Transcript Marx - Centenary College of Louisiana

Marx
First things first
• 1) There are political systems:
• This deals with the people’s relationship with
their government
• Examples: Democracy, Aristocracy,
Totalitarianism
• 2) Then there are economic systems:
• This deals with how products and services are
distributed
• Examples: Capitalism, Socialism, Communism
First things first
• In America, these two have
mysteriously merged
• We think that to question Capitalism is
un-American
• Or that to spread democracy throughout
the world also means to spread
Capitalism (McDonalds, Walmart, Coke,
etc).
• A culture can be democratic &
socialistic/communistic!
Bio Stuff
• Jewish born a Germany in 1818
• Educated at U of Bonn & U of Berlin
• Anti-Religious beliefs kept him out of
academics
• Moved to Paris and met Engels in 1844
• Marx’s Sugar Daddy & Collaborator
• Engels’ Ethnography Inspired Marx
• “Condition of the Working Class in England”
Bio Stuff
• Lived in London Most of his Life
(Died at 63)
• But Marx was the Genius
• Great Works: German Ideology,
Manifesto, Capital
Child of Hegel (1770-1831)
• 1) Reality is an ongoing historical
process of change
• Very radical idea
• 2) Change is not random, but obeys
discoverable laws
• 3) These are the laws of dialectic
• The endless triad (thesis, antithesis,
synthesis)
Child of Hegel
• 4) What keeps this process
going is alienation
• Each period eventually ends by its
own contradictions
• 5) This process is not under the
control of humans
Child of Hegel
• 6) This process continues until all
internal contradictions have been
resolved
• A conflict-free society ends alienation &
the dialectic
• 7) When this happens, humans will be
in charge of their own outcomes
• Not moved by laws/forces outside their
control
Child of Hegel
• 8) At this point (the end of
history), society will become an
organic whole
• Not individualistic (Capitalism)
• But cooperative, collective, and
organic
The Differences
• 1. Nothing to do with the Spirit/Geist
• Marx became an “Empiricist”
• Called Dialectical Materialistic
• 2. A culture’s economic state sets the
nature of society
• Economic determinism not the Spirit of
the Time
The Differences
• 3. The division of labor creates
alienation and the dialectic
(Bourgeoisie VS Proletariat)
• 4. Rejection of all religion
• “Religion is the opium of the
masses”
• Heaven makes workers passive
& blind
• 5. Revolution is needed for change
Marx’s Problem with Capitalism
• 1) It is based on the Exploitation of
the worker
• Worker’s labor is taken (Surplus Value)
• The owner pockets the difference
(Profit)
Marx’s Problem with Capitalism
• 2) The rich control the lives of
the poor
• Demands are always met
• 3) The rich always have more
than they need
• While the poor always have
less
Marx’s Problem with Capitalism
• 4) Alienation
• A. From Each Other
• Private ownership divides us
• No trust or brotherhood
• B. From Their Work/Production
• We do only small jobs (removed from the
whole)
• Our jobs are based on profit--not passion or
“growth”
Marx’s Problem with Capitalism
• 5) Over time, the rich get
richer and richer
• Poor fall further behind (while
doing most work)
Marx’s Problem with Capitalism
• About the Rich
• 1% of America owns 48% of its wealth
• 3 Billionaires in the world are wealthier than the
bottom 48 nations
• The richest 225 individuals in US have more
wealth than 41% of all humanity (or 2.7 Billion)
• While the people that work for them . . .
• 80% of the world live in sub-standard housing
• 70% are illiterate
• 50% suffer from malnutrition
• 35% have unsafe drinking water
• With a redistribution of wealth, all hunger and
suffering would be eliminated overnight!
Marx’s View of the Stages of
History
• Primitive Communism--No Classes
• Slavery----------Slave Owner Vs. Slave
• Feudalism-----Landowner Vs. Serfs
• Capitalism---Bourgeoisie Vs. Proletariat
Marx’s View of the Stages of
History
• Socialism
State Managers Vs. Workers
• Temporary Totalitarianism
• Communism
No Classes
Marx’s View of the Stages of
History
• At the Capitalistic Stage . . .
• 1) Bourgeoisie must constantly revolutionize production
• The battle of Capitalistic competition
• 2) Competition between the Bourgeoisie will push profit
lower
• Creating fewer rich
• 3) Pushed by profit and competition, technology will replace
workers
• Which will eliminate the need for workers
• 4) Proletarians will become increasingly impoverished
• Less work and even less pay
• 5) Thus, we have two radically stratified groups
• Billions of poor VS a few Rich
• Revolution in the Streets!!
• “Workers of the world, UNITE!”
Marx’s Inevitable Utopia
• 1) “From each according to their ability, to
each according to their needs”
• No one takes more (no profit or greed)
• 2) Eliminate all private ownership
• This only alienates us & creates warring
classes
Marx’s Inevitable Utopia
• 3) Marx believed in the perfectibility
of humans
• A) Workers will be loyal,
incorruptible friends, devoted to
one another with an absolutely
unselfish benevolence
• B) No individual would seek an
advantage at the expense of
others--the thought of doing so
would never occur
Marx’s Inevitable Utopia
• 4) Marx envisioned a one-world unified culture
• “Workers of all countries unite” (last line of Manifesto)
• 5) Subsequently, religious and political life is
replaced with uncoerced, rational society
• 6) Science and technology will eliminate want
and strife
• 7) The process of history comes to an end
• Individuals are free to act outside the dialectic
• Act outside alienation, separation, & competition
A Critique of Marx
• 1) Skepticism about a truly cooperative
society
• It has never happened yet!
• But if you believe in the perfectibility of humans.
. . ???
• 2) The “Capitalist” is replaced by the
“State” as absolute tyrant (USSR, China, Cuba)
• The state owns and controls all
• “Capitalism is humans oppressing other humans.
Communism is just the opposite” (old joke)
Critique of Marx
• 3) Other factors are more
powerful in uniting people
• Citizenship, nationalism, religion,
language, race, etc.
• People do not define themselves
by “class”
A Critique of Marx
• 4) His predictions have not come true
• In fact, just the opposite has happened
• But is this because of “New Deal” Socialism?
• 5) Communism has been more corrupt
• Far less freedom, justice, and emancipation
• But is that Marx’s fault?
• 6) Not enough focus on
language/discourse
• Too much on economic determinism
Standing on Marx’s Shoulders
(How Marx is Used/Transformed Today)
• A. Economic Determinism is replaced with the power of
communication to construct reality
• Old way leaves no place for communication
• B. Class is no longer the only oppressive force
• Race, gender, culture, epistemology, Truth, religion, etc.
• C. Superstructure & Ideology is expanded/refined
• Althusser & Hall’s Media and Gramsci’s Hegemony
• All institutions reproduce dominant ideologies, not just capitalistic
ones
Our Debt to Marx
• 1) A Patron Saint
• The founder of critical theory
• 2) Concern for the
disempowered/forgotten
• 3) An understanding of
Capitalism
• It is based on exploitation
Our Debt to Marx
• 4) The seeds of ideology
• To question the “natural”
A Case Study in
Cla$$ Ideology
Let’s Revolt!
• If all this “Capitalist Oppression” is
true, why don’t we revolt?
• Ideology (i.e., a rhetorically constructed story
that is believed by most in a society to be a true and
accurate description of reality)
• “The American Dream Story”
• Anyone can become Anything--Rags to
Riches!
• And if you don’t, it is your fault
− You are too lazy & stupid
The Story
• This is the narrative (cultural
story) that oppresses the poor
and empowers the rich
• The Story’s Three Major
Components:
• 1) Materialism
• It is our mission in life to be rich & have stuff
− It is the definition of being successful in America
− Average credit card debt--$7,000
• 2) Emphasis on the “individual”
• If you work hard, you will make it
• Those that don’t are lazy & stupid
• 3) De-emphasis on the political/structural
• Making it (or not) has nothing to do with birth
privilege, racism, sexism, regionalism, class,
ethnicity, attractiveness, etc.
What is the outcome of this story?
• 1) It keeps the individual working and
struggling for the rich
• 2) It makes the individual feel guilty and
responsible for not “making it”
• 3) It draws attention away from social/political
issues that keep the poor, poor and the rich,
rich (the old slight of hand)
• We attack welfare (the lazy), not corporate
corruption (hard workers)
• We blame minorities, not racism
• We blame women, not sexism
What is the outcome of this
story?
• We blame the poor, not GM for leaving
the country or Duke Power for strip
mining our mountains and leaving
nothing but black lung
• We support CEOs, not the labor unions
during strikes
• We neglect inner-cities & poor
communities, while pumping money
into suburbia (they deserve it more)
How was the myth started/created?
• It was/is the most logical thing to say to
the have-nots
• “Just keep working, your turn will
come”
• “I did it, you can do it”
• “We all have an equal change at the
gold ring”
• Your reward will be in heaven
• And they truly believed it
The start of the myth
• Of course, the first wealthy
Capitalists were the old
aristocracy of Europe
• Let us not forget 1) slavery, 2)
indentured servitude, 3) the land stolen
from Native Americans and given as
gifts to the King’s friends, or 4) the laws
that granted rights to only land-owning,
rich, white, men.
• These people did not magically “work”
their way to wealth
The Illusion of the “Rich”
• Even today, the rich turn the truth of
their privilege into the myth of
meritocracy (I earned it!)
• “They pulled themselves up by their boot
straps”
The Illusion of the Rich
• They forget that wealth begets wealth:
• 1) Private schools (or the best public
schools), 2) best neighborhoods, 3) most
expensive colleges, 4) cultural exposure
(art, talk, dress, foods), 5) professional
connections, 6) role models, 7) family
businesses, 8) inheritances, etc.
• The true benefactors of “Affirmative
Action”
• “God has blessed us”
But is the American Dream a
lie?
• But is it a lie?
• YESEveryone cannot grow up to be
president
• Not if you are poor, a minority, or a
woman
• At the very least, the deck is stacked
against you
• In reality, very few ever “make it”
• 90% of the world’s wealth is in the hands of
.05%
The Lie
• And the one-in-the-million that
does, just serves to strengthen
the myth
• “See, Oprah, Bill Cosby, General Powell
pulled themselves up”
Why Don’t the Rich Change?
• 1) They truly believe in its “Truth”
• They are duped the same way the poor
are
• 2) It is not in their best interest to
question it
• a) They get an endless supply of hard
workers
• b) They are respected and emulated
• c) They are seen (by others and
themselves) as hard workers deserving
the good life
Why the rich do not change
• 3) Subsequently, it does not
appear to need fixing
• Life seems perfect, just, &
natural from their perspective
Why Don’t the Poor Revolt?
• 1) Underdeveloped critical thinking in most
people
• Education is key to deconstruct complex ideas
• 2) America has vilified “Communism/Socialism”
• After 50 years of Cold-War rhetoric, we “don’t
tolerate such talk”
• 3) Capitalism & Democracy have been merged
• It is believed that if you question one, you question
both!
• Remember, one is economic, the other is political
Why Don’t the Poor Revolt?
• 4) We think it is the best system:
“We have everything we want.”
• We have been taught to use only one
criteria for measuring any culture’s
success--Materialism
• What about 1) the family, 2) the
spiritual, 3) the equal treatment of
women & minorities; 4) the
elimination of poverty;
Why Don’t the Poor Revolt
• 5) health care, housing, food, & water
for all; 6) the environment; 7)
education; 8) violence; 9) the child!!!
• By those criteria, one could say
Capitalism has failed
• 5) We believe in the American
Dream!