The Greatest Contributions of the Communist
One of the world’s best philosophers that ever lived was the German philosopher and forerunner of communism, Karl Marx. Throughout his life, Marx dedicated himself to conceptualizing ideas for the modern industrial society. Along with friend Friedrich Engels, Marx (1888) introduced a prolific view of society in which “class antagonism” or the fight between social classes happen. Constructed in the middle of 19th century, his ideas still hold relevance when applied by later philosophers of the contemporary society.
In a collaborative work with Engles, titled, “Communist Manifesto of 1848,” the philosophers present the theory regarding social classes, more often presented in the so-called social triangle. Like in the modern industrial world, in this social triangle, two social classes are deemed most important. The first and upper part is occupied by the bourgeoisie, the owners of resources or “the industrial millionaires, the leaders of whole industrial armies” who own the capital, such as lands, factories, machineries etc.
The other lower part is occupied by the proletariat, or the people who work for the bourgeoisie. According to Marx, these are the modern working class, the laborers, “who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labor increases capital. ” These laborers, like the machineries for capital, are like commodities needed to complete production. In order to increase their profit, the bourgeoisie invest more capital on their business, finding better machineries for faster production, promoting products and services, and maximizing profit.
However, as the capital increases, the work of the proletariat becomes less valuable, thus their wage decreases, while the amount of production that has to be finished within the day increases. Since the proletariat have basic needs they need to fulfill, which are themselves dictated by the capitalist world they live in, these laborers are left with no choice but to continue working for the bourgeoisie, until they have exhausted all means, and given all their efforts. As the vicious cycle continues, the latter become richer and the proletariat become poorer, and by no means weaker.
Given the struggle of the proletariat to support the basic needs of their family, they are forced to work beyond their capabilities. At present, we see people working overtime at factories just to earn more, or others who get employed in two jobs in order to support their families’ needs. This concept gave rise to Marx’s Theory of Alienation, in which he argues that the “laborer sinks to the level of a commodity and indeed becomes the most miserable commodity possible.
” As the proletariat submit to the arrangement designed by the bourgeoisies, they are “robbed of the most necessary objects, not only to maintain [their] own life, but even objects to labor with. ” They suffer from alienation, a destructive condition in which the individual feels estrange to their work—the place, people, themselves, and even the work itself. The result of alienation destroys the human nature of man, in that “the human being (the laborer) does not feel himself to be free [anymore], except in his animal functions: eating, drinking, and reproducing, at his best in his dwelling or in his clothing, etc.
,” When only his animal functions are employed, “the human [then] becomes animal. ” As such, the Communist Manifesto warns the people of the manipulation of human nature by the modern industrial world, where the bourgeoisies rule. In order to avoid this from happening, Marx proposes inversion of the social triangle in which the proletariat or workers are situated on top. They are the ones given more priority than the bourgeoisies or their employers, because after all, without them, the bourgeoisies will not find means to exist.
According to him, giving more importance to the proletariat would reap more benefits not only to the production business, but to the society as a whole. The inversion means providing workers with better working conditions, allowing them to take rest within the week so they could reenergize and thus avoid alienation. Notably, if the workers are happy with their work, the job does not seem like one, but an engaging activity, a hobby, which they would willingly do. Hence, if workers find happiness and fulfillment in their work, they produce better results and higher amount of production.
Inverting the social triangle likewise means giving workers higher pay, and providing them benefits that could make them feel their worth. In the present world, we see Marx’s theories coming true as many companies nowadays give higher dues to their workers, and even provide medical benefits, clothing allowance, and other subsidies to support their workers. Also, many companies provide opportunities for building relationships in order to avoid the estrange feeling of alienation, as this could hamper the growth of production. Based on this, we can note how Marx’s efforts have contributed a lot to our society at present.
The philosophies he proposed during his time must have seemed outrageous to the minds of the bourgeoisies or the capitalists. This explains why some of his manuscripts remained unpublished, until the 20th century (Bramann n. d. ). Likewise, these thoughts could be the reason why Marx preferred to be on exile in London. He could not stand the backwardness of the government, so he stayed behind until his supplications are heard. As the modern time applies Marx’s thoughts of 1844, we can say that after all, his philosophies which once seemed impossible are not put to waste.
As more and more employers consider benefits of their workers, we are reminded of the greatest contribution of the great communist. Works Cited Bramann, Jom. “Marx: Capitalism and Alienation. ” N. d. Retrieved 23 March 2009 < http://faculty. frostburg. edu/phil/forum/Marx. htm>. Marx, Karl. “Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. ” Hooker, Richard. Ed. 1996. World Civilizations. Retrieved 23 March 2009 < http://www. wsu. edu:8080/~dee/MODERN/ALIEN. HTM>. Marx, Karl & Engels, Friedrich. “The Communist Manifesto” 1888. Retrieved 23 March 2009 < http://www. gutenberg. org/files/61/61. txt>.
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