Marxism is Dead

A detailed Summary of Marxism is Dead

After class I go home to check my e-mail. A concept such as e-mail would have seemed absurd to Karl Marx and Max Weber. It is accepted as just another part of life in our high-technology society, however. Max Weber and Karl Marx had a difference of opinion over what was the driving force behind changes in society. Marx vs. Weber, Social Conflict vs. Rational Thought. In a 12 round decision it's Weber's rationalization of society over socialism.

The essential difference in these two theories is what drives a society towards its advancements. Marx believed that the inequality between the haves and have-nots would lead to a revolt from the proletariat. (The proletariat are easily described as the workers who are employed by the capitalists.) According to Marx, the proletariat and capitalists were class descendants of masters and slaves, and nobles and serfs. When the Industrial Revolution came to western Europe in the mid 1840's, Marx saw that the capitalists who owned the factories, and the workers who filled them, were growing further and further apart in class standing. The very rich could afford great luxuries, while the lower class worked full weeks to feed their families. He summed up that an ev

entual revolution was the next logical step. When the proletariat gained "class consciousness," a recognition of their strength in unity, they would overthrow the shackles of the capitalists, and eventually capitalism itself. And what of the capitalists? The capitalists vast wealth, protected by the institutions of society, made them strong, indeed. Marx believed they would be slow to band together like the proletariat. He summarized that capitalists were afraid of competition from other capitalists, out of a desire for personal gain. Furthermore, he reasoned, because the capitalists kept employee wages low, the workers drive to turn against them would be all the greater, contributing to the capitalists downfall. In Marx's theories, this conflict between proletariat and capitalist was to be the driving force that shaped society into a cooperative socialist society that met everybody's needs.

Neither theory is entirely correct. As society adapts to new technology, new ideas are being formed to adapt to our rapidly changing world. Marx had several things right when it came to the class system of the proletariat and the capitalists but his vision of a world-wide class struggle never occurred. Weber was correct when he viewed the world as ever-changing, adapting to new ideas and abandoning old traditions and his ideas of the world abandoning traditional views when new technologies become available did happen. Marx's ideas were based on his study of western Europe around the time of the Industrial Revolution. Weber's ideas were formed from a more scientific standpoint. He carefully observed several societies ar

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Approximate Word count = 1101
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics