Order Description NO COVER PAGE Answer the following: #1 Referring to this week’s readings, put forth the strongest defense possible of communism. (In other words, argue in support or in favor of communism). #2 Referring to this week’s readings, put forth the strongest refutation of communism. (In other words, argue against communism). #3 Do you believe communism or capitalism is a more effective system? Why? Be sure to support your explanation by referring to this week’s readings by Marx. Use required sources only for citations: 1. 2. Lecture: Alienation, Economic Exploitation and Class Struggle Karl Marx (1818-1883) is a controversial thinker. Marx wrote a number of influential texts including The German Ideology, Capital, and the Communist Manifesto, etc. He was born in Trier, educated at the University of Berlin and Bonn and lived throughout Europe (he was forced to move many times “ he was expelled from Paris and Brussels; the newspaper he edited in Germany was closed for attacking the government). He was a journalist and the son of a Jewish lawyer. Marx had a major impact on the course of European history and has influenced countless thinkers including Gramsci, Trotsky, Sartre, Althusser, etc. During the industrial revolution, Marx provided a critique of capitalism as inhuman and unfair. Marx claimed that capitalism was doomed to self-destruct. As entrepreneurs strive to maximize profit, they eliminate on an increasing basis the cash flow of individuals who could buy their products. Capitalism, a system of private property, free market enterprise, and competition, was inhuman according to Marx because it treated people as interchangeable cogs without any intrinsic value or dignity. Humans became alienated as they performed mindless and repetitive workplace tasks for the majority of their waking hours (you may want to check out the film Modern Times, a classic Charlie Chaplin film). The state proclaimed itself to be for the people, of the people, but for Marx, the state was an instrument of the ruling class. In fact, all institutions in society “ religion; education; media; family, etc. are designed to perpetuate the unfair economic system called capitalism and make the dispossessed think that capitalism was the only option. Marx believed that religion, especially Christianity, was the opiate of the masses. For Marx, Christianity was an ideology that gave the poor and dispossessed solace that life would be better later, after one died and went to heaven. For Marx, this was a lie that rich capitalists invented to pacify the masses and make them accept their poverty and misery. Capitalists promoted false consciousness, the lack of awareness of their real interests, amongst the masses. Marx envisioned an alternative mode of social and economic relations without exploitation. He called this utopian form of social organization communism. Marx believed communism was an ideal way humans could live together. In capitalist systems, the workers and the ruling class were engaged in a relentless struggle. The ruling class consisting of rich capitalists needed cheap labor and tried to pay the workers as little as possible while extracting as much labor as possible from them. Life would be better for everyone in a communist system; everyone would benefit equally and share with each other.The legacy and relevance of Marx today is clear to see in the 2008-2009 government bailout of the financial sector in America. Were any poor people bailed out for making unwise business decisions? Were any poor individuals bailed out for gambling their money away in Las Vegas? For Citations 3 “ 9 use Lemert, C. (Ed.). (2013). Social Theory: The Multicultural, Global, and Classic Readings (5th ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview #3 Modernity’s Classical Age: 1848-1919, Lemert, pp. 19-27 #4 Karl Marx, in Lemert text, p. 28 #5 Estranged Labour, Marx, in Lemert, pp. 29-33 #6 The Manifesto of Class Struggle, Marx and Engels, in Lemert, pp. 34-37 #7 The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Marx, in Lemert, pp. 37-40* *To help you understand The Eighteenth Brumaire¦ and the historical context in which it was written, please look up brief online information, such as Wikipedia entries, on the following: French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte, French coup d’etat of 1851, lumpenproletariat, and Society of December 10. #8 Capital and the Values of Commodities, Marx, in Lemert, pp. 41-47 #9 Labour-Power and Capital, Marx, in Lemert, pp. 49-52 PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT
