Introduction
Karl Marx was a great German philosopher who lived between 1818 and 1883. Philosophical ideas of Karl Marx revolve around economics, political, and social perspectives of the society. This analytical treatise attempts to explicitly review the philosophical ideas of Karl Marx.
Karl Marx’s biography
Karl Marx was born in 1818 in the town of Prussian Rhineland. During his college education, Marx became an ardent follower of the thought of Young Hegelians which influenced most his works. His philosophy revolved around human society in the elements of class struggle and socialism.
As a journalist, he worked for renowned papers such as the Cologne and the New York Tribune, where his columns attracted both criticism and praise in equal measure. Marx died in 1881.
Philosophical ideas of Karl Mark
Karl Marx expressed his sentiments on alienation and pain in the lower class workers imprisonment by the private individuals who have the resources to manipulate and twist social, development, and welfare aspects of the masses in the society.
Specifically, the views of Karl Marx on the nature of class struggle, causes and responses to these struggles by the masses were drawn from France during the period of 1848 and 1850. In fact, Marx argued that these private individuals are drawn from the bourgeoisies and the ruling elites in the society. The bourgeoisies are thriving in discrimination and exploitation of labor supply to satisfy their selfishness.
Since the bourgeoisies are the masters of labor production tools such as wages, this group, comprising of just a small percent of the society, comfortably sits at the apex of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid and cannot share the huge profits with the actual laborers who are subjected to harsh working conditions to create a surplus for their exploitative bosses (Shimp 17).
As observed by Marx, the powerful private individuals influence labor laws processes in any country to suit their private needs which he termed as selfish.
Marx described these laws as ‘only good’ when the same meet their opinionated threshold characterized by mere confirmation of their will; which may not necessarily be in line with the will of the underage employees subjected to inhuman work condition with very little and unreasonable pay.
Karl Marx further pointed out that the agents of these masses such as labor unions are sometimes compromised to support the selfish course at the expense of the ordinary employees. Marx noted that the exploiters have formalized their definition partial policies in employee welfare and social interaction.
The passionate appeals by the exploited proletariats who give ‘free labor’ are ignored by the bias labor policies and internalized corruption among the agents who should regulate these private individuals (Marx 21).
Marx’s labor theory of value adopts a very simple approach to describe the type and source of profits in a production activity. Marx suggested that market equilibrium will be reached when market prices and production prices are equal as market competition will conspire to redistribute the excess value.
This interaction will ensure that profit would be equalized by the competition. Marx acknowledged the dynamics of the labor market.
In the ideal, the segmentation degree is controlled by union and government regulations that are designed to encourage rigidities and drive the costs of labor above the market clearing level. Therefore, the informal sector remains non proportional to reflect on the magnitude of the reforms required.
When there is an assigned probability of selection within a specific period of time, then the probability of an ingression into formal employment should be a rising experience function in the labor ratios (Marx 11).
Marx was of the opinion that market equilibrium will be reached when market prices and production prices are equal as market competition will conspire to redistribute the excess value. Thus, increasing the function of production would eventually stabilize the profit rates in any long run production function.
Though the approach adopted by Marx was very abstract, he succeeded in extrapolating the factors of product to different labor determinant ratios such as socially standard compulsory labor and the abstract labor to a homogeneous labor called the “multiple of unskilled labor” (Shimp 22).
Karl Mark had bitter sentiments of alienation and pain in lower class imprisonment by the ruling class who have the resources to manipulate and twist social, religious, development, and political aspects of the society. Marx (1859) reflected in the actions of the political class in relation to the ordinary citizens.
Marx identified selfishness, definition partial policies, and class systems as propagated by the political classes in capitalist societies (Marx 19). Marx concluded that political revolution is possible if the masses change their perception on labor provision and the laws that imprison them.
As a result, he proposed a socialist approach through passionate appeal to the proletariats to rise above the normal way of life and start to question these bias policies and governance of labor which they provide for peanuts (Shimp 18). In a perfectly skewed labor market, Mark argued that wages are supposed to be determined by the cost of production and total output.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. The masses are merely spectators of exploitation as though our hands and minds are imprisoned in the dungeon of social classes.
Noting that these bourgeoisies cannot operate and meet their selfish goals minus the labor from the masses, Mark proposed that these ordinary workers could unite and move from mere spectators into agents of quantifiable and desirable change they long to witness (Shimp 19).
Conclusion
Marx noted that the class struggles were influenced by the economic, social and political disparities between the bourgeoisies and the proletariats in the society. Marx concludes that the only solution to the class struggle is revolution to restore the socialism in the society.
This is achievable when the ordinary workers unite and move from mere spectators into agents of quantifiable and desirable change they long to witness. Marx’s theoretical review of historical materialism is applicable in the modern society. The philosopher relates the political, social and religious systems of the past as a result of capitalism.
The Marx notes that the building blocks of these systems are inequality, selfishness and vested interest. Apparently, these disparities have continued to promote class struggle in the modern society.
The above views are applicable in the modern society because of the fact that development and perception of an individual are greatly influenced by events in his or her external environment such as the type of education received, religious doctrines, and the social media of interaction (Shimp 17). At present, these are skewed towards fulfilling selfish ambitions of the minority who are the ruling class in any society.
Works Cited
Marx, Karl 1850, The class struggles in France, 1848-1850. PDF file. Web.
Marx, Karl 1859, A contribution to the critique of political economy. PDF file. Web.
Shimp, Kaleb 2009, The validity of Karl Marx’s theory of historical materialism. Web.