Bzzt. Marxism is the belief that in order to solve the perceived oppression of laborers by the ruling class, there must be a violent revolution, after which point the proletariat will rule by dictatorship and phase the world into a classless society. Marxism, therefore, has nothing to do with modern liberalism. Thank you, come again.
You're confusing Marxism with Leninism.
No, I'm not. I'm talking about Marxism as outlined in The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels. Leninism and Maoism were adaptations of Marxism.
Yes, yes, but what was the other adaptation of Marxism? The reformist Marxism advocated by The Fabian Society, social Democrats, Progressive Movement, etc. This is where modern liberalism traces its origins. The Fabian Society even laid the foundations for the Labour Party in the UK. According to George Bernard Shaw
the stated aim of the Fabian Society was
"the emancipation of land and industrial Capital from individual and class ownership… the extinction of private property in land…” Who does that sound like?
I will confess I was surprised by the two or three points that were similar between the Marxist planks and some liberal platform points. But come on, is there anyone here who can, in all seriousness, say they're against free public education for children and keeping them out of factory work?
And while I'm at it, #4 sounds more like it belongs on an establishment Republican or a redneck-variety libertarian's platform. So does the "bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally" part of #7; liberals would wanna preserve the marshlands in order to protect the local environment (although liberals would probably advocate soil improvement; green thinking, you know).
The Communist Manifesto is an extreme document even by (I would say especially by) American liberal standards. I've never once heard an elected liberal official say they want to centralize all industry or all means of communication.
Two or three? Try nine, but these especially:
A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Tax the rich! The rich are the root of all evil!
Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
This is the Federal Reserve. The central bank advocated by the Keynesians/faux liberals
Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
This is bailouts, nationalized businesses etc. The second half sounds a lot like the TVA and other aspects of the New Deal. I'm not going to argue against environmentalism, but it's a very useful tool for the government to seize land and increase its power
Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
Social security, affirmative action, the minimum wage, unions, etc.
Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form and combination of education with industrial production.
I can't say I'm opposed to these but they were pillars of the Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century.
Centralization of communication exists through the FCC. The "Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels" is an exception and something we would associate more with fascism than Marxism. But you can find common threads running through all totalitarian ideologies, especially collectivism and the abolition of private property.