KARL MARX: Becoming a Socialist

Karl Marx’s ideas were studied and used by philosophers, historians, economists,
sociologists, and political scientists. Marx’s ideas were seen as so radical that he was perceived
as an inspiration to revolutionists and a threat by leaders of state governments.
Karl Marx’s work had had an everlasting impact on the arena of sociology, in that, his
views opened the door to the study of how one’s social class has a direct influence on one’s life
experiences and life chances. His work also opened the door for many differing perspectives on
the issue of the wealth and the poor in the society.
While in Paris from 1843 to 1845, Marx was able to meet with other radical thinkers and
revolutionists, for Paris had become a center for all things social, political, and artistic. Here,
Marx was able to study socialist theories that were not available to him in Germany.
It was during this time that Marx met and became lifelong friends with Friedrich Engels
and was immersed into the socialist world, focusing on the conditions of the working class. For
the first time, Marx was beginning to understand the conditions and misery of the working-class
people.
He wrote many editorials regarding such and, once again, was expelled from his country-
but this time by the French government. Marx would spend much of his life expelled from
Germany and other countries because of his radical thinking.

THEORIES OF SOCIAL CLASS

Karl Marx was one of the first social scientists to focus mainly on social class. His main
focus on social class was that one’s social dictated one’s social life.
Basically, Marx meant that if one is in the upper class, life was one of leisure and
abundance, while those in the lower class lived lives of hardship and poverty.
According to Marx, there was one social element that would determine where one fit in
the social class hierarchy; that of who controls the means of production, meaning who owned
the resources necessary to produce what people needed to survive.
The wealthy would be the individuals who owned the land and factories. The wealthy
would then control all elements of society – including the livelihoods of the lower, working
class. The lower, working class would work for hourly wages on the land or in the factories.
Marx wanted to better understand how so many people could be in poverty in a world
where there was an abundance of wealth. His answer was simple: capitalism.
According to sociologist John Macionis, the wealthy, and the working poor “have
opposing interests and are separated by a vast gulf of wealth and power, making class conflict
inevitable.”

ALIENATION AND REVOLUTION

 In history, those members of the aristocracy and the church owned the means of
production, and the peasants worked for aristocracy. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution,
Marx thought that he would see more of the working poor rise financially and socially.
However, this did not materialize.
In the industrial society, the aristocracy was replaced by the capitalists (also known as
bourgeoisie). These were the people who owned businesses with the goal of earning profit, and
the working class was replaced by the proletariat, the people who labored for wages.
Marx believed that this system was inherently unfair. Under capitalism, Marx believed
that the workers would become poorer and poorer and experience alienation. ALIENATION is
seen as the workers becoming more distanced from, or isolated from, their work, resulting in
feeling of powerlessness.
To replace this alienation and extreme social class structure, Marx believed that
capitalism had to end and be replaced by socialist system that would make all equal and have all
people’s needs meet.
In his work with Fredrick Engels, THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO, Marx stated, “The
proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.” Thus, Marx had
for workers’ revolution where proletarians would rise up against the bourgeoisie, overthrowing
capitalism. To Marx’s despair, though, such revolutions occurred in various countries such as
Russia and China but did not occur in more industrialized nations of that time, like Britain and
Germany.

CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM

To get better understanding of Karl Marx’s disdain for capitalism and how he felt that the
answer to social inequality was socialism, let’s look at the two economic system in a bit more
detail. Capitalism and socialism are different types of economic system that exist and are used
by many countries. The United States is considered a capital country, while Denmark is
considered a socialist country. While both the United States and Denmark have a democratic
government, they differ in their economic systems.
CAPITALISM is an economic system where the means of production is owned by
private individuals. In this system, the economy and the use of resources are controlled by
individual business owners and private companies. A capitalist system is also known as free
market enterprise.
The main focus of capitalism is profit – business exist to make money. When one owns a
company, the goal is to earn a profit or to increase the price of stock in the business firm.
Essentially, the purpose of capitalism is the accumulation of as much wealth for the owners as
possible.
Under capitalism, government play a very minor role – or should, at least. Capitalism is
based off of the idea of laissez-faire, which is French for “let them do.” The government’s role
in capitalism is to make certain that the playing field for all business is even by enforcing laws
and regulations.
 The pros of capitalism are that capitalism allows individual the opportunity to increase
their personal financial growth. The increase in wealth is the reward for individual hard work
and dedication in the capital system.
Some of the cons of capitalism are that since the focus of capitalism is increased wealth,
the big players in such a system (the owners of the stakeholders) are usually the ones who
profit, while the workers do not. Fierce competition sometimes allows only those large
corporations to profit and get bigger – over that of the small business owner. Many are critical
of capitalism for this reason, stating that it is a system set up to only make the rich even richer.
SOCIALISM is an economic system that focuses on the betterment of the whole, rather
than the advancement of the individual. It is a system in which the means of production are
owned by a collective of people and by the state. With this system, everyone works, but the
rewards are distributed to all people.
Under socialist system, the belief is that something is good for one, then it is good for all.
Here, everyone works for the betterment of themselves and the group as a whole. Within this
system, it is the government who determines how the reward and wealth is spread out among
the people. In socialism, a free-market system does not exist, for the government will be the one
providing for all the people.
Socialism pushes for the equal distribution of wealth to all, rather than just a few.
Communism is an extreme example of socialism, where the ideology is one of a classless social
order with government in control of all resources and means of production. Marx even stated
that socialism is just the transition phase on the road to communism.
Some pros of socialism are that it promotes equality by distributing all things to all
people; thus, all needs are being met and no one person has more or less than another. The focus
of socialism is the greater good for all.
The cons of socialism are that since government is providing all resources, taxes are
generally higher is socialist system. Higher income earners may feel that their work is being
punished by these higher taxes. Extreme socialism may lead to communism.

LESSON SUMMARY

Karl Marx was a German economist whose idea and works generated much controversy.
He is known to have inspired revolutionists and has been considered a threat to national
governments. Marx was one of the few social scientists whose work focuses on social class. He
believed that one’s social class determined one’s social lifestyle.
During his time, Marx became increasingly involved in the plight of the working poor.
He felt that the wealthy (the bourgeoisie) held the control of resources and continued to
accumulate wealth from the labors of the poor working class (the proletariat)
Marx believed that the proletariat would evidently feel alienated from their work (from
not being allowed control of their work) and would eventually revolt against the wealthy to
demand a more equal and just society. Marx felt that the cause of such inequality in wealth and
lifestyle was just the result of capitalism and that to reach a more equal society, capitalism
should be replaced with socialism.
Activity:
As a group, create a poster that shows the definition of the difference between capitalism
and socialism. Be sure to depict the pros and cons of both systems.
 Use 1/8 illustration board.

Group 1: Dayagon Bruce

Olba, Ricaford
Tabanganay, Jury

Group 2: Embargo, Cristina

Tuazon, Elma

 Rubrics:
- Neatness – 10
- Creativity – 10
- Content – 20

 Due date: October 23, 2023