The Missing Link in Marx’s Ideology

This comparative study attempts to uncover the causes behind the survival of capitalism and the collapse of socialism. Only through a comparative perspective and exploration can we identify the strengths and turning points of each system, as well as the reasons for their successes and failures. Despite the victory of the October Revolution and the achievements of the revolutions in China and Vietnam—producing remarkable short- and mid-term results—the socialist economy in all three nations faced long-term crises and regressed, with market economy mechanisms replacing planned economies. These dramatic developments provoke thought and curiosity, prompting us to seek scientific analysis to uncover the roots of this major transformation. This analysis explores how closed and non-competitive economic systems eventually needed to integrate with the global economy. Based on past experiences, the study diagnoses the vulnerabilities in the structure of economic and political systems, concluding that any ideology or system that fails to consider the role of individuals and human nature as major variables disregards the natural laws of movement in the production process. Similarly, systems that centralize absolute power within the state while disregarding individual initiative and private ownership lack dynamism and fall into stagnation and reduced growth. A closed and non-competitive system with declining productivity and efficiency loses its prosperity and conflicts with global realities.