Socialism The Ideal Society Essay
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Socialism-The Ideal Society? Society is flawed. There are critical imbalances in it that are causing much of humanity to suffer. In The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx is reacting to this fact by describing his vision of a perfectly balanced society, a communist society. Simply put, a communist society is one where all property is held in common. No one person has more than the other, but rather everyone shares in the fruits of their labors. Marx is writing of this society because, he believes it to be the best form of society possible. He believes that communism creates the correct balance between the needs of the individual, and the needs of society. He also believes that sometimes violence is necessary to reach the state of communism. This paper will reflect upon these two topics: the relationship of the individual and society, and the issue of violence, as each is portrayed in the manifesto. Before embarking upon these topics, it is necessary to establish a baseline from which to view these ideas. It is important to realize that in everything, humans view things from their own cultural perspective, thereby possibly distorting or misinterpretinga work or idea. Marx speaks of this saying, "Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of the conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class made into a law for all, a will, whose essential character and direction are determined by the economical conditions of existence of your class" (Marx, p.71). With this in mind, some perspective on the society of that time is vital. During this time the industrial revolution is taking place, a massive movement away from small farms, businesses operated out of homes, small shops on the corner, and the like. Instead, machines are mass-producing products in giant factories, with underpaid workers. No longer do people need to have individual skills. Rather, it is only necessary that they can keep the machines going, and do small, repetitive work. The lowerworking class can no longer eke out a tolerable existence in their own pursuits, but are lowered to working inhumane hours in these factories. This widens the rift between the upper and lower class called bourgeois and proletariat, respectively until they are essentially two different worlds. The bourgeois, a tiny portion of the population, has the majority of the wealth whilethe proletariat, the huge majority, has nothing. It is with this background that Marx begins. First, the topic of the individual and society will be discussed. This topic in itself can be broken down even further. First, the flaws with the "current" system in respect to the bourgeois and proletariat will be shown, thereby revealing the problems in the relationship between individual and society. Secondly, the way that communism addresses these issues, and the rights of the individual, as seen through the manifesto. Quite clearly, Marx is concerned with the organization of society. He sees that the majority of society, that is, the proletariat, are existing in sub-human conditions. Marx also sees that the bourgeoisie has a disproportionate abundance of property and power, and that because of what they are, they abuse it. He writes of how the current situation with the bourgeoisie and proletariat developed. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" (Marx, p.55). There have always been struggles between two classes, an upper and lower class. However, Marx speaks of the current order saying, "It [bourgeois] has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat" (Marx, p.56). The very nature of the bourgeoisie causes it to grow in size and power while the proletariat shrinks,therefore increasing the rift between the two. Marx goes on to describe how this situation came about, with the industrial revolution and other factors. Modern industry has established the world-market, for which the discovery of America paved the way. This market has given an immense development to commerce, to navigation, to communication by land. This development has, in its turn, reacted on the extension of industry; and in proportion as industry, commerce, navigation, railways extended, in the same proportion the bourgeoisie developed, increased its capital, and pushed into the background every class handed down from the Middle Ages. We see, therefore, how the modern bourgeoisie is itself the product of a long course of development, of a series of revolutions in the modes of production and of exchange. (Heilbroner, p.56-57). With these thoughts in mind, a more defined view of the individual classes can be attained. First, the proletariat: in several places Marx speaks of how the proletariat is oppressed. He speaks of past societies and the current society when he says, "Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed " (Marx, p.55). Bourgeoisie and proletariat could quite comfortably be added to this list of oppressor and oppressed. In every way the proletariat is oppressed, with no hope of improving the lot they have been given, or of raising themselves up. Rather, they are forced to march on hopelessly, knowing that they will not be released from their labors till death. Marx also writes of the relationship between the proletariat and the machines, which is a result of the split between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. "He [proletariat] becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most simply, most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois State; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker, and, above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself" (Marx, p.61-62). Marx draws a picture of how the majority of the population is in an oppressed situation of slavery. The lot of the proletariat is not to be envied. From here, Marx moves on to describe the oppressor, the bourgeois. He is quite eloquent in his portrayal of this class. The bourgeois, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his natural superiors,' and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous cash payment.' It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom Free Trade. (Heilbroner, p. 57) Here Marx is speaking of how the bourgeoisie controlled society takes every aspect of society and puts them in terms of an exchange value. They reduce all that is noble and admirable about humanity to monetary matters, all in the name of capitalism. Again, "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his realconditions of life, and his relations with his kind" (Marx, p.59). Marx uses very strong language in these passages, saying that the bourgeois profanes the holy', and drowns the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor.' The bourgeois removes the humanity from society, creating a system in which anything and everything is measured by its strict cash worth. Now that the roles of the bourgeoisie and proletariat have been established, it is possible to reconsider the communist ideal. Clearly, Marx believes that it is wrong for the majority of society, the proletariat, to suffer so. He believes that individuals should be equal, not divided into two distinct worlds. Marx describes the current individual in society saying that "In bourgeois society capital is independent and has...
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