According to social theorist Karl Marx, revolution is "an unstoppable historical force growing out of class inequalities that are rooted in the ownership of the means of production" (Handelman, p. 221). In essence, the bourgeoisie, who are the ruling elite, controls through various means all the power and resources that are available to the detriment of the working class. This leaves the 'proletariat' unable to rise above their station or gain any agency in the government or nation to which they are dedicating their hard work and resources. Marx, in The German Ideology predicted that, in any such system like this, conditions would gradually get worse and worse for the proletariat until such time as they became sufficiently class-conscious (aware of the rights and agency they are being denied).
One of the fundamental tenets of Marx's philosophy is the idea that capitalism must inevitably fall towards communism as capitalism fails as a system; however, this can only come about through revolution. This is one of the 'contradictions of big industry,' as productive forces are independently developed to the individual (neither are dependent on the other). As these two forces grow further and further apart, the one thing that connects the two forces - labor - has no more self-activity, with productive forces stunting labor to stay alive. This often comes in the form of machinery and money; as this continues, labor decreases to the level where the lower classes are handling all of the responsibilities of society, but is able to gain no rewards from their labor. This class becomes increasingly aware of how much they need fundamental revolution of the class system in order to make things more equitable; the communist consciousness then builds as a result of other classes becoming aware of this discrepancy. As a bourgeois class of society is expressed through the State, and derives power from property, the actual revolutionary conflict becomes one of class, as one class rebels against another in power.
According to Marx, revolutions before the Communist Revolution had little to no effect on the mode of activity; instead, the activity was only generally distributed differently as labor was undertaken by different people. However, the Communist Revolution is meant to directly oppose the previous mode of activity (capitalism), eliminates labor entirely, and gets rid of class-versus-class rule. The elimination of class comes about as a result of the revolution itself coming from all classes and all nationalities in a society. In order to facilitate this changing of minds to create a united front by which class distinctions are eliminated, a violent alteration of men's minds must occur in the form of revolution. There is no other way to overthrow the ruling classes, and no other means of completely excising the old ways of working and forging a new path ahead. This is the way Marx understood revolution and how necessary it was to change the fundamental nature of flawed, oppressive societies.
In essence, revolution in the school of Marxist thought is a liberating exchange of ideas and thoughts, as well as violent action, that brings the existence of communists and proletarians into harmony with their 'essence'; effectively, the way people live must be true to what they believe; with the proletarians, they are oppressed to the point where their essence is being stifled and kept from them. Existing things are changed and attacked through the act of revolution, for the purpose of changing the existing world. Marx criticizes philosophers like Feuerbach, who believes that liberation and revolution are restricted only to the mind; Marx retorts that historical actions, like commercial and industrial changes, are what actually facilitate revolution and the freeing of the proletariat. Social and commercial intercourse are the means by which people are able to exist along with their essence; developing and changing industry and government is an inevitable, necessary stage to bring about man's true freedom - communists are really practical materialists at heart.
Is one still necessary today?
The Marxist ideals of revolution are still quite necessary today - movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the revolutionary movements in the Arab Spring have shown the necessity of individuals to stand up against an unfeeling, uncaring upper class. Occupy Wall Street, as a revolutionary movement, was an attempt by members of the proletariat - here called the 99% - to call for transparency and accountability for big business owners and Wall Street traders, who constitute the bourgeoisie in this comparison. Here, the 1% were (and continue to) possess a great deal of the wealth and industrial capital in the United States, and have the capability to shut down small businesses and outsource their work to cheaper labor overseas. In providing bailouts and resuming tax cuts for the upper class, thus restricting federal budgets and social safety nets, the government also proved itself complicit in the maintenance of the status quo. To that end, the proletarians are not able to combine their existence with their essence, as Marx would say, and there is a great deal of animosity towards the upper classes. Through their control of money and industrial resources, they very much control the destiny of a very unwilling populace; that the Occupy movement failed can be attributed largely to proletarian apathy; not enough people believed in the movement or saw the need for revolution. According to Marx, these people (as well as those from all other classes involved) need to be on board before real revolution can begin on a grand enough scale that it would work.
In the case of Egypt and the Arab Spring, leaders like Hosni Mubarak were seen as the bourgeoisie - the leader of a military dictatorship that constantly denied the ability for the people to actually participate in democratic elections, and whose inability to provide jobs and resources were slowly starting to stifle and strangle the rights of Egyptians. To that end, revolution from a Marxist standpoint was inevitable; Egyptians slowly started to realize their own visio (class consciousness), and began to take steps toward revolution. Weakened by a stagnant economy and an increasingly riotous people, it became inevitable that the military dictatorship would soon face an angry, disenfranchised proletariat that would seek to depose them through the weapons of social media and impassioned dedication. The effect of the Egyptian Revolution on a worldwide scale was massive; along with the Tunisian Revolution, it brought about a series of other revolutions in different Middle Eastern Countries, including Algeria, Iran, Libya, Yemen and other countries experienced large protest movements after the process was finished. This further cements the notion that Egypt's revolution was a Marxist one; due to the interrelated economies and social issues of many groups of proletariats in the Middle East, the rash of revolutions and riots that took place in that region was inevitable. Furthermore, its ability to inspire numerous riots and revolutions throughout the region is indicative of its status as a revolutionary movement; in the modern age of globalization, the citizenry chose to rise up and fight against the old forms of leadership, which depended on dictatorship and attrition to keep its people in line. With social media and sufficient anger, that was no longer possible to accomplish.
In conclusion, revolution is still needed today, both in America and overseas. the Egyptian Revolution was a revolutionary movement fuelled by Marxist ideals of rising up against an uncaring, unfeeling military dictatorship. While the move was not strictly one of capitalism to socialism, the need for the oppressed peoples of a nation (or nations) to rebel against those who deny them agency is very much rooted in Marxist philosophy and sociology. The Arab Spring as a whole is indicative of a greater sense of connectivity between the oppressed peoples of a nation, who used the Internet and social media to organize a widespread revolution to fight for the freedom that they sorely asked for. Where the future holds for Egypt is unclear, due to the instability of the current government; however, their search for change allowed them to fight for what they believed in, and allowed the world to see the power of an angry and rebellious public drawn to revolution.
Works Cited
A.G. Berg, and J.D. Ostry. "Equality and Efficiency" in Finance and Development (Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 2011).
Bradley, John R. Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).
Karl Marx. The German Ideology (Progress Publishers), 1968.
