Marx dismissed and failed to understand African Socialism, which he refereed to as “primitive communism.”
Marx in his analysis assumed that humanity was universal in its behaviors and motivations. That all men had the same tendencies and drives. So his analysis is Eurocentric, and not targeted toward Africans.
Now, my reading of Marx is from the “it takes one to know one” perspective; who better to break down Capitalism and the drives of the West then a Westerner? I’ve never internalized Marx’s solutions personally or proposed them for the African.
Marx was spot on about Capitalism and Imperlism, and the Western Elites and Working Classes; but that’s what he knows and knew.
Because we are ruled by the White Elites and forced into their toxic economies, we need to know what they are all about. We need to read Marx and Adam Smith. We need to study the White Left, Center, and Right political and economic systems.
The main flaw of Marx is that he didn’t understand the African Mentality, Personality, or cultural seed (Asili), thus his systems and solutions will not work for us; in fact, according to Dr. John Henrik Clarke, what Marx proposed as the solution to class divisions and class exploitation is a bastardized version of African Communism. Communism is bastardized, and industrialized African Communism. So, often when we think we are rejecting Marx, we are abandoning our own ancestors wisdom; so again, we much be careful in reading Marx.
There are answers in Marxism for Africans, because we are opposing the Systems that Marx thoroughly analyzed, Dialectics and analysis is important in the struggle against Capitalism and Imperlism, but Marx’s usefulness ends when it comes to the construction of a new African society and economic system.
I would be a flaw to reject Marx, it would be a bigger flaw to assume that Marx has the answers for the Pan-African Liberation Struggle.
Also, African Marxist didn’t go “off course,” they were relentlessly attacked by Imperialist forces that sought to sustain the colonization of African and the rest of the world. Big difference.
