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Is Marxism Still Relevant Today

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In my paper, I will be arguing how Marxism is indeed, still relevant in the United States and how without changing our economic system, there will be no such thing as equality. I will first introduce Marx’s philosophy then apply his beliefs to contemporary issues regarding Capitalism and oppression to prove that his philosophy is still applicable today. Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels inscribed the Communist Manifesto in 1847 in regard to supporting Communism. Marx distinguished two types of classes, the Bourgeois, or white-collar workers, and the Proletariat, the blue-collar workers. The goal of Communists was to form the Proletariat into a class and to overthrow the Bourgeois rule. He accentuated that the private property of the average …show more content…

New taxes are thrown at us (Sweetened Beverage Tax, Hospitality Tax, etc.) consistently. New gimmicks such as bag-taxes, interests rates or APR, and subsidized and unsibisized loans. All of these economic terms and policies are implemented in our lives, but the only result is the gaining of the wealthy. Americans today tend to believe that they are stuck economically and socially in their class positions because they don’t have the opportunities. However, they are not aware of the fact that the elite (private property owners) are circulating wealth within a strict narrow circle for the oppressed to stay oppressed. The elite or top 1% have various targets at different eras. For example, during Marx period, both women and children were exploited. Women were already working while men were away at war, but were not regarded for their labor. Likewise, children were barbarically overworking at ages as young as 5. Today, the victims are immigrants, refugees, and the disabled. There is a consistent cycle. Whomever is the new target will be blamed for not giving the …show more content…

Once individuals become rich or dominant, they take advantage of that power, and are only focused on their own profit and how to gain more Capital. Indeed, Americans believe in upward social mobility, but it is only reached simply by gaining more Capital. No matter how society progresses, the main factor of success will be our income and economic profit. The ‘American Dream’ is not a reality. The upper-class is telling us to pick ourselves from the boot strap and work our way up, when all we are doing is selling our labor and becoming oppressors concerned with our own capital gain. For example, college students like myself are obtaining an education. Ultimately, we are gaining more education for a result of more Capital in the

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American capitalists took advantage of the newly-formed poor class and build their empires on the backs of child labor and underpaid, overworked laborers. Therefore, exploitation of capitalism widened the gap between the rich and poor classes of America, and both newly-formed classes developed reasons for the change. But, social unrest caused by this new economy and exploitation would lead to disastrous results in the

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They were treated very poorly during this time period. Most of the working class lived in tenements with the least they could afford. These tenements were crowded, unsafe, and disease-ridden. The wealthy became richer and richer, while nearly all of the working class lived below poverty level (“Gilded Age”). “In 1890, 11 million of the nation’s 12 million families (92%) lived below the poverty line.

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This is because social class barriers are insurmountable. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to escape poverty when no opportunities to escape are presented. Finally, those who belong to the upper-class exhibit carelessness and subsequently lead empty lives. Although the American Dream has great ideals and is amazing in theory, it ultimately fails when put to the test as exhibited

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Marx and Engels’ theories do not fully explain the conservatism of today’s U.S. white working class. As an economically oppressed group, Marx and Engels would have expected them to become revolutionary and act collectively to overthrow the current capitalist system. Instead, current working class white Americans focus on racial identity, and ended up electing Trump, a candidate who gives “revolutionary” an entirely new meaning. When applied to the US white working class, Marx and Engels’ theories fall short in three main ways. The white working class does not fully meet the conditions Marx and Engels laid out for a revolutionary proletariat.

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The rich will do what they can to keep the money and continue to become wealthier. In the article, “Most See Inequality Growing, but Partisans Differ over Solutions,” 54% favor taxing the wealthy to expand aid to the poor. The article states that Jan. 15-19 among 1,504 adults, finds that 65% believe the gap between the rich and everyone else has increased in the last 10 years. Even though a majority sees that economic inequality is a problem, people seem to have different viewpoints on how we should fix it (pewresearch.org).

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Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources.

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Looking back at the early 1930’s, there are many people today who would criticize the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with his policy of appeasement towards the Natzi leader, Adolf Hitler. Appeasement is defined as “the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace.” However, historians now know that peace was never an option for the German leader. His invasion of the Rhineland and Austria was only the beginning; Hitler had his eyes set on Poland, Russia and eventually the world. Chamberlain has been heavily criticized for simply handing over the Sudetenland because this action showed that Hitler had the upper hand.

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The American Dream is an ideal that has been part of the backbone of the United States since the nation’s conception. Over the past few decades, the American Dream has evolved, but it is still a prevalent force in American society. Stories of class ascendancy are deeply ingrained into American culture, and often, these very stories inspire foreigners to immigrate to the United States. Scholars agree that the ideal of the American Dream encourages rootlessness and restlessness in the United States; however, only some argue that it is a realistic and attainable dream. Others claim that it is a misguided force that depicts upward mobility to be far too easily attainable.

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America is nation that proudly believes that they are a land of opportunity and freedom. While others will try and vouch for it. But, of course we can all think of examples of Americans who truly flew up to the top on their own, what matters the most are the statistics. To what extent do an individual’s life chances solely depend on the fact of income and education to their parents? Numbers show that the American dream has become more or less simply a dream or myth.

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2104 Words | 9 Pages

Introduction In the year 2000 6 to 7 million indigenous people were estimated to be living in Central America. When referring to Central America one identifies it as the nations of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize and San Salvador, a map of this can also be seen on Appendix 1. The term indigenous is not specifically defined by anyone but there are similar characteristics between indigenous people, those being they are specific to a region and have specific traditions and cultures originating from very long periods of times. In this case the indigenous people of central America refers to the people who remained unaffected and unchanged after Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America.

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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.

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896 Words | 4 Pages

An example of the blatant classism concerning the American dream exhibits is, “To most individuals, rising above one's circumstances through perseverance has become increasingly difficult and is limited to the upper classUs citizens maintain that in order for their children to become successful in modern society, they must graduate from costly universities.” (Gale#3). If the only way to boost one's social class is to spend money that ceases to exist, how will the lower and middle classes rise up the ladder? They won't. The American dream was not made taking into consideration middle and lower classes because it wasn't made for people who aren't of high class.

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2097 Words | 9 Pages

For example in the book, *The Great Gatsby, by *Scott Fitzgerald, depicts how these inequalities happen through its main character Gatsby. Throughout the 1920's people focused on getting rich instead of striving for equality as shown in The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald shows that people are yet not treated fairly and that social discrimination still exists. For example, in Chapter 2, Tom goes to see Wilson, a poor mechanic worker. He tells him he is going to sell him his old car, but his purpose is to distract Wilson so he can have an affair with his(wilson's) wife, Myrtle.

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1891 Words | 8 Pages

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

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741 Words | 3 Pages

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,

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