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Marxism for Beginners Trivia Quiz

Marxism is a social science that is much maligned, little understood, and studied even less. See what you know about these basic Marxist ideas--you may even learn a thing or two!

A multiple-choice quiz by scottistoxic. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
scottistoxic

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
199,401

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
3936

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Part of Marx's basic understanding of the world was that the development of anything in the material universe, be it an organism, an idea, or a society, is driven by the struggle between opposing forces contained within it. What was the name given to this idea? Hint

Dianetics

Surplus value

Diuretics

Dialectics

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Question 2 of 10

2. The "direct theoretical premise" of Marx's ideas on development and change was the work of another philosopher, though Marx had to turn this philosopher's ideas "right side up" in order to apply them to material reality. What was this philosopher's name? Hint

Plato

Hegel

Confucius

Wittgenstein

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Question 3 of 10

3. The struggle between which two opposing forces did Marx say was the main contradiction within capitalist society? Hint

unionized workers and non-unionized workers

Christianity and Atheism

the bourgeoisie and the proletariat

the workers and the peasants

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Question 4 of 10

4. Complete this sentence from one of Marx's early works: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways;____________" Hint

the standpoint of the new is human society, or socialized humanity.

but the human essence is no abstraction inherent in each single individual.

the dispute over the reality or non-reality of thinking isolated from practice is a purely scholastic question.

the point, however, is to change it.

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Question 5 of 10

5. Marx was the first to rigorously examine the workings of the capitalist system and uncover the mechanics of exploitation. Marx discovered that workers are only paid for a portion of what they produce--basically enough for them to survive and work another day. The rest of what they produce is appropriated by the capitalist. What is this appropriated amount called? Hint

labor power

exploitation

surplus value

socially necessary labor

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Question 6 of 10

6. Complete the following: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of ___________" Hint

ceaseless oppression

class struggles

uninterrupted progress

the works of great men

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which famous text, authored by Marx with Frederick Engels, begins with the sentence, "A spectre is haunting Europe--the spectre of Communism"? Hint

The Manifesto of the Communist Party

Theses on Feuerbach

Capital

The Civil War in France

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Question 8 of 10

8. True or false: Marx felt that capitalists could eventually come to an agreement with workers to pay them "a fair day's wage for a fair day's work," an arrangement that would satisfy all parties.

True

False

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Question 9 of 10

9. True or false: Marx thoroughly analyzed imperialism as the main enemy of the working class.

True

False

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Question 10 of 10

10. The communist revolution, which Marx held was the key to the liberation of humanity, represented and required "radical ruptures" with what two kinds of traditions? Hint

traditional property relations and traditional ideas

patriarchy and the state

religion and democracy

family values and elections

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Dialectics

As Mao later summed it up, "Marxist philosophy holds that the law of the unity of opposites is the fundamental law of the universe. This law operates universally, whether in the natural world, in human society, or in man's thinking."

Answer: Hegel

The difference between Hegel's view and that of Marx is that to Hegel, matter is an imperfect manifestation of the perfect (divine) ideal, whereas for Marx, ideas arise in the minds of humans through their interaction with material reality. Hence Marx's theory came to be known as "materialist dialectics" to distinguish it from Hegel's "idealist" dialectics.

3. The struggle between which two opposing forces did Marx say was the main contradiction within capitalist society?

Answer: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat

The bourgeoisie and the proletariat have fundamentally different interests. The bourgeoisie favors maintaining the inherently unequal and exploitive conditions of a capitalist system, and the interests of the proletariat are in overturning that system.

4. Complete this sentence from one of Marx's early works: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways;____________"

Answer: the point, however, is to change it.

Marx was no armchair philosopher. He acted to transform the unjust conditions of the working classes, and urged others to do so. All of the above quotes are from the short and very pithy "Theses on Feuerbach".

Answer: surplus value

The surplus value is what the capitalist sticks in his pocket after he's paid the worker.

6. Complete the following: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of ___________"

Answer: class struggles

Marxist thought rejects the notion that "great men" are the makers of history--instead, Marxism holds that it is the masses of the people, in their struggle against the oppressing classes, who make history.

7. Which famous text, authored by Marx with Frederick Engels, begins with the sentence, "A spectre is haunting Europe--the spectre of Communism"?

Answer: The Manifesto of the Communist Party

Published in 1848 in English, French, German, Italian, Flemish, and Danish. It is also the source for the quote, ""The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle."

Answer: False

Marx understood that the very workings of capitalism compelled capitalists to always seek the lowest cost in all their materials, including labor, and that the only way out of such a set up for the proletariat was the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism itself.

9. True or false: Marx thoroughly analyzed imperialism as the main enemy of the working class.

Answer: False

Not really. Imperialism as we now understand it didn't exist yet. During Marx's life, capitalism was still marked by competition between smaller-scale exploiters. It was not until nearly the turn of the twentieth century that the relatively robust competition between smaller capitalists enterprises turned into its opposite, monopoly capitalism, or imperialism, which gobbled up all smaller competitors.

This, as Lenin analyzed, represented an entirely new stage of capitalism--but that's another quiz altogether.

10. The communist revolution, which Marx held was the key to the liberation of humanity, represented and required "radical ruptures" with what two kinds of traditions?

Answer: traditional property relations and traditional ideas

Correctly understood, the other answers partially answer the question, but in the fullest sense, the liberation of the working class, taken up by the workers themselves, requires an intense wrangling with ideas in a scientific way. In order to do that, all old, dogmatic ways of thinking and ways of relating to each other must be criticized, and all oppressive systems need to be tossed out.

For more sources on revolutionary communist theory, check out http://rwor.org/mlm-e.htm at the Revolutionary Worker website.

Source: Author scottistoxic

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