian socialist who thought that the economy should be planned and directed by an elite group of experts?

A) Thomas More
B) Charles Fourier
C) Saint-Simon
D) Robert Owen
E) J. Alfred Prufrock

Question 19

According to the materialist conception of history, every human society must have which of the following?

A) a material-productive "base"
B) an ideological "superstructure"
C) a ruling class
D) both A and C
E) both A and B

Question 20

Who among the following was NOT a socialist?

A) Charles Fourier
B) Adam Smith
C) Saint-Simon
D) Robert Owen
E) Friedrich Engels

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT a step in the revolutionary sequence as envisioned by Karl Marx?

A) seizure of state power
B) withering away of the state
C) dictatorship of the proletariat
D) higher wages for workers
E) All of the above were steps in the revolutionary sequence.

Question 22

The interim or transitional state that Marx predicts will "wither away" is the

A) dictatorship of the proletariat.
B) dictatorship of the bourgeois.
C) phalanstery.
D) welfare state.
E) state of nature.

Question 23

In Marxian theory, the key, or most important, concept is

A) gender.
B) race.
C) class.
D) nation.
E) religion.

Question 24

Karl Marx believed that capitalism will eventually be destroyed because

A) it has failed to develop bourgeois class consciousness.
B) the lack of innovation in capitalist society will lead to boredom, then to anger and revolution.
C) the success of the bourgeoisie meant that eventually there will be more capitalists than workers.
D) capitalism has created and immiserated its own class enemy, the proletariat.
E) people will be so busy getting and spending that they will lay waste their powers.

Question 25

Despite their differences, the early or "utopian" socialists all believed in

A) the importance of cooperation and the value of planning.
B) revolution as the only way to replace capitalism with socialism.
C) the need to establish small, self-sufficient communities as models of how socialism works.
D) the complete abolition of private property in all its forms.
E) the two-party system: one on Friday and one on Saturday.

Question 26

Hegel's philosophy falls under the heading of

A) materialism.
B) realism.
C) pragmatism.
D) idealism.
E) none of the above.

Question 27

Marx's philosophy falls under the heading of

A) materialism.
B) realism.
C) pragmatism.
D) idealism.
E) none of the above.

Question 28

Marx termed which of the following "the opiate of the masses/people"?

A) capitalism
B) feudalism
C) religion
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 29

Marx viewed human history as the story of struggles between

A) nations.
B) individuals.
C) generations.
D) classes.
E) none of the above.

Question 30

Ideologies are always bad things, according to Karl Marx, because they are

A) ideas that mask, defend, and rationalize the interests of the dominant class in society.
B) "useless clarifications" that do not help people understand what political action to take.
C) "terrible simplifiers" that are nothing more than "intellectual vending machines."
D) essentially contested concepts that defy clear definition.
E) complicated and confusing attempts to inspire people to think for themselves.

Question 31

Robert Owen was a capitalist.

Question 32

The Social Darwinists were early (or "utopian") socialists.

Question 33

By "the cunning of history," Hegel meant that history has its own internal logic of which (most) humans are unaware.

Question 34

Socialists favor unrestricted economic competition as a way of ensuring the "survival of the fittest."

Question 35

Marx's word for the working class is proletariat.

Question 36

According to the materialist conception of history, human beings always want more and more material possessions.

Question 37

Marx called religion "the opium of the masses" because it is boring and puts people to sleep.

Question 38

All socialists favor centralized state planning and management of the economy.

Question 39

Marx believed that the bourgeois state would "wither away."

Question 40

Marx drew up detailed plans for the future communist society.

Question 41

Marx predicted that the economic crises of capitalism would become ever more severe.

Question 42

Marx predicted that the proletarian revolution would begin in economically underdeveloped "third world" countries.

Question 43

The main monetary unit in Utopia is the utopo.

Question 44

All socialists are atheists.

Question 45

Socialism is opposed to freedom.

Question 46

Marx believed that the world would have been a better place if capitalism had never existed.

Question 47

Marx and Engels believed that most human beings are motivated by narrow self-interest.

Question 48

All socialists are opposed to democracy.

Question 49

Marx praised the Russian Revolution for its egalitarian or "levelling" effects.

Question 50

Marx praised capitalism for having been a progressive stage of human history.

Question 51

Marx believed that capitalism would evolve into socialism, and socialism into communism.

Question 52

As a conservative, Otto von Bismarck opposed state-sponsored social-welfare programs.

Question 53

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-In Marx's terms, the class that controls wealth and property in capitalist society:

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 54

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-Early socialist who stressed the value of science and of social planning by experts:

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 55

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-French socialist who favored small communities that promoted harmonism:

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 56

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-Capitalist turned socialist who founded the New Harmony community in Indiana:

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 57

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-Philosopher who held that history progresses through the struggle of "spirit":

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 58

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-Claimed that human history has been the story of "class struggle":

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 59

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-Author of the Republic and precursor to modern socialism:

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 60

Matching
Fill in the blanks with the letter corresponding to the names or terms listed below. Some names or terms may be used more than once and others not at all.
-Analyzed the idea of freedom via the "master-slave dialectic":

A)bourgeoisie
B)Leo Tolstoy
C)G. W. F. Hegel
D)Robert Owen
E)Fabians
F)Plato
G)Thomas More
H)critical Western Marxists
I)anarcho-communists
J)Saint-Simon
K)Charles Fourier
L)Karl Marx
M)proletariat
N)democratic centralism

Question 61

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-the master-slave dialectic

Question 62

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat

Question 63

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-utopian socialism

Question 64

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-the materialist conception of history

Question 65

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-alienation

Question 66

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-false consciousness

Question 67

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-Utopia

Question 68

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-the withering away of the state

Question 69

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-capitalism

Question 70

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-revolutionary class consciousness

Question 71

Identify and explain the significance of the following names or terms.
-the opium of the masses

Question 72

Who spoke of "the cunning of history," and what did he or she mean by this phrase?

Question 73

What is the materialist conception of history? Who formulated it, and for what purposes?

Question 74

By what sequence of events did Marx believe that communism would come about? Be specific.

Question 75

Who called religion "the opium of the masses," and why? Be specific.

Question 76

What did Hegel and Marx mean by alienation? How and why is this concept important to Marx's theory?

Question 77

What does Marx mean by consciousness (class consciousness, false consciousness, etc.), and how is this concept important to his theory?