Who could ever forget the scenes of jubilant Germans tearing down the infamous Berlin Wall in November 1989? East Germans knew better than to accept the communists’ claims that the wall was erected to keep capitalists out. Their country was little more than an enormous gulag.
The concept of socialism was the brain thrust of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, two nineteenth century atheists. The philosophy they set forth in their book, The Communist Manifesto, was their answer to the social injustices they saw at work under the capitalistic governments of their day.
They viewed capitalism as a system that fostered and encouraged man’s inherent selfishness. They believed that it was capitalism that made man greedy and created an environment where the masses would be exploited for the good of the few. If the resources of the wealthy could be redistributed to the people, men would learn to live unselfishly. Only in such a setting as this could people be truly happy.
They set forth a plan that could only be inaugurated through revolution: the masses must rise up and overthrow their capitalistic governments. The assets of the country—banks, utilities, farms and corporations—must be confiscated by the new government and put into the hands of the people.
Such a scheme made sense to those who believed that the hope of mankind lies in man’s ability to save himself. But, as David pointed out, such hopes are illusory.
It would be nearly seventy years before communists would have the opportunity to implement Marx and Engels’ plan. It happened in 1917 when they overthrew the czarist regime in Russia and established a communist government in its place.
In spite of the fact that the Soviet Union had enormous resources at their disposal, communists were not able to construct the human utopia they had envisioned. From its earliest days communism was rife with problems, but it took seventy more years before their leaders would acknowledge to the world that socialism is not the answer to mankind’s “crisis.”
What Engels and Marx—and all those who later embraced their notions—failed to understand is that mankind’s dilemma is not found in the imperfect environments produced by communism—or capitalism for that matter—but in man himself.
Man must be transformed from the inside out, and, humanistic psychology’s claims notwithstanding, only God has the power necessary to accomplish such a change.
Christians instinctively understand that no secular government can provide the answer to man’s longing for happiness. Yet, it’s amazing how quick we are to think that a new home or a better job will bring us happiness. No, David’s message is just as relevant to us as it is to socialists: Only God has the answers to man’s unhappiness.