We will begin our tour of Karl Marx tomorrow in class. After reading through pp. 601-02 and 638-40, read here about other students who are currently studying Marx, and watch this to see how Marxian analysis influences American pop culture.
Find out more "below":
Read more about Marxism and compare Marxism and socialism here. There are scholars and citizens who call themselves "non-Marxist socialists," while others employ the term "democratic socialist."
Members of both the proletariat and the bourgeoise are encouraged to leave comments, but especially the proletariat.
(And, as a follow-"up" from today's class, here is an on-line exhibit of art related to Giribaldi).
[Photo credit here.]
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11 comments:
Marxism/Socialism- seemingly fabulous in concept. How awesome would it be if we all just worked collaboratively towards the common goal of a functioning society? But, somehow, it never ends up that way... people cannot operate like robots or machinery and that is what Marxism requires. It leaves no room for personal expression or development and society remains at a standstill. People become selfish and things never run as smoothly as conceived.
This blog post on Marxism/Socialsim was very interesting. The video clip with Disney animation and Karl Marx's words in the back was neat. I really enjoyed watching it. The cartoons portrayed our society very accurately. It's amazing that Marx's words written a century and a half ago can still be applied to our world today. For example, Marx believed that inhumane working conditions (industrial revolution) left people without any self respect for their persons. This was his critique of the market economy. Fair treatment of workers is still a large concern today.
I like some of the socialist views but agree that some of these views are just too naive and improbable. I think the individual is more important than society, in some cases, and that socialism and Marxism is too crippling and suffocating a form of rule. Yes people should work together but not at the expense of losing their own individual identity. Sharing is good but sometimes people should have their own stuff. Taking care of yourself is sometimes more important than taking care of your neighbor first. Socialism and Marxism is just too strict a form of rule for people who think and wish to express themselves.
Although Marx's ideas seem appealing in theory, all attempts to implement his beliefs have eventually failed. If we can't establish a moral and just society without corruption and selfishness, how are we suppose to care for our neighbors instead of creating our personal fortunes?
With the rise of Industrialization, people lost the sense of pride in their work. In the capitalist society, Marx saw that the workers were treated more like commodities. Marx believed that there needed to be a violent Socialist takeover. I believe that the minimum wage during the Industrial Revolution is the same as what we call minimum wage today. A worker’s minimum wage is only enough to support the worker’s life. However, the workers in the Industrialization had to work longer hours and in harsher conditions than workers today. Like Laura, I enjoyed the cartoon video; it was interesting to see Marx’s words and ideas correlated with Looney Tunes and Disney animation. –Meagan Smith
Yesterday during study hall, I was reading our assignment in the book, and the passage selected from the communist manifesto inspired me to revolt and take over the class period for the students - the laboring class - rather than leaving it to the administration. Eventually, the power went to my head and I went crazy.
Marxism is the concept of a utopian society, but no one is perfect. Therefore, societies run on greed and personal incentive are more popular and effective because people are more greedy and selfish when it comes to putting in hours of work. Obviously, Marx's ideas are still very relevant today, but for the most part, his idea for an economy is not practical for modern use. Even the leaders of the government in socialist countries have always taken advantage of their power.
Hailie -- True, it would appear that Marx's ideas would leave very little room for independent thought, but you must keep in mind that at the time of his writings...most states suppressed the will of lower working class people to a point that industry made life gloom for the urban worker.
David -- Question -- if the individual is more important than the greater good, what will stop him/her from exploiting the masses for gain and accomplishment? The merit in what Marx stated is that we can use government (socialist stage)to correct the vice and ill brought about by the individual. Better yet, we practice some of this in our current state today. Now, here is where I part from Marx: I am not sure a society can exist without a government. Marx is talking about anarchy -- which exist today in places like Iraq.
El Peruano -- I a not sure Marx's ideas were put to practice. Keep in mind that the Soviet Union was based on Lenin's interpretation of Marxism. At one point China and Russia did not like each other because they disagreed on the other's interpretation of Marxism. When you get a second, read Des Capital by Marx.
I understand Marx's ideas about a classless society, but I have to wonder how a classless society would lead to progress. I mean if there is no competition then no one would have the incentive to work hard. If you can’t move up the social ladder then why try at all. Furthermore, if everyone is paid the same wage, then who or what determines the amount. I feel that people would loose their individuality, and their self-worth would diminish. Society would turn into one big working machine, and all the materials produced would be for everyone; everything would be shared. No one could have ownership of anything. Living in a society with no competition, individuality, and ownership would dramatically change a person’s view on life. The worker would be reduced to a commodity that is part of a larger system filled with other commodities all working for a purpose that would never individually affect them.
Marxism / Socialism is based on the implicit cooperation of man. No idea will ever recieve the full support of the human population which is why i feel that marxism / socialism is a naive and idealistic theory that would never work in the real world. If it revolves around the dialectic what then would be the antithesis to this thesis? Humans are geared to find knowledge and progress throughout their lives and with socialism / Marxism there is no search for truth or higher powers. Knowledge would be scorned. Progress would be nonexistent.
In truth there needs to be a division of social classes and that might sound cold however I do not think the world would function if there was one social class in which everyone participated. It is in the nature of people to look for differences between himself and the person next to him and therefore classes would be re-made in an effort to define who we are as a person. If everyone were the same there would be no motivation to work or to better themselves in modern society because there would be no advantage in searching for knowledge.
When I talk about the individual being more important than society what I mean is that individuals should not be forced to bend their will, ideas, thoughts, and character to accomodate society's. I agree that a government is essential to curtailing the ills and vices of powerful individuals yet there also needs to be some equilibrium between this curtailing of individuals and monitoring the freedoms and liberties of every man. It is true, no society can live without a government but it is equally true that no government is successful that represses the individuality and freedom streaming through society.
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