If Marxists believe in an afterlife, then they will accept that Karl Marx is now sporting a grin that is barely visible through his bushy and unkempt beard. Barely two decades ago, his theories, philosophy and vision were all set aside as being irrelevant for the present as well as the future. Capitalism, the economic system that Marx had analysed, was seen as triumphant, and the future of the world. That moment of triumph, pace Francis Fukuyama, was short-lived. Capitalism, it would appear, is going through a period of severe crisis and fluctuations of fortune. And the forces against capitalism, both in the world of ideas and in the sphere of action, have, instead of fading away, become more articulate, visible and powerful. There is also the recognition that Marx, in his world view, had presented a vision of the future that was grounded in a nobler system of ethics. It is worth noting that the president of China, Xi Jinping, has asked members of the Chinese communist party to brush up on their Marxist ethics. This is noteworthy because the prevailing assumption was that China, to all appearances and for all intents and purposes, had embraced the capitalist ethic.

The context for this harking back to Marxist ethics is somewhat obvious. The reality is that more and more individuals, especially political leaders, are being lured into the quicksand of corruption and various forms of wealth-making that blur the distinction between the legal and the illegal. This is true not only of Chinese leaders but also of statesmen and businessmen elsewhere in the world. The drive for earning more and more profits, which is at the heart of capitalism, clearly deflects people away from a system of ethics. Private enterprise and private profit drive individuals to focus on the enhancement of their wealth and not so much on other issues relating to society and conscience. The impetus of the "Protestant ethic", which some historians identified as the driving force of early capitalism, is no longer visible. In the tug of war between profit and social responsibility, the balance at the beginning of the 21st century is tilted towards profit. This has become more visible as, in the same period, the scope for making profits is shrinking within capitalism.

Such developments have encouraged some thinkers to reconsider what Marx had to say on capitalism, its inner workings, the restraints on capital's propensity for limitless expansion and capitalism's proneness to crises. Some others are trying to disentangle Marx's vision of a better and a more equitable world from the horrible reality of the communist regimes of the 20th century. The theory and method may have something to offer as distinct from the practice. Above all, a reading of Marx's work might prevent the peddling of certitudes. Doubt everything, Marx said.