March 14, 2016: Communist Manifesto Class Notes

What was Marx saying, was the condition any worse now?

In feudal society, there were many different class ranks and in a way this was better (and worse- different) as the class struggle was not as emphasized with the distributed frustration.

Does it go too far to say that he likes “different”? Was it better or more complicated?

The bourgeoisie simplified everything and he praised these simplified economics. Marx’s problem was that in feudal society in the past people had been blinded by religion and total absolutism. People did not know how to think for themselves, as everything in life was so money driven and structured.  People had the chance to rise in society now but his problem is in the past (with the feudal structure) craftsmen who worked hard and supported the rest of society. In the feudal society they enjoyed their work and there was value to what they were doing, whereas in modern society, they were not getting paid or honored the way they used to. Capitalist society concentrated on the bourgeoisie as they were forcing people to become wage earners thereby, making the most economic gains for themselves.

As seen in la Belle Époque, wealthy classes were in a protective and restrictive bubble made of strict rules. Within this bubble, their own interests blinded them of their concerns for the lower classes. These interests varied between different countries but were also the same. In every country, every wealthy person in the capitalist society’s main concern was the retaining of their status and wealth, while the varying principle was the way in which each different country decided to display or prove their wealth to others. Each wealthy class displayed their wealth in their intricate dress as well as through mediums such as art connoisseurship and accumulation of real estate. The threat that Marx predicts is that with all of these distractions of the luxurious life of being an upper class member, the repressed proles will unite and rise to become powerful enough to rise against the bourgeoisie. As previously all that the bourgeoisie did was reap the benefits of the hard labor of the proles, the wealthy middle class would not be able to survive without the essential contributions of the proletariat class.

Is capitalism based on this parasitic relationship?

Yes, it is as it is centered around the exploitation of the wage earners in order to make their own lives better. The ideology was to pay the laborers less and less in order to further cater to the needs of the bourgeoisie. The parasitic nature of this relationship can be clearly seen in the fact that one (the bourgeoisie) feeds on the other, making it continually worsen and continually struggle.

When one thinks of parasites and the reason why capitalism is the way it is, one must recognize that if society does not have everything equal, people will always want to compete for more. Unfairly but unfailingly, there will always be this conflict and this fight to be better than others, thereby creating the vicious cycle of capitalism.

Is capitalism causing these effects to occur or is it just the nature of society?

The true fuel behind capitalism was “the hope that you could be on the other end of the parasitic relationship”-Cory. When one thinks about this and applies it to politics, one can look to the majority of presidential candidates (namely Trump) are at the top of the food chain and although each is trying to convince America that they will have a better chance at getting you closer to being the human (or dog (of the parasitic relationship)) than the man standing next to him, each are from the one percent, thereby allowing the cycle to continue. Politics for this reason cannot change because it is the top percentage of individuals that create our government.

The idea that even though there is this shifting one percent is what motivates people in a capitalist society to better themselves and compete with those next to them as well as oppress others in order to better and heighten oneself. This is a noticeable difference between the capitalist society and the feudal society in that the feudal society had the social classes of individuals engrained in their names and in their families, one could not do anything to rise or fall in society, therefore there was nowhere near as must oppression of those below you and the competition that is existent in a capitalist society.

This shifting one percent can be seen in the shift from the era of Carnegies and Rockefellers to the modern time in which Kanye West and Mark Zuckerberg are members of the one percent. This all has to do with conforming and following the trends of society but the class of the most wealthy is always changing, something that can not be said of the feudal wealth.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”- Yarnall /World

A large part of the reason behind why capitalism persists is that people have been duped into thinking that they could actually be at the top. This can easily been seen in statistical’ studies where the middle class and people of a variety of class/wealth levels, their overestimation of their wealth in comparison to others in society.

Different Perceptions of Communism

As many of us have remarked in our reading of the Communist Manifesto, the ideas of Marx are not insane or ridiculous as those of communism are portrayed in society. Communism is seen as an evil ideology in the ignorant eyes of many, but this can be largely attributed to the number of men who have drew parts of their own corrupt ideologies from those of Marx, but not being completely of the same nature. When one looks at communism in history one must recognize the fact that the ideas of Marx, all expressed what was wrong with society and a probable ideology that can be used as a solution to the ills of society. Therefore, in society, one cannot say that Marx was truly a crazy man when regarding the communist label put on t eh ideologies of very famous wackos including Stalin, Lennon and china-men. There are many aspects of communism that motivate people to work harder than they might under the pressure of capitalist society. The Chinese government recognizes this attribute to communist logic, but one cannot say that all that the Chinese do are things that Marx himself would support or had proposed. Another example are what Stalin and Lennon did in the Soviet Union, as it was not the same ideology as Marc, but they twisted and fit Marx’s communism to their will.

The Ideologies of Today

One can see the every changing society that we live in under the reign of capitalism starting to lean towards communism in that the modern high school student is more apt to care for those around them than someone that might be in their thirties (maybe because of their memorable experience of 9/11). Many seen socialism as the benefiting of everyone and the caring of others and this is something that people are becoming increasingly characteristic of. The majority of the population it is actually corporate America (the epitome of capitalism) that is the cause of corruption within our nation and the world as a whole. Now-a-days, more of America’s youth are interested in taking care of each other and the concerns of their community as a ground in which they are part of, not as much of the individualistic, me first attitude.

This is all seen in the Snap-chat Generation.

“People can find a problem with everything”- Nicole

Thank you everyone!

Franny <3