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MARX'S ATTITUDE TOWARD CAPITALISM IS A RESULT OF 2 DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, A REVOLUTIONARY ONE AIMED AT OVERTHROWING AN EXPLOITATIVE SYSTEM, & A SCIENTIFIC ONE GEARED TO UNDERSTAND THE WAY RELATIONS WORK. TO SOME MARXISTS, TO DENY TO MARX'S WORK A THEORY OF THE CRASH AMOUNTS TO DEPRIVING MARXISM OF MEANING; TO OTHERS, TO ATTRIBUTE SUCH A THEORY TO HIM IS A BETRAYAL OF HIS METHOD. THERE IS A THEORY OF THE CRASH IN MARX'S WORK IN THE SUBSTANCE OF THE "LAW OF THE TENDENTIAL FALL IN THE RATE OF PROFIT," BUT MARX TOOK PAINS TO SPECIFY THE COUNTERACTING & NEUTRALIZING FACTORS THAT OBSTRUCT OR RETARD THIS LAW INTO A MERE TENDENCY. THE THEORY OF THE CRASH IS AS FOLLOWS: TO INCREASE SURPLUS-VALUE & THEREFORE PROFIT, CAPITALISTS MUST INCREASE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOR BY INVESTING IN MACHINERY & REPLACING EXPLOITABLE LABOR. BUT MARX WAS NEVER A DETERMINIST, & DID NOT VIEW DEVELOPMENTS IN PURELY ECONOMIC TERMS. ALTHOUGH THE PREMISE & DRIVING FORCE BEHIND ACCUMULATION & PROFIT IS ENDANGERED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRODUCTIVE PROCESS ITSELF, OBJECTIVE TENDENCIES LIKE THE FALLING RATE OF PROFIT MAKE SENSE ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY APPEAR AS CONDITIONS FOR THE CLASS STRUGGLE. THE COURSE OF THE HISTORIC PROCESS IS OPEN, NOT PREDETERMINED, & DEPENDENT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE CLASS ON THE POLITICAL & SUBJECTIVE LEVEL. IF THE THEORY OF THE CRASH IS NOT STATED IN THIS MANNER, THEN A DILEMMA ARISES. IF THE END OF CAPITALISM CANNOT BE SCIENTIFICALLY DEMONSTRATED, THEN THE SOCIALIST PROGRAM HAS A SUBJECTIVE, IDEALIST FOUNDATION WITHOUT OBJECTIVE NECESSITY. IF THE COLLAPSE OF CAPITALISM IS THE UNAVOIDABLE OUTCOME OF ITS LAWS OF NORMAL OPERATION THEN THE CONSCIOUSNESS & PARTICIPATION OF THE MOVEMENT IS UNNECESSARY. BUT THE SUBJECTIVE INTERVENTION OF A CLASS-CONSCIOUS FORCE CAN SHORTEN & LESSEN THE BIRTH PANGS OF THE NEW SOCIETY. A. KARMEN.

The Marxism of the Second International refers to the theory & practice of the worldwide socialist movement before WWI based on the works of the 2 major theoreticians, G. Plekhanov & K. Kautsky. To Plekhanov, "necessity" referred to the objective laws operating in history independently of human consciousness, & "freedom" reduced itself to the recognition of these laws & the regulation of HB to them. Plekhanov's position failed to mediate teleology & causality, objective conditions & human subjective intervention; his Marxism therefore bore strong deterministic overtones, & the Second International consequently failed to develop revolutionary programs. Plekhanov's interpretations of Hegel's thought included 2 incompatible alternatives--subjective idealism & determinism. Thus Plekhanov held that action is always reflected in thought & the course of ideas is determined by the course of unfolding objective historical laws. Kautsky's Marxism had Darwinian strains that permitted his reduction of ethical problems to instinctual matters that ignored teleology. The impoverishment of Marx's concept of the "SR of production" to narrow material & technical definitions led to an overlooking of sociohistorical agents & SC analysis. These developments contributed to the "revisionism" of E. Bernstein. A. Karmen.