Marxism

My previous understanding of Marxism was this ideology of creating an equal society with the issues surrounding the class struggles has the motivating force behind wanting the change. I was taught to see Marx as a materialist and that he had an interest in why there was a division between people, i.e. the rich and the poor. I was also taught that Marxism is a form of socialism, where the lower class rises up and begins to work for themselves and ultimately all workers would be owners as well creating equality amongst all people. Basically my understanding of Marxism is the opposite of what capitalism provides a society. My new profound knowledge of Marxism greatly expands on these ideas. According to Merriam-Webster the definition of Marxism is the political, economic and social theories that includes the belief that the struggle between social classes is a major force in history and that there should eventually be a society in which there are no classes.

The class struggle I reference is in regards to the economic relations between the classes. The classes are broken down into the working class and the ruling/owning class. The working class is seen as the laboring class producing the goods with the means supplied by the owning class. The ruling/owning class is holder of the means of production. They own the factories/companies that the working class works for. The idea of Marxism came about as a rejection to capitalism. Marx is associated with the idea of establishing a classless society. Under the capitalist society there was a class struggle between the working and owning class. The owning class exploited the working class by making them dependent on the owning class for survival.

The working class was dependent on the ownin...

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...uation M-C-M is associated with the owning/ruling class because they make money through the transfer of money.

My new profound opinion of Marxism is still the same. I don’t think I fully understand all the concepts surrounding Marxism, but the ones that I do understand and grasp I have explained above. I understand that there is this conflict between the working and owning class where they are at both ends of the spectrum and end up clashing. Workers want to increase their wages while shorten their hours. Owners want to maximize their profits and get as much out of workers. There is a conflict of interest between the two. The owners who are in control of the means of production have the power in the society because they use their capital to further expand their power, but with an collective uprising of the working class working together to produce a social change.