Capitalist system in Marx
Capitalist system in Marx
Capitalist system in Marx
Karl Marx considered in a very serious way, issues surrounding society at his time, and even offered a prediction about the possible trends in the future, with regard to the system of governance as well as the economic trends. He considered that capitalist system of government was one that was comprised of several unsatisfied individuals and would certainly end up in failure. The political system at the time of Marx was considered to have been filled with injustices. The major injustice was found in the protection of private property by the political system. This was for Marx the greatest source of all societal evils. For him, real power resides in the people. Marx believed that when this power is exercised, a revolution would be inevitable. This study is concerned with Marxian understanding of the issues of capitalism, politics and power. In order to effectively achieve this, issues related with the proletariat, bourgeoisie, superstructure, material goods, access to resources, economic structure, oppression, as well as inequalities as understood in Marx will be discussed.
Capitalist system in Marx
According to Marx, the capitalist system was only part of the evolutionary cycle of society. Marx felt that this system was characterized by great inequalities, which were brought about by the issue of private property. He felt that the need to survive greatly influenced the need to amass wealth, which leads to great selfishness. This basic principle of the capitalist governments was the protection of private property. Capitalist system comes as an evolutionary stage after the tribal society becomes fully established. In this system, there is a great division of person in society. There is a group of persons who are considered as capitalists, and others considered as workers (Blackledge 158). Basically the capitalists are the ones who possess capital, in form of companies, industries and so on, whereas the workers trade their labor with the capitalists. This kind of arrangement does not go smoothly at all times. This is because the workers, who in all cases in a capitalist system, form the greatest percentage of the population. This population gets constantly exploited by the capitalist class. This kind of a society is composed of a great majority of unsatisfied individuals, and a small number of comfortable individuals. A major offender in this system is religion. Religion becomes one of the greatest promoters of private property, and as such also possesses a lot of property. That is why the first step in the salvation of the masses must be the elimination of religion. Marx condemned religion as having been pacifying the poor, claiming to want the best for them, while at the same time it was the most ardent supporter of capitalism. It is important therefore, that religion be eliminated. In a capitalist system, work, which was so natural to the human persons, had become a worst form of alienation. Rather than be given the opportunity to work and be remunerated for the work done, society promoted capitalistic tendencies by allowing for disparities in remunerations, with the hardest working being given the least remuneration(Blackledge 157). People were therefore considered depending on the kind of work they were doing, rather than what they were, namely the human persons. Marx considered that this system was bound to fail, because the dissatisfaction among the poor would not continue forever. A point in time would come when the oppressed poor would rise up and fight back. This would according to Marx come of necessity. Change, according to Marx, was characteristic of society. The inequalities and the struggles within the classes, which resulted from the exploitative tendencies with regard to power and wealth, were the greatest nourishment for change (Fine 137).
Marxian understanding was basically materialist. In other words, Marx saw all that exists in as far as society was concerned, as being materialist. Everything else in society depended on the production means. Social relationships, as well as the political life, depended on the existing means of production. This reasoning gave supremacy to materialist tendencies over the existing system of the time, where reason was emphasized. In claiming that there was a materialist condition in every aspect of society, Marx was simply affirming the importance of capitalism. In other words, it seems that the argument ends in capitalism, the very system that Marx moved to eliminate.
The Understanding of Politics in Marx
The understanding of Marx was that politics could only be understood on the basis of the struggles that existed between the classes. As a matter of fact, this struggle was the essence of all history. The bourgeoisie were the dominant class in every political system. They were the ones who owned land, and over saw the political dispensation in such a system (Berlin 184). The expansion of capital has a negative effect on the workers. This is because the labor which they provide loses value. This alienates them from each other, which in effect takes away the possibility of having a strong base in politics. The effect in this is that everyone in the workers class is forced to alliance with the bourgeoisie, in an attempt to survive. This means that the workers continually promote the endeavor of the capitalist class. It would be very important therefore, according to Marx, to bring about the destruction of the capitalist class. This would mean that the proletariat would yield the power that was previously held by the bourgeoisie. The tension that exists among the classes would eventually lead to a revolt. This would eventually sweep capitalism as a form of government out of place, replacing it with the communist government. Communist setting would be the best form of government, which would effectively eliminate the sufferings and the alienation which is bred in capitalism. In a communist setting, the people would have the mandate of leadership (McLellan 178). They would be the ones leading, rather than the bourgeoisie.
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