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Paper Abstract: Review & discussion of economic & social concepts presented by Karl Marx. Paper Introduction: In the perspective of Karl Marx, the bourgeois society in which he lived and which persists to this day in the developed West was a system of class conflict and the domination of the bourgeois class over the proletarian class. Marx described the nature of this society not as an aberration but as a stage in social evolution, succeeding the feudal period and preceding the era of the dictatorship of the proletariat. His view was based on the idea that these stages were inevitable and that the only way for the proletariat to gain a better position in life was through revolution, through the violent overthrow of bourgeois society. Yet, as we have seen in subsequent history, this is not the case, and while we have not produced a classless society, the classes are not in conflict to the degree Marx saw as inevitable and inescapable. Marx ascribed the social inequalities of Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. This struggle defines the ongoing stream ofhistorical materialism, based on the necessary social conditions defined byeconomic relations: "In the social production of their life, men enterinto definite relations that are indispensable and independent of theirwill, relations of production which correspond to a definite stage ofdevelopment of their material productive forces" (Tucker, 1978, 4). He sees the interplay of classes interms of domination, and at the present juncture, it is bourgeois societythat dominates. Social consciousness may be defined as people's ideas,assumptions, and characteristic ways of thinking, and this is a reflectionof their social being. Once the ideas that human beings reactto have been formed, these ideas react back upon the economic base. Yet, as wehave seen in subsequent history, this is not the case, and while we havenot produced a classless society, the classes are not in conflict to thedegree Marx saw as inevitable and inescapable. He saw ideas as having power such that they could become amaterial force as soon as they were grasped by the multitude. New York: W.W. In the perspective of Karl Marx, the bourgeois society in which helived and which persists to this day in the developed West was a system ofclass conflict and the domination of the bourgeois class over theproletarian class. Marx and Marxism. New York: Washington Square Press, 1973.Slaughter, Cliff. Social inequality is necessary as a motivating factor,spurring some to work harder to fill a particular place or need. It is not the satisfaction of a specificneed but is rather the means for satisfying other needs. This exploitation of one class byanother produces class hostilities which are constant and which are basedon material inequalities. Marx's theory postulated an entrenched stratification of societybased almost entirely on economic differences between social classes. Marx makes a strong case forthe historical determinism that is the basis of his view, though it was notclear that the future developments he envisioned were inevitable based onwhat had gone before. The functionalist view of stratification is that astratified society is universal, and thus Marx's classless society is animpossibility. the main driving force of historical change is thus seen to be the classstruggle, and this is associated with a dialectical view because it revealsa contradiction located within all modes of production, a contradictionbetween the forces of production and the relations of production (68-69). He never neglected this detailedhistorical analysis in favor of general statements about economictendencies. Marx found there to be alienation in adifferent form in the individual's loss of control, of personal wholeness,an alienation that is basically economic. Human beings have to secure a livelihood, andto accomplish this they organize their productive forces in a way that isbased on the level of development of society and thus the type of economicsystem that has been produced. Society is made up of social classes, with one classdominant at a given time based on the control of the means of production.Human nature is expressed in the way individuals relate to class and theway they are controlled by that relationship. The proletariat is dominated by thebourgeoisie from the first and is in conflict with bourgeois society fromits birth (Tucker, 1978, 48 ). The key to their social being is to be found in themode of production. For Marx, everything in life rests on theseeconomic foundations. Marx called for just thischallenge to the old order in a spirit of eliminating the socialinequalities of his time and to produce the classless and fully equalsocial order he envisioned. Norton, 1978.----------------------- 11 ."(Tucker, 1978, 475). Marx described the nature of this society not as anaberration but as a stage in social evolution, succeeding the feudal periodand preceding the era of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Once the ideas that human beings react to have beenformed, these ideas react back upon the economic base. The basic structure of histheory is seen in the sum of the social relations of production, but uponthis foundation is built a political, legal, and ideologicalsuperstructure. Marx and Engels alike opposedthose of their followers who tried to apply this general principle to everyhistorical period. Marx saw class conflict as inevitable, and he did not believe therewould be any possibility of an accommodation between the working class andthe capitalist such as has come about through the development of effectivelabor unions. He does not mean that the ruling classconsciously works out a set of ideas that suit its political requirements.Rather, new necessities in social life, such as the organization ofcapitalist forms of production and exchange, demand people of a new type,people who will justify their actions in new ways, people who will besufficiently confident in their beliefs and morality to challenge the oldways, people who are not held back by fears of the old society: "In aseries of class struggles, some political and economic, some religious orphilosophical (that is, ideological), men work over and test out theexisting and newly developing ideological forms, selecting some andrejecting others, resurrecting some which have been left aside, perhaps,and suppressing others" (Slaughter, 1985, 62). ReferencesHeilbroner, Robert L. . Marx wanted to penetratethe surface of the system and to discover its concealed essence. today, with social mobility a reality, though thereare certain groups in society which seem frozen in one low economicposition as a result of racism, poor education, and social barriers. Marx could also see clearly that society wasbecoming more simplified as the number of social classes and gradationswithin classes was diminished, with this reduction coming specificallybecause of changes in productive relations. This is also the class suffering most from the socialinequalities produced by economic differences. Each society hasits ideology, and Marx states that the ruling ideas of any society are theideas of its ruling class. Human nature isbeing thwarted in this system, reshaped into an objectified thing, and onlythe abolition of private property will create a situation where true humannature, fulfilling itself in itself, can come to the fore (Nisbet, 1973,231-233). This is the materialist interpretationof history, based on the view that what gives history its meaning ismaterial life, meaning economic forces (61-62). Norton, 198 .Nisbet, Robert, The Social Philosophers. Marx felt that it was always an obligation to carry outthe most detailed analysis of the actual clash of class forces in eachperiod, taking into account all available data on political and ideologicalinfluences entering into the class struggle and the historicalpeculiarities of given nations. Marx was well aware of the power ofideas in inspiring people and in giving them the ability to understand thesituations in which they find themselves. This desire to influence and explain at one and the same time led tothe production of Marx's ideological structure. He never neglected this detailedhistorical analysis in favor of general statements about economictendencies. This iswhat we see in the U.S. History thus was the entrypoint for the study of capitalism. It is not timeless but is theresult of economic forces in capitalism and derives from private property.The work is external to the worker and is not part of his nature, so ratherthan fulfilling himself in the work he denies himself. Marxdetermined that the concealed essence of capitalism could be found in itshistory, and that this essence and history were then preserved in disguisewithin its existing institutions and beliefs. New York: W.W. Marx intended to change human behavior and to empower the proletarianclasses to throw off their chains and to overcome the inequalities thatexisted at their particular stage of societal evolution and so carrythrough to the next stage and level. Marx's sense of human nature is seen in his concept of the force ofhistory, in his theory of revolution and of the class struggle leading torevolution, and especially in his concept of alienation based on economicrelationships. When Marxwas working and writing, however, it was common to give the decisive rolein history to ideas and consciousness, and Marx countered this with hishistorical materialism, which began from the ways in which socialproduction of the means if life is effected. The proletariat is the oppressedclass by definition, and for Marx it is also the class that will rebelagainst the domination of the bourgeoisie, overthrow that dominant class,and institute a dictatorship of the proletariat leading to a classlesssociety. Marx derived the conceptof alienation from Hegel, who used the term differently to refer to atimeless condition of man's mind. Marx was well aware of the power of ideas in inspiring people and ingiving them the ability to understand the situations in which they findthemselves. Social consciousness may be defined aspeople's ideas, assumptions, and characteristic ways of thinking, and thisis a reflection of their social being. The class struggle is the defining fact ofsocietal life and will lead in time to the violent overthrow of thecapitalist class by the working class, producing the dictatorship of theproletariat for a certain period until a completely classless society isproduced. New York: Longman, 1985.Tucker, Robert C. Marxand Engels, however, asserted that in the long run it was the contradictorydevelopment in the economic base which was decisive in determining theoutcomes of all great historical struggles. The history of any two capitalistcountries will vary significantly in ideological terms. It would then bereplaced by a period of the dictatorship of the proletariat, leading intime to a classless society, as noted. The workers sell their laborand are alienated from the product of their labor because of it. Marx and Engels,however, asserted that in the long run it was the contradictory developmentin the economic base which was decisive in determining the outcomes of allgreat historical struggles. The key to their social being is tobe found in the mode of production. Thebasic structure of his theory is seen in the sum of the social relations ofproduction, but upon this foundation is built a political, legal, andideological superstructure. Marx ascribed the socialinequalities of society to class differences based on material inequalitiesseparating the working class from the mode of production and from theproduct of their work in a form of social alienation. When Marx was working and writing, however, it wascommon to give the decisive role in history to ideas and consciousness, andMarx countered this with his historical materialism, which began from theways in which social production of the means if life is effected. Marx writes in the "Manifesto of the Communist Party": "The historyof all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles"(Tucker, 1978, 473). It has pitilessly torn asunder the motleyfeudal ties that bound man to his 'natural superiors,' and has leftremaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest. Marxdescribed a class system under which economic position determined classranking and influenced mobility, and for Marx there was no true socialmobility but a rigid stratification into the bourgeois and proletarianclasses. For Marx, social classes were part of a system of economicexploitation, with the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, controlling themeans of production and exploiting the work of the proletariat, or workingclass. Such work isimposed rather than voluntary. Human motivations are rooted in the laboractivities of human beings. The Marx-Engels Reader. Heilbroner (198 ) notes that the focal problem for Marx and hisfollowers has been the analysis of capitalism. The bourgeoisie takes theproduct of the labor of the proletariat and sells it as a commodity,increasing its own power by doing so: "The need of a constantly expandingmarket for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface ofthe globe" (Tucker, 1978, 476). Marx and Engels alike opposed those of theirfollowers who tried to apply this general principle to every historicalperiod. Marx's language here, as in all his writings, is thelanguage of conflict and struggle. Civil society is seen by Marx as a structure of domination, with themeans of production held by the dominant social class, the bourgeoisie,based on the accumulation of capital. Marx could see all around him evidence of the domination of thebourgeois class over the rest of society, and he believed that the tensionsand antagonisms of such an arrangement would lead to revolution andrevolutionary change. Marxism For and Against. Marx noted that every modeof production, in the most general terms, has a distinctive type ofexploitation and type of ruling class so that it also has itscharacteristic ideological assumptions about human nature, about moralityand values, about the possibilities available to humanity, and about thesocial distinctions between individuals. The most alienated class in society is the proletariat, dominated bythe bourgeois class which controls the means of production through thecontrol of capital. The dialectical elementemerged from the realization that there is extreme tension caused by theunequal relations between the superior and inferior classes within society. Theclass consisting of the bourgeoisie developed during the feudal period, andas the bourgeoisie got the upper hand it "put an end to all feudal,patriarchal, idyllic relations. They donot own the means of production, while the capitalist who does sells theproduct of the labor of the workers. Marx believed that this exploitation of the working class wouldlead inevitably to class conflict and to the destruction of the system ofcapitalism with the violent overthrow of that system. This is the next logical step in economic and social development,following from the social and economic relations that have gone before.Marx's conception of civil society explained the history of economicdevelopment to his time and offered as well a predictive approach to thefuture. The human being is defined in terms of work, production,and his or her relationship to what is produced. The bourgeoisie in this way has come todominate culture and has dragged all nations into what is calledcivilization (Tucker, 1978, 477). For Karl Marx, the force that determines social relations is economicand is identified by the relationship of the human being to labor. Marxhas a conception of human history based on dialectical materialism, aperspective which includes the idea that the determining factors in thedevelopment, relations, and institutions of mankind are not mystical orideological but economic. He saw ideas as having powersuch that they could become a material force as soon as they were graspedby the multitude. Marx felt that it was always an obligation to carry out the mostdetailed analysis of the actual clash of class forces in each period,taking into account all available data on political and ideologicalinfluences entering into the class struggle and the historicalpeculiarities of given nations. His view wasbased on the idea that these stages were inevitable and that the only wayfor the proletariat to gain a better position in life was throughrevolution, through the violent overthrow of bourgeois society. 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