Karl Marx Theory of Social Class - Essay Example

Karl Marx Theory of Social Karl Marx elaborated his conflict theory by arguing that the modern economy comprises of two categories such as “bourgeoisie and the proletariat.” The bourgeoisie is that category of capitalists of the people who owns economic resources why the proletariat are the people who provides labor to the capitalists (Wood 94). The Marxian theory guides the sociologists to understand the cause of social differences and determine how these differences can be controlled. The aim of this study is to examine the validity of the Marxian theory of social class in the modern society and give suggestion on how these conflicts can be eliminated. In a capitalistic economy capitalists oppress the proletariat by providing them with resources sufficient to sustain their lives and maintain those workers to continuing providing them with labor. The meager pay that workers get is only sufficient for food and shelter (Levine 21). Unfortunately, most of these workers have a lot of respect for their employers because they perceive them as the only means of their survival. Those workers are so contented with life, and the kind of earnings they get from their employers. The relationship p between the workers and the employers is based on the workers believes that employers are doing their employees favor by offering them jobs and that they are the source of livelihood for those workers (Berberoglu 11). The fact of the matter is that employers are the one who get more from the workers and without those workers the survival of the capitalists is at risk (Wright 4). In a capitalist economy, investors control the wealth of the economy and determine what workers get as a share of their contribution to wealth creation. However, in order to reduce the income differences between investors and the workers, workers should charge for labor in accordance to the contribution they make to the creation of resources. The government should intervene in order to safeguard the workers against the scrupulous capitalists. Karl Max perceived a social revolution in which all the means of production would be communally owned. He perceived that in the future the capitalist would lose control of workers and due to enlightenment of the workforce the resources would change ownership as workers claim for an equal share of national’s resources (Wood 97). However this time has not yet come since the differences between the affluent and the needy is continuing to widen. The rich are becoming richer and have continued to amass more wealth hence becoming more oppressive. The workers are losing their bargaining strength with time since the rate of unemployment is continuing to increase. This implies that the supply of labor is growing hence the capitalists are able to take advantage of the situation hence they employ cheap labor to work in their industries (Saunders 28). In order to control the flow of labor and protect workers against exploitation by the employers, the state should regulate the labor market by setting the lower wage for all the workers based on their education background and nature of employment. As the economy became modernized most of the people in the working class acquired new technology that increased their efficiency of work. The working class was able to use modern technology such as the use computer which increased worker output (Wright 6). Consequently, the workers started demanding better pay hence increasing the income for the workers. This conforms to the Marxian principle that stresses the rise of social classes and influence of individuals in the society is based on that individual’s task in the creation of resources. As the working class people gained more influence in the society this resulted to the emergence of classes in the society ranging from working class, employers and unemployed. In the modern economy, there are similar classes since some people are extremely poor while others are extremely rich (Callinicos 37). The working class is composed of learned and wealth people hence more politically and socially influential people. The employers are not necessarily learned, but they have a lot of wealth to invest and hire the learned people to manage those resources. The working class is influential politically because of their consciousness hence involvement in the policy making (Levine 34). The lower class has either little or no education and is without resources to invest. Even in the most democratic nations the rich and learned individuals have more influence in the society because they can afford to support their election campaign hence get political positions. The laws of the nation do not prohibit poor people from sharing their ideologies, but financial constraints influences the extent to which their influence can reach. Marian theory argues that the ideological and political awareness in the society is influenced by the roles of that person the society. Those persons who have well positioned economically have more influence in the society (Wright 11). The Marxian theory is applicable in the current economy because those who are well positioned economically have a lot of power in the society. They hold great positions in the government and the involved in making the policies govern the society. Poor people have little or no influence in the society as far the political and economic issues are concerned. The society has a lot of respect for the rich and learned people hence they continue to dominate in social matters. The modern society is stratified according to economic powers person posses in the society. The working people struggle to gain more influence over the employers by demanding better pay and promotions (Livesey 3). Just as Karl Marx predicted, the working people are gaining more control over the resource owners. The workers have greater influence in the society because the resource owners’ aim is to generate more resources without desire for controlling social classes. However, individuals in the society have continued to struggle for influences hence gaining different social influence in the community. The social classes are based on resources owned by different individuals in the society. The working class mainly constitute of middle caste while the resources owners are in the upper class. The lowers class is for the jobless and for the poorly paid workers. Some regions are rich in economic resources than others. Those regions that have mineral resources and other natural resources are a better place economically than those regions without such resources (Saunders 37). These differences in resource endowment have resulted to classes of wealth individuals who are able to impart more influence in society than others. However, the middle class is controlling resources because most of the personalities are investors who have an interest in generating resources. Therefore, this class is combined of resources owners and salaried workers. The Marxism theory has contributed to the understanding of how communism ideology operates in the real sense. This theory has disputed the notion held earlier that in a communist society people will have no motivation for work hence this will contribute to poverty of the nations (Livesey 7). The theory suggests that socialism will eliminate the ownership of land and other factors of production but the introduction of taxes for the common benefits the entire nation is an incentive for people to continue working. People will have to work in order to pay taxes on the and hence the productivity f land will still be maintained. Free education for all children regardless of the social or economic background will propagate communism in the society (Wood 102). In the modern economy, many nations have continued to provide free education for the children in order to promote equity in the sharing of national resources. The purpose for developing a communism and democratic society is to eliminate classes in the society and distribute the governance to the citizens. The Marxian principle suggested of emergence of a class of dictators between communism and capitalism. There is a struggle between these two factions because the two groups are struggling to control the economy (Livesey 12). Capitalism believes in wealth creation at any cost while communists believe in communal sharing for the mutual interests of the society. In the modern society, nations are supporting democratic nation where individuals have equal powers to contribute to the nation irrespective of their education background or the wealth they possess. Unlike in the capitalism where individuals control the political matters based on the wealth they possess, Karl max had foreseen a situation where the forces between communism and capitalism would create a utopian class between these two classes (Saunders 46). The wealth people would take advantage of the economy and impart political ideologies forcefully. The prediction of the Marxian theory is evident in the modern economy in a number of ways. In the developed countries such as the United States, the nations are undergoing revolution ad democracy is taking the role in the politics of such countries. Initially, capitalism dominated these nations before a class of communists emerged (Wright 14). Later, a middle class emerged between the communists and capitalists. The emergence of the democratic form of governance brought to a halt the regime of dictatorship in which only wealth people had a say in the political and social matters f the society. On the other hand, developing nations have dictatorship rule because the affluent people are the dominant figures in the society (Appelrouth & Edles 33). Although some have remained in the communism class and others in the capitalism most of the political leaders are not elected fairly hence they are dictators. The Marxist idea of existence of exploitation as a result of existence of social classes is prevalent in the modern economy. People working in the same organization and performing similar functions are paid differently hence propagating the issue of social stratification (Saunders 49). Carol Marx had foreseen the existence of social classes in the society result to exploitation of weaker class by the most influential group. The challenge is to eliminate that social stratification in the modern economy. In order to end this social stratification those results to unfairness in the society, the employers and workers should share the proceeds of the investment equally. However, this can never happen because even in the most democratic states like America and Netherlands have wage differentials (Appelrouth & Edles 38). The level of education and economic resources accumulated by individuals in the society determines the level of influence they have in the society hence the existence of social classes. Finally, the issue of social stratification is amplified by the gender inequalities. In most communities, women are not considered in the inheritance of family resources. The society has held male gender as more powerful socially hence men possess a lot of resources than women (Berberoglu 27). This has created social classes since women have to be obedient to their husbands. This has been reflected in the political matters of the nations. In both developed and third world nations, women have remained less influential in politics while men have continued to dominate in the political power. The societies believe that women have less capacity to lead hence men have been favored at the expense of women. However, the main cause of this gender stratification is the resources held by men in comparison to female counterparts (Wood 116). This has created discrimination and oppression in the society. To end this regime, there is a need for promoting gender equity in the society in order to create a fair ground for all players in the social matters irrespective of gender. In conclusion, the difference in resource ownership among individuals in the society remains the major source of social differences in the society. Even in the most democratic nations, gender and economic differences continues to dominate hence resulting to social differences. Difference regions are endowed with different economic resources hence propagating social differences. The differences in social, economic and political aspects have resulted to oppression of the less fortunate by the most powerful individuals in the society. The social discrimination can only be minimized or even eliminated if all members of the community can be put in the same rank. Works Cited Appelrouth, Scott & Edles, Laura, D. “Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings.” Pine Forge Press, (2008): 22-49. Berberoglu, Berch. “Introduction to Classical and Contemporary Social Theory: The Critical Perspective.” Rowman & Littlefield, (2005): 3-31 Callinicos, Alex. “Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx.” Haymarket Books, (2012): 23-56 Levine, Rhonda, F. “Social Class and Stratification: Classic Statements and Theoretical Debates.” Rowman & Littlefield, (2006): 8-45 Livesey, Chris. “Social Inequality: Theories; Marxism.” 1-16. Available at http://www.sociology.org.uk/simarx.pdf Saunders, Peter. “Social Class and Stratification.” Routledge, (2006): 24-56 Wright, Erik, O. “Social class, Madison,” (2003). 1-16. Available at http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/Social%20Class%20--%20Sage.pdf Wood, Allen. “Karl Marx.” Routledge, (2013): 87-124 Read More