Karl Marx
1. “The bourgeoisie produces the proletariat, and in producing and expanding that class, the capitalists are producing their own grave diggers”
As capitalism expands, the number of workers exploited, and the degree of exploitation, increases. The tendency for the level of exploitation to escalate leads to more and more resistance on the part of the proletariat. There begins to be more and more exploitation and oppression, which then leads to a confrontation between the two classes. The reality in life in capitalism is hidden while illusion is seen as a fact. The capitalists exploit the proletariat, but the belief is that the abilities of the capitalists only lead to success for the worker. As more and more capitalists exploit the proletariat, the numbers will keep adding up which will cause a move toward a communist society. I believe that this cause of the exploitation is due to several factors. Workers are forced to act inhuman in the workplace by not communicating with anyone in the setting. Talking meant that there was more work that needed to be done. People were working to survive for food and shelter, while their wages were cut by the higher power. People were also forced to compete with one another. Whoever produced more or worked more quickly got a benefit of some reward. People are forced to work like animals. Their consciousness is numbed and it destroys relations with other humans and with nature.
I feel that as more and more people are being exploited and the numbers keep increasing in size, there is going to be a turn where the proletariats take a stand. The capitalists are basically causing this upon themselves by destroying human potential within human beings. They are ruinin...
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... so as long as men exist. I believe that in Marx’s communist society, workers will be happy and content with their work. There will be little competing with one another, but more interacting with one another. People will not be comparing themselves because everyone is equal. People will not compare clothes because everyone is equal. People will know one another and confide in one another as they relate experiences in life with each other. People will be able to work to get the individual need that they desire and not just to survive. People will get to be whatever is suited to fit their fullest potential. People develop freely into his physical and mental energy. If you were born a lawyer then you would be a lawyer. I could not imagine this kind of society producing their own grave diggers because people are just getting more out of what they put into it.
Since the worker’s product is owned by someone else, the worker regards this person, the capitalist, as alien and hostile. The worker feels alienated from and antagonistic toward the entire system of private property through which the capitalist appropriates both the objects of production for his own enrichment at the expense of the worker and the worker’s sense of identity and wholeness as a human being.
Throughout the 19th century, capitalism seemed like an economic utopia for some, but on the other hand some saw it as a troublesome whirlpool that would lead to bigger problems. The development of capitalism in popular countries such as in England brought the idea that the supply and demand exchange systems could work in most trade based countries. Other countries such as Russia thought that the proletariats and bourgeoisie could not co-exist with demand for power and land, and eventually resorted to communism in the early 20th century. Although many different systems were available to the countries in need of economic change, a majority of them found the right system for their needs. And when capitalist societies began to take full swing, some classes did not benefit as well as others and this resulted in a vast amount of proletariats looking for work. Capitalists societies are for certain a win-loss system, and many people did not like the change from having there society changed to a government controlled money hungry system. On the other hand, the demand for labor brought the bourgeoisie large profits because they could pay out as much as they wanted for labor.
Somewhat like Mill, Marx’s idea of communism states that women and children will be relieved of their lives as “simple articles of commerce…[and] mere instruments of production” (Marx 173), and be given more freedoms under his political ideology. Despite these few similarities, the principles of Marx and Mill could not be any more different. As part of The Communist Manifesto,
Marx believes there is a true human nature, that of a free species being, but our social environment can alienate us from it. To describe this nature, he first describes the class conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariats. Coined by Marx, the bourgeois are “the exploiting and ruling class.”, and the proletariats are “the exploited and oppressed class” (Marx, 207). These two classes are separated because of the machine we call capitalism. Capitalism arises from private property, specialization of labor, wage labor, and inevitably causes competition.
Most importantly for those who Marx feels capitalism has an adverse effect on, the proletariat. Marx in The Communist Manifesto explains what capitalism is and what it is to be a capitalist: "To be a capitalist is to have not only a purely personal but a social status in production. Capital is a collective product, and only by the united action of many members, nay, in the last resort, only by the united action of all members of society, can it be set in motion." (Marx, K., Engels, F. and Berman, M. (2011)). Through such a definition of capitalism, he adamantly stresses that capitalist state is selfish, one that has been manufactured by the desire of individuals to have a greater material wealth than his societal
We know that the economic evolution of the contemporary world refutes a certain number of the postulates of Marx. If the revolution is to occur at the end of two parallel movements, the unlimited shrinking of capital and the unlimited expansion of the proletariat, it will not occur or ought not to have occurred. Capital and proletariat have both been equally unfaithful to Marx. - Albert Camus, 1953
The Communist Manifesto responded to the situation and created a vision of an equal communist society. The Communist Manifesto was defined by the abolishment of the bourgeois sovereign rule that followed a revolution against capitalism to create communism. This is because it allowed for the emergence of the powerful Bourgeoise, "In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.” As Marx explained, the Bourgeois exploited the Proletariats through the means of the long hours the laborers had to endure to receive very low wages, which maximized Bourgeois profits.
...s are not in the market to negotiate, because as far as they are concerned, they can find just about anyone willing to replace you. The closest we’ve seen to a “revolution” are basic unions that go on strike when they want higher wages and what not. These are somewhat effective, if you have everyone on board.
Individuals will ultimately serve the state in which the state will control many facets of the individuals’ life, but in return, the civilians will receive the freedoms they deserve in a communistic society. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels adamantly opposed capitalism in many ways and felt the bourgeoisie, or capitalists are enslaving the proletarians, or working class. They claimed that industrialization was reducing the common workingman into mere wage labor and believed that the proletarians of every nation needed to unite and form a revolutionary party in order to overthrow their bourgeoisie captors in order to bring about the “common interests of the proletariat.”1 This party will create a society in which all men are equal: a communistic society. Within the society there were roles which the individual and the state would play: the individuals would join to form a classless society in which the common interest of the citizens will rule, but the state would require the individuals to make sacrifices.
Marx states that the bourgeoisie not only took advantage of the proletariat through a horrible ratio of wages to labor, but also through other atrocities; he claims that it was common pract...
The capitalist is motivated by being rewarded wealth. Capital can only multiply by giving itself in return of labor power. This exchange is based on specified percentages. For example, after a long 12 hours of weaving the worker is only compensated two shillings. They attain residual wealth by taking advantage of workers. These workers are being compensated less than the value of their work. The workers endure great deals of exploitation. Workers put their labor power into effect to acquire means of survival which makes existence possible. The amount of commodities is based on the cost of life and the workers’ work ethic. Marx foreseen that class conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat would result in the collapsing of capitalism. The motivations of the capitalist and the workers create conflict because the capitalist attempt to uphold capitalism by advocating their principles, beliefs, and fabricated perceptions that prevent proletariats from rebelling. Once the two classes conflict with one another the cla...
More murderous than Hitler, more powerful than Stalin, in the battle of the Communist leaders Mao Zedong trumps all. Born into a comfortable peasant family, Mao would rise up to become China’s great leader. After leading the communists away from Kuomintang rule, he set out to modernize China, but the results of this audacious move were horrific. He rebounded from his failures time and again, and used his influence to eliminate his enemies and to purge China of its old ways. Mao saw a brighter future for China, but it was not within his grasp; his Cultural Revolution was not as successful as he had wanted it to be. Liberator, oppressor, revolutionary, Mao Zedong was the greatest emancipator in China’s history, as his reforms and actions changed the history of China and of the wider world.
Communism, socialism, and capitalism are the three basic forms of economical systems, each evident in the world. Although Karl Marx is portrayed as the father of communism, Marx is able to provide a substantial amount of information about the capitalistic world. In his work, “Capital (1867)”, Marx discusses the nature of commodities, wages, and the relationship between a worker and the capitalist economic system. As a result, Marx portrays workers as human beings who have been exploited in order to maximize production and profit in a capitalistic society. Although Karl Marx wrote “Capital (1867)” over a century ago, Marx’s arguments concerning the various uses of human labor, commodities, and values, have remained relevant in the United States
Inspired by the works of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin nonetheless drew his ideology from many other great 19th century philosophers. However, Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” was immensely important to the success of Russia under Leninist rule as it started a new era in history. Viewed as taboo in a capitalist society, Karl Marx started a movement that would permanently change the history of the entire world. Also, around this time, the Populist promoted a doctrine of social and economic equality, although weak in its ideology and method, overall. Lenin was also inspired by the anarchists who sought revolution as an ultimate means to the end of old regimes, in the hope of a new, better society. To his core, a revolutionary, V.I. Lenin was driven to evoke the class struggle that would ultimately transform Russia into a Socialist powerhouse. Through following primarily in the footsteps of Karl Marx, Lenin was to a lesser extent inspired by the Populists, the Anarchists, and the Social Democrats.
“But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wie...