The dominant classes in society accumulate wealth off of expropriating the labor of society. One German economist Karl Marx has said, “The ideas of the ruling class are, the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class, which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.” Karl Marx shows that when you are considered a higher class, which means you produce the resources need by society, you control what happens to society.
In Smith’s theory, he focused on the individual, but Marx preferred to pay much more attention on a specific social class. Marx says, “The distinguishing feature of Communism is no the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property (Marx, 1848).” For example, proletariat needed to build a new social class through revolution, and abolition of private property needed to be established in society. Marx had also offered other policies that helped to get rid of the different class distinctions between bourgeois and proletariat and distribute the wealth equally such as “abolition of all right of inheritance, exclusion of monopoly, equal liability of all to labor, and a more equable distribution of the population over the country (Marx, 1848).” These policies not only prohibited one to hold certain power and rights to rule others, but they also promoted the equal distribution of wealth in
He saw private ownership as a necessity for development, all of which his ideas were based around “Laissez Faire”, “Invisible Hand” and “Free Market” economics (Smith, 1863). On the other hand, Karl Marx can also be seen as a founder, being the Father of Communism as a
This book aims to evaluate all aspects of Marx's work and measures the value of it for sociological analysis and explanation. As Jordan believes one must understand the work if it is to mean anything in a contemporary society, he begins by explaining the origins of social class which is vital for anyone to understand before questioning its importance. The book is quite well structured beginning with basic assumptions of Karl Marx following his different theories. The chapter that studied social classes, class differentiation and class struggle was my main interest and although Jordan offered great explanation of Marx's writing I felt he could have offered more on just how meaningful it is for the world today. I will use the book as some of Jordan's explanations of Marx's writing are well thought and do emphasise why class was so important to Marx as he believed capitalism forced social stratification on to society which only benefited a minority.
Wealth is a universal desire, and for many would provide endless opportunities in life. With numerous possibilities regarding education, location and luxury, this would entail a life of simplicity and ease. Yet, this is far from the truth and few people ponder the realistic implications of such a prosperous life style. However, a socioeconomic method of analysis, called Marxism, addresses the materialistic means by which wealth holds power over others and creates distinctions between classes. This approach was developed by a German philosopher, Karl Marx, who focuses on the power relationships and the differences in social status between the oppressed and the oppressing, or the privileged bourgeoisie and the hardworking proletariat.
Historically bourgeois class has always been the owners of land, by owning the land they are able to control the lower class citizens because one needs land to survive, Marx uses the example of the French Revolution in which feudal property was abolished for the bourgeois benefit. Then he continues to state that communism will support the proletariat in that communism is the abolishment of bourgeois private property. Marx elevates his argument by stating “modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few”(pg 22) meaning that the system currently created consist of a small group of people forcing the majority to work from them in order to survive, the bourgeois would not have this power over the majority if they did not own the majority of the land. Hence the reason as to why the proletariat will eventually lean towards communism because it can be “summed up in a single sentence: Abolition of private property” (page 22)
Karl Marx who was an economist, during 19th century established an idea between wealthy and rich. According to “Three Great Economists”, Karl Marx believes that “the class struggle itself, expressed as the contest over wages and profits, would be the main force for changing capitalism and eventually undoing it” (33). Here Marx shows that there will always be difference between classes in capitalism and the only technique can be use to change this concept is to ruin a capitalism. This shows that income inequality is something we cannot fight with in capitalism, because no matter what we do we always will have this problem. People will always want more, and some will achieve it and other won’t.
It is argued that social inequality occurs because of the conflict between the upper-class and the working-class, or as Marx defines it, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Based on the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx and Engels, 1848), the divergence emerges because the aim of the Bourgeoisie is to obtain a surplus-value that is produced by the work of the Proletariat. On the other side, the Bourgeoisie provides the Proletariat with the minimum required, such as a place to live and a minimum wage, in order to keep the society under control and avoid a rebellion. However, Marx did predict a revolt of the working-class that would eventually lead to a communist regime. When it comes to applying this theoretical approach to reality, it is evident to notice that no global revolt in regards to capitalism has occurred.
Marx and Engels essay titled “Communist Manifesto,” states that the Communist aim is the “formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat” (). The Communist system wants to abolish private property because in this essay Marx and Engel discuss that the laborers should not get any property through their work since it is considered a social power to own property. The Communists want to abolish the classes to make everyone equal. The major goal of the Communist society is to test the bourgeois freedom to own property and give the proletariats equal liberties.
In the theory of Marxism, the main focus is on the division of labour in the different social classes and how they change over time. Marx was interested in how the capitalistic society operated and how contradictions and conflicts of interest were a result of alienation in the society. The overexploitation of the majority party by the minority was a great concern to Marx as he believed that people should be rewarded depending on the amount of labour they put in. Contradictions arose from this inequality and questioned how far people will go for personal gain. In order to properly understand the contradictions of a capitalist society, key concepts such as the structure of capitalism, social theories and how Marxism works must be taken into consideration.
He argues that with all the pressures of class conflict and the imbalance of capitalism there is no way that this pattern can continue without a major revolution. Marx compares capitalism to anarchy, in the sense that there is no organization within which only causes chaos. The common pattern of capitalism is a boom followed by a bust, and that bust leads to recession and social unrest. This sort of fickle economy, Marx believes, will furthermore contribute to the downfall of capitalism. This socialist revolution would, “abolish private ownership of key elements of economy and change nature of relationships from ones based on marriage and property.”
It has also shown light on the differences and issues triggered between the wealthy and the poor in society. The wealthy is classified as the persons who owned large portions of land and industries: hence, they control sources of revenue, employment and the lower working class in general. Marx sought to understand the reason behind the popularity of poverty when there is an abundance of riches. He came to a conclusion that the reason was capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system where the means of production is owned by private individuals.
Marx saw capital and liberal democracies as the fundamental reasons for the low standards of living and the low social conditions of workers. Karl Marx in particular is especially concerned with the political assumptions behind these two ideologies. According to him, these two types of government should be replaced by communism, since communism would provide a more equal and socially just society. Although this statement may seem unusual, since we tend to associate communism with Stalin and China, the type of communism implemented in these countries is different from the communism that Marx and Engels envisaged in their Communist Manifesto. Marx and Engels’ vision of communism is based on the principle of equality among the people and freedom
His ambition for universal equality, collective justice, and classless society transfixed me. I never thought that a classless society could be possible; however, my understanding of his work leads me to envisage the possibilities of a classless society. Marx’ work demonstrates a man who genuinely wants societal change. “The goal of sociology would not simply be to scientifically analyze or objectively describe society, but to use a rigorous scientific analysis as a basis to change it” (Little & McGivern, 2013,
What did Karl Marx explain in this theory? Research Methodology I have used Qualitative method of research. In this research I have tried to broaden my concept and ideas about Karl Marx and his role in surplus value. MARX wanted a communist state where equal distribution of all resources .why always lower class is suffers in this society.
