If the Revolutionaries Were Here Today

Today when we talk about voice for the marginalized, the idea of communism immediately comes into our mind. I've been thinking about this of late, that how communism takes root from the socialism of Karl Marx but has a very distinct ideology, and yet many of us assume all these concepts to be the same. You see a person suffer, and you think of leftist ideas. I find it amazing how great ideas have a tendency to transcend space and time. It's like the person who came up with it lives on. In India, the youth often finds solace in the ideas of Bhagat Singh, the marginalized relate to the ideas of Karl Marx, and the rich though not driven by one ideology are essentially Capitalists of the Adam Smith line. 

I've noticed how most movies based on the struggles of tribals try to attach the suffering of the weaker sections with communism. This made me think, would Ambedkar, an intellectual have approved of this method of fighting for justice? He was certainly a revolutionary, but if you see around you can't help but notice how communism has the tendency to keep the downtrodden in a persistent cycle of vulnerability. Karl Marx and his ideas are great because they were the only reaction to an ideology at the time and continue to be even today. If the absence of light is darkness, then the absence of capital is socialism. But which of these ideologies has stood the test of time? Have socialism and communism really solved problems? Do they hold merit in front of the scope for individual liberty and creativity provided by capitalism today? Would China have been able to become the largest economy in the world without letting private capitalists and entrepreneurs co-exist? And most importantly, if Karl Marx, B.R. Ambedkar, and Bhagat Singh existed today, would they have liked people to be in a continuous state of revolution or would they have encouraged people to adapt with the times and join the intellectuals? I wonder.