Text and Traditions Discussion on Marxian View

Question: Discuss about theText and Traditions for Discussion on Marxian View. Answer: Introduction The essay highlights the theme of Karl Marxs Communist Manifesto. Communist Manifesto is a co-work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel. The central idea of the Marxian theory is class struggle and rise of new society. In the Marxian view the class is defined according to the ownership of property. Evolve of a society has several stages such as primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalism and socialism (Lichtheim, 2015). According to Marx, a particular society sustains until the relation between the two different classes exists without confliction. The society breaks due to rise of class struggle. For example, a feudal society exists due to the existence of social relation between the proletariat, bourgeois and landlord. The essay analyses the development of the idea of enlightenment, freedom and equality in the Communist Manifesto of Mark. Enlightenment shows development of successive stages. Arrangement of various societal orders has been discussed in this book. The Com munist Manifesto had been written in the context of industrial revolution and against the capitalism. Discussion Karl Marks viewed the social progress because of changing control on the means of production. Means of production in a society are land, factories and the required machinery. Marx mentioned in Communist Manifesto, Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered forms, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes (Engels Marx, 2016). A relation between different classes in the economy exists as long as dominated class considers the control of ruling class. A particular type of society evolves based on the modes of production (James, 2015). Modes of production change over different types of society. The upper class in the society controls the means of production and exploits the lower class. Development of a society occurs to the next stage due to growth of class conflicts. This process is termed in Communist Manifesto as historical materialism. Berlin (2013) cited the quotation of Marx as, All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with th eir train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions are swept away; all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life and his relations with his kind. Immanuel Kant described the enlightenment in the form of overcoming the self-regulated immaturity. This overcoming is possible due to having the power and freedom to use reasoning (Laski, 2014). In the Marxian view, lack of maturity in the society is the driving force of different modes of production in the society. Immaturity of one class gives opportunity to the ruling class to exploit the weaker section of the society. Marx opined enlightenment is the result of communist revolution. When, people start to realise with the self power of reasoning that they are exploited, they start to rebel against the system. The proletariat are seemed to be fool as they think themselves free, when they are actually not. They think themselves as an individual rather than a part of the wider society. They fail to realise the essence of human being. Marx explained that as long as one has to sell the labour without having ownership over it and the labour is sold to buy necessary things such as foods a nd clothing, the individual is not free (Akpan, 2016). As stated by Real (2015), Marx mentioned only about material freedom rather than ideological freedom. The class conflicts between the land lord and the proletariat gives birth of capitalism. Marks found that class conflicts first developed in the factories. The concept of freedom in Communist Manifesto is described in the context of capitalist society. In the context of freedom, Marx commented, It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, it has set up that single, unconscionable freedom -- free trade (Engels, 2015). Marx emphasised on free trade as a symbol of freedom in capitalist society. However, he argued that free trade concept actually leads to reduction in freedom rather than increase. In the society, both positive and negative forces exist. Negative freedom imposes restriction on people to do the desirable work, whereas the positive freedom implies the capacity of people to determine the best possible action. Free trade gives freedom to the capitalist to for making profit without any barrier. In the feudal so ciety, the proletariat has no right over the property and over the means of production (Mi Mao, 2013). The bourgeois controls the means of production. In the capitalist society, the workers gain the freedom to sell their labour to the capitalist. However, once the labour is sold, the labourer has no freedom to control the labour within working hour. The capitalist can exploit the labour as per wish. Unlike the feudal society, the workers in the capitalist society have only freedom choose to work or not to wok. However, the labourer has no freedom to control the means of production. In the capitalist society, the positive freedom exists because of the struggle of the labourer. Legalising limiting hour of work, restriction on use of child labour, right of free education, power of trade union are the power of the working class, which restricts the power of the capitalist. Capitalist has freedom to exploit labour wage. The trade union and government restrict this freedom by imposing minimum wage law. According to Kant theory, freedom is not that what people think to be done wilfully, however, freedom is the capacity of not doing the desirable duty (Arnfred, 2014). This theory contradicts the Marxian view of freedom. Marxian view refers that the real freedom exists in the presence of positive relation among the community and not in the isolation. Marx described in the Communist Manifesto that a negative relation exists always between the upper class and the exploited class. When the exploitation reaches at the maximum level of tolerance, the ruled class raises voice against the ruling class. In the view of Marx, the rulers win the power of control over means of production. In the feudal society, the property owners own the property and land. The farmers produce using their own labour on which they have no control. Inequality increases in the society. The feudal lord has less incentive to improve production process. The property owner without further investment consumes the surplus amount of production. In the capitalist society, the capitalist has control over the capital. The concept of wage labour arises in the capitalist society (McLellan, 2013). The workers are not given the true value of work. Therefore, the capitalist and property owners become richer by appropriating the surplus production and the working class become poorer. This system aggravates the situation of inequality. Marx argued in favour of elimination of property right. He commented that the private property right is the source of exploitation and the reason of inequality in the society. In order to avoid the class conflicts, the property needs to be owned by the state and not the specific class in the society. Laski (2014) argued in favour of private property. In the view of the anti-Marxist, people would have less incentive to work in the absence of private property. However, Marx highlighted that there was no working hour limit in the feudal society, though here was no private property rights. Communism is the class less society in the view of Marx. Communism is the last stage of development of human society, where there will be equality among different section in the society. The state would maintain the property and irrigate all the uncultivated land. All the people would get equal opportunity to access means of production according to their ability. As discussed in the Communist Manifesto, the capital and social class are building upon the concept inequality in the capitalist society. Capitalist absorbs the surplus value produced by the workers. The surplus value is reinvested in the production to appropriate surplus amount in future. Success of this system is the driving force of capital accumulation in the society. Supporting the view of Marx, Engels (2015) mentioned that the State creates an economic and political environment, where this kind of capital accumulation can succeed. Marx advocated the equality not in terms individual equality but in terms of suppressed social class. The equality in society needs to provide equal opportunity of work and equal wage for the employees irrespective of gender and religion. Conclusion The study has analysed the Marxian view of enlightenment, freedom and social equality. The concept of enlightenment grows from the power of reasoning among the individuals. The way of thinking, understanding of social relation determine the mode of production in the society. Communist Manifesto analyses the social relation, class struggle and development of society. Free trade is the source of freedom for the capitalist. Free trade facilitates the capitalists to make more profit and too exploit the working class. The exercise of freedom of one class reduces freedom of another class in a same society. In the Marxian view, the existence of private property right is the source of inequality in the society. Communism is a stage of development, where no class struggle exist in the view of Marx. 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