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How Is Marxism Applied Today

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INTRODUCTION

Karl Marx is the father of Marxism, which speaks to a conflict theory. This theory stresses that if a society is not endowed by communism then communism is their reality. Which is more of a nightmare than a way of life to the proletariat as they a continuously exploited by the bourgeoisie. This imbalance is argued as not good for good governance, this is not only evident in South Africa alone but the rest of the world. The new dawn democracy and a rainbow nation promised a new government founded on the values of human dignity and equality. However, 20 years into democracy Marxism and it concepts become relevant as the opposite of the promised continues to be a reality. Karl Marx believed that this inequality nightmare could not …show more content…

And this is the basis of this essay. it seeks to critically unpack Marxist Theory. It has two sections with the first one briefly defining and analyzing the following key concepts under it - capitalism, social stratification historical materialism, and false consciousness.the second section which further unpacks Marxism by looking deeply into two of the concepts which are capitalism and social stratification. From this two concepts, we will learn more about how can they be applied today, how they are the product of the past and how Marxism is present and relevant in the contemporary.

CAPITALISM
Capitalism is an economic system that came into being in the sixteenth and seventeenth century with Europe being its birthplace.it is a system of production for profit. Every society is involved in the process of production, but what …show more content…

Sociologist use this concept to describe social standing. Just like the distinct vertical layers found in a rock so is the visualization of social stratification. However, the layers of our society are comprised of people of whom the resources of the country are unevenly distributed throughout the layers. It is witnessed that the people belonging to the top layer have more resources while those in the lower layers get fewer resources progressively. Social stratification is not a hidden or hard to detect phenomena . as a form of inequality it is our everyday reality and very clear. It is not mainly about individual differences but rather micro difference socio systematic inequalities based on class, race and the likes. However, it can not be viewed apart from the individual as it affects individuals and their personal social standing. Many individuals are against inequality in all forms but fact remains that social stratification is created and perpetuated by the society at large. For example, a wealthy capitalist parent would most likely pass their wealthy and capitalist tactics to their child while a poor parent would pass on their poor economic status to their child hence passing on social stratification to the next generation.

FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS
It is a product

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