What is the opposite of marxism?

Answer 1

A communist would answer that the opposite to communism is capitalism.

Capitalism is an economic system where people can buy and sell goods freely, and the price of goods is set solely by what people are prepared to pay for it. Property is privately owned and the government does not interfere very much in the market.

This reflects the understanding of communism as an economic system, not necessarily a political system. However in practice the term "communism" usually refers to a particular type of political system as well as an economic system.

For example, in the Soviet Union, often considered as an example of a so-called "communist state" (the Soviet Union itself did not use this term) was a totalitarian state with strict control of all organs of government by one political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Political power was exercised not mainly through the state, but mainly through control of the Communist Party. As a so-called "Dictatorship of the proletariat", the Soviet government exercised its power to restrict personal freedom whenever this was judged not to be in the interest of the state.

The opposite to such a totalitarian political system is hard to define - but it is probably liberal democracy, which a communist would allege is really "bourgeois democracy", since it is controlled by capitalist parties that do not act in the workers' best interest. A liberal democrat would say this is just an excuse for repressive dictatorship.

Answer 2

Capitalism or lassiez-faire