MARX & COMMUNISM

Introduction to Philosophy – Karl Marx

Marx divided society into two classes based on socio-economic status, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Basically the Bourgeoisie are the “haves” and the Proletariat are the “have-nots”. The Bourgeoisie own the means of production (the factory) and the Proletariat work in the factory.

Historically, this division occurred as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Originally, rural villagers hand-crafted products and traded them for other products. For example, one villager might craft a saddle and trade it to another villager for a pair of boots. People raised chickens, farmed crops, made hand-crafts and traded them amongst local villagers.

However, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, everything began to change. Wealthy people opened factories. Suddenly, a factory could produce a hundred saddles a week whereas before a single villager took three months to make a saddle. The factory produced a hundred saddles a week, and could sell them cheaper than the villager. The only problem was that all of the saddles looked the same. It was mass production.

The saddle-maker was soon put out of business because he could not compete with the factory. Villagers like him went out of business and moved into the cities where they were forced to take jobs at factories. This division in society causes tension because the factory worker becomes alienated from his product, that is, he feels exploited because he is just another cog in the machine of the factory and can no longer take pride in his work. The factory owner gets richer and the factory worker becomes a commodity, used like a machine or a part in a machine and discarded when no longer necessary. Those in the Proletariat resent the factory owner because they feel they are being exploited. The Bourgeoisie resent the factory workers because they depend upon their labor in order to make profit.

Marx’s solution to this problem is violent revolution. He advocates that the Proletariat should revolt against the Bourgeoisie, that is, come together, arm themselves and violently take over the factory.

Marx justifies his solution to this problem by claiming that the Bourgeoisie are acting immorally in exploiting the factory workers. The Bourgeoisie are basically stealing from the poor, and in addition, they are living in affluence while others starve in poverty. Basically the rich are guilty of not being charitable, and as a form of justice the Proletariat should take their wealth away from them. Marx sees violent revolution as a form of justice for moral wrongdoing.

Marx said that religion is the “opiate of the masses”. He meant that religion keeps people (particularly the Proletariat) passive and docile so the Bourgeoisie can exploit them. Religious moral teaching like “turn the other cheek” and “blessed are the poor in spirit” make the Proletariat weak and content with being poor and exploited, while the Bourgeoisie do not live up to the same standards of morality.