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Oppression in society
The role of social class
The role of social class
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1. C. Wright Mill’s and Karl Marx shared the same views on capitalist society. In fact, they both were conflict theorists that believed certain groups and leaders kept a significant amount of power within society. Marx’s focus was on social class and how certain positions in the social class dictated one’s life. All things considered, Marx broke it down into two antagonistic classes, which are the proletariat and bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie (upper/ capitalist class) consisted of wealthy individuals that owned land and factories. Because of their wealth and positions, they controlled all elements of society. The Proletariat (lower/working class), on the other hand, consisted of individuals in poverty that worked hourly wages on these land and factories. Mill’s view was very compatible to Marx, but his main focus was on the power of the elite. He argued that people in the economy, politics, and the military held most of the power and low-class individuals had very little say in their lives.
i. Mills and Marx would look at today’s American capitalist corporations the same way they did years ago. Unfortunately,
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The United States experienced the industrial revolution before Africa because they had more advantages. During that time Africa had very little resources compared to the United States. Because of this Africa was very dependent on irrigation because they had no vast river systems. Unlike other countries, Africa is at the bottom of the global pyramid. Since Africa at the bottom of the pyramid certain supply are more surplus for them. The United States, on the other hand, is at the top of the pyramid. With this is mind, they could extract more material and resources that other undeveloped countries couldn’t. Countries like the U.S. Had industrial technology, which gradually raised the standards of for them. In addition, since the U.S. Was considered upper class, they had great control over world trade and economic agreements because of social
His ideal society is that of conformists, one where the government controls every aspect of a citizen’s life. For instance, Marx assumes that the only way to diminish the unequal distribution of wealth is to abolish private property and make everything government owned. Under the communist rule, the following measures will be enacted: abolition and confiscation of all property from every person, a graduated income tax, abolition of inheritance rights, the unification of agriculture and manufacturing, free education, eliminating the distinction between urban and rural areas, and forced labor for all citizens; the following industries will be entirely government owned and operated: the economy, communication systems, agriculture, manufacturing, education, military, and basically everything else (Marx 176). His rational behind this is that private property is out of reach from the majority of the current society and the reason for that is because the minority holds control of it; “private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population; its existence for the few is solely due to its non-existence in the hands of those nine-tenths” (Marx 171). It is obvious that Marx has no assurance for individual freedoms in his ideal society, which is vital component in Mill’s ideology. Mill believes that the government should be as least intrusive as possible when it comes to the running of society. He argues that the best form of government allows the people to act freely, based on their own accord, as long as their actions do not directly harm or infringe upon another persons liberties; “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others” (Mill 6). By allowing for complete individual sovereignty, Mill promotes the general progress of society and the free movement of ideas. Unlike how Marx calls for
Society is built and run on social and moral obligations and while these two are closely related, both impact cultures around the world in different ways. Marx’s Communist Manifesto and Mill’s On Liberty demonstrate the relationship these obligations have with successful and unsuccessful social constructs. For the purposes of this paper, a moral obligation is a consideration of what is right¬¬¬ and wrong and can vary depending on pressures from external sources such as religion, while a social obligation is a responsibility the individual has to act to benefit the best interests of their class as well as supporting the stability between society and the individual. Marx and Mill differ greatly in their opinions on the role and effects of both moral and social obligation, with Marx claiming that social obligation is one’s responsibility to one’s class and Mill claiming that it is one’s responsibility to further the society by expressing one’s own ideas because doing so is key to preventing society from becoming stagnant. Both authors also have differing views on moral obligation since Marx also claims that morality as a whole is a social construction used to oppress the Proletariat and that it is therefore invalid, whereas Mill claims that moral obligation is one’s debt to oneself to express their opinion, since not doing so would leave one’s character undeveloped.
This particular work outlined the class struggles in the industrial era and how it pertained to the deterioration of the economy. Unlike Carnegie, Marx was concerned with the working-class and their struggles that they had to deal with from day to day. Due to industrialization, Marx believed that it resulted in two different classes: which he identified as the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The proletariat consisted of your typical blue-collar worker, while the bourgeoisie was a person of upper-class such as a doctor, professional, etc. Marx claims, “ Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class…is its special and essential product.” (Jacobus 465). Marx clearly revolutionizes Carnegie’s perception that the common man had no way of becoming wealthy. Instead, he emphasizes that the proletariat class plays an important factor in the improvement of the economy.
Wright Mill’s, regarding the fact that freedom, wealth, and equality are things that are not properly exercised in the “new society of America”. “We confront there a new kind of social structure, which embodies elements and tendencies of all modern society, but in which they have assumed a more naked and flamboyant prominence”. Essentially Mills is stating that the methods in which we as a society used to interpret politics, economics, etc. cannot be applied anymore due to the fact that modern society has evolved so much. Due to the fact that in modern day, the upper class elites have the largest influence on how essentially all aspects of society are run, it disregards the lower class’s abilities to exercise their rights to freedom and
A Comparison of Marx and Engels with Mill Regarding Social and Economic Progress To understand what these two different philosophies tell us about the nature of social and economic progress it is important to clearly establish, for the purpose of this essay, a definition of the word progress. Many philosophers see progress as being a positive, continuous advancement into the future where, if we do not gain full scientific and empirical knowledge of our surroundings one day, then we will at least gain a deeper knowledge of our lives than we at present possess. If we can therefore have a fuller understanding of our surroundings there leaves the further question of whether we will ever reach a stage of progression where we can have complete knowledge of the more abstract concepts of man’s social and moral ‘perfectibility’. Marx, Engels and Mill attempt to demonstrate how this ‘perfectibility’ may be reached and/or will be reached with their contrasting (Marx and Engels vs Mill) views of social and economic progress. ((The most prominent similarity of these philosophers is the emphasis that they all put on freedom as being the ultimate goal of human progress.))
John Stuart Mill suggests that a person’s ethical decision-making process should be based solely upon the amount of happiness that the person can receive. Although Mill fully justifies himself, his approach lacks certain criteria for which happiness can be considered. Happiness should be judged, not only by pleasure, but by pain as well. This paper will examine Mill’s position on happiness, and the reasoning behind it. Showing where there are agreements and where there are disagreements will critique the theory of Utilitarianism. By showing the problems that the theory have will reveal what should make up ethical decision-making. John Stuart Mill supports and explains his reasoning in his book, Utilitarianism. Mill illustrates the guidelines of his theory. Mill defines utilitarianism as the quest for happiness. His main point is that one should guide his or her judgements by what will give pleasure. Mill believes that a person should always seek to gain pleasure and reject pain. Utilitarianism also states that the actions of a person should be based upon the “greatest happiness principle”. This principle states that ethical actions command the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Mill further explores the need for pleasure by noting “a being of higher faculties requires more to make him happy.” . He acknowledges that some pleasures are more alluring than others are. He adds to this by making known that when placing value in things to calculate pleasure, not only quantity important but quality as well. Mill’s criteria for happiness is easily understood, some statements that he gives are questionable. John Stuart Mill plainly laid out what he believes that the basis for ethical decision-making. First, the pursuit of pleasure is directly related to happiness. This idea can be easily accepted. It is natural for a person to focus his goals on things that will bring him pleasure. It would be absurd if someone’s goal in life was to be poor and starving. This being said, it does not mean that people are only happy due wealth but that no one’s goals are focused on poverty. Although there are many issues that can be agreeable with Mill, there are problems that exist with his theory of utilitarianism.
With a Capitalist system governing the society, powerful forces of self interest have a natural tendency to lead to collusion and corruption. In other words capitalist tend to seek power and to use it to rig the market to their favor to detriment of the society. Marx knew the class struggles that were apparent in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and how the division of classes affected one?s life. The bourgeoisie was the wealthy upper class and they proletariats were the lower working classes of Europe. This is where the theme of autonomy and responsibility steps in and plays a role in the changes that were made in society.
During the time of the industrial era, there were many people upset over the manner in which the nations were being run. They were upset with the idea of capitol gain and how it was affecting people’s actions. They saw this era causing people to exploit each other with the intent of monetary gain. Those that were already part of the higher ranking class, the richer, would see reason to force the lower class, the working man, to spend his life in the new factories. He would be bullied into risking life and limb at the monstrous machines while hardly earning a penny. The working man suffered because the richer man owned the factory and consumed all the profits himself. Some men, however, saw a solution as well as the problem. They thought that if the power could be taken out of the hands of the strong and power hungry, then the working class would realize the rights they had all along. The constant struggle for power would be eliminated and so society would become better. Two of these men were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marx had received all the recognition while Engels has been shunted off the pages of history. He did, however, still have an impact on the development of communism.
During the nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Max Weber were two of the most influential sociologists. Both of them tried to explain social change taking place in a society at that time. On the one hand, their views are very different, but on the other hand, they had many similarities.
The first Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain. It led to a dramatic increase in factories, therefore a vast amount of manufactured goods. The demand for goods created by the Industrial Revolution helped clear the way for the Age of Imperialism because Great Britain and eventually all of Europe sought after more natural resources and raw materials. Imperialism is the policy in which a stronger country seeks to dominate a less developed country both politically and economically. Although the European imperialism of Africa was exploitive and self seeking, it was justified because it ultimately enhanced the growth and development of the African nations through new laws, government, well ordered finance and freedom form oppression.
For Marx, class is defined according to the ownership of the means of production (Holmes, Hughes & Julian, 2012). Class can be described as having three categories; Ruling class, middle class, and working class. Marx has asserted that classes have formed as a result of capitalism. Capitalism, and the competition it entailed, forced the members of society into two groups: workers (the proletariat) and capitalists (the bourgeoisie) (Marx, 1978). It can be stated that, the class in which an individual is placed in is a direct result of their socio-economic status. There are multiple elements included in Marx’s theory of class to depict the way in which class is viewed by individuals in society.
Mill’s socialist views were cultivated through the duration of his life as he emphasized “individuality, independence, and self-cultivation” (Claeys 122). With “objections to communism… and [a] defense of competition between economic enterprises” (123), Mill remained steadfast in his beliefs throughout his life. His early socialist views are often cited as beginning with his early essays detailing debates between himself, friends, and members of the London Cooperative Society. These debates consist of Mill’s defense of “his own Ricardian economic views against Owenism” (125). A primary point of Mill’s against Owenism is Mill’s support of competition, defending it as “the nature of commerce” (125). Mill’s opinions push toward equality for all, as well, not just women, as he pushes that “society would no longer be divided ‘into the idle and the industrious; when the rule that they who do not work shall not eat, will be applied not to paupers only, but impartially to all’” (129). His push for equality for each member of society grew with the aforementioned debates as his opinions only grew stronger throughout time, ultimately resulting in the production of major political and philosophical pieces that outline his views of
Karl Marx, who wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848, sees capitalism as inherently flawed. According to him, it is simply a stage in a long history of evolving forms of economics and relations between people. He sees it as just the current form, following feudalism, and, eventually, leading to socialism. While he does believe capitalism will eventually stagnate and fail, Marx believes that a revolution is needed in order to completely get rid of capitalism. He does not share the belief that legal social reforms will be sufficient to correct its internal flaws. In his view, capitalism is too focused on profit, which requires exploitation of workers. In order to understand his theories, it is important to know that Marx sees classes as
The proletariat is basically the controlling class or similar to the government. The power the proletariat had control how much success economically a member of the bourgeoisie class can obtain. While the bourgeoisie is working to keep the proletariat in power over them socially and economically. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party states, “The bourgeoisie itself, therefore, supplies the proletariat with its own elements of political and general education, in other words, it furnishes the proletariat with weapons for fighting the bourgeoisie.” While Karl and Engels were focused on economic rights and justice, J.S Mills was focused on social class accession and how the barriers affect individuals living in Europe. Mills wanted to explore the concepts of religion and relate them to the ideologies that reside in
Karl Marx’s contributions to sociology were proven to be quite flawed, and did not pan out the way he had predicted. Most notably, Marx believed that workers with unjust restraints would become free from capitalism, seeing the start of communism. However, England’s Industrial Revolution started in the late 1700s with the introduction of steam power and new machinery, so a capitalist era was only just beginning (Manolopoulou, n.d.)