Why Equality Is Better For Everyone: The Criticisms Of Karl Marx

Criticisms of Karl Marx
One of the criticisms of Karl Marx is that he assumes that inequalities are due to class but ignores other inequalities such as gender. Feminists would argue that gender inequality is just as important as that of class. Black feminists have often commented about the lack of interest in poverty, particularly affecting the poorer women, mainly in the third world. Weber adds that status and power may be independent of the class of the individual.
Other people have suggested that the concept of the two class model is too simplistic. Some argue that too many sociologists have regarded the working class as receiving low pay whereas the reality is that train drivers (which is considered as a working class job) will typically receive far higher wages than the women carrying out clerical duties (which is considered as a white-collar job). Many sociologists have mentioned the petite bourgeoisie. Other sociologists would suggest that extreme polarisation has not occurred in all societies so that typically the Nordic countries have a far more egalitarian attitude than the USA, UK or Australia. The book “The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone” by Richard G. Wilkinson (b 1943) and Kate Pickett (b 1965) goes further than this and

Even after the Russian revolution in 1917, Leon Trotsky whilst originally a member of the Bolshevik party, increasingly came into conflict with Stalin’s ideas and in 1940 was murdered by one of Stalin’s agents. He wrote the books “1905” (1907) and “History of the Russian Revolution” (1930) among others. The capitalist society has developed in different ways in different countries and therefore people wishing to overthrow the capitalist system will have to devise different methods in different countries. Gouldner describes two different approaches to Marxism, one of which is Humanistic/Critical Marxism and the other is Scientific/Structural