Pros And Cons Of Karl Marxism

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Karl Marx viewed history as the process of human struggle, which he called dialectical materialism. Dialectical refers to a resolution, or synthesis, that ultimately arises from two opposing views, the thesis and antithesis. The synthesis is the best viewpoint, because it combines the pros of both arguments. In other words, it’s a compromise. Furthermore, this struggle centers specifically on the means of production, or the base. The base is the way in which people produce goods and includes facets, such as, labor, raw materials, and machinery. As Marx puts it, the base determines the characteristics of society, including its art, religion, institutions, etc, which then in turn influences production. This theory, however, only refers to purely tangible objects, which is what the materialism in dialectical material means. According to Marx’s theory, there is no God, souls, …show more content…

It also accounts for the great divide between the the bourgeoisie who control the means of production and society in general and the working class who struggle to survive by the bourgeoisie. They are the “slaves of the bourgeoisie class, of the bourgeois State; they are in daily and hourly thralldom to the machine, to the foreman, and above all, to the individual bourgeois manufacturer” (Marx & Engels, 11). The laws, justified systems, and government established and run by bourgeoisie members protect the interests of only the its people and exclude those of the working class, hence the class struggle and the creation of class. The people in power control the people below them and subject them to fulfilling their interests with the illusion of ascending the socioeconomic hierarchy. This process strips the working class out of their individuality and humanity, making them mere commodities and part of the capitalist system in Coketown and Western nations at large during the Industrialization