H01 G3: Karl Marx

The Philosoraptors discussion topic today was Karl Marx, a German philosopher whose ideas radically influenced much of the 20th Century. 

Our discussion was rather short today, but there were some interesting comments about Marx's ideas and his impact on society. Jake began by saying that the most prosperous economic market is one that is left to itself. As Matthew pointed out, Karl Marx's ideas were in direct response to this kind of market, the European Industrial Revolution.  In Europe (and eventually in America) capitalism may have produced a society that was wealthier,  but also had produced one  in which wealth was concentrated in the prosperous minority (nothing new) that exploited the poor majority (again, nothing new). What was new was that industrialization had produced a lower class that went to work at younger age, lived in increasingly poorer city conditions, and that was forced to do work that was both mindless and repetitive.

As Michele pointed out, Marx's ideas were utopian in nature. He envisioned a society in which ownership became extinct, and that people lived completely egalitarian lifestyles. Michele described this as utopian, because it assumes that people can co-exist on such grounds. Communism eliminates the self-motivation to work found in capitalism. 

A tangent that I always found interesting when reading Karl Marx was his idea of alienation. Essentially, he viewed that workers are intrinsically connected to their work. Not only did capitalism separate workers from their work (which made them less human and less fulfilled), but it also cheated them out of their work's true worth. The capitalist, who sells the worker's work, profits from work he has not done. Since he pays less the worker less than what he sells their work for, he actually cheats the worker.

FQ: What is the Oedipus complex?

DQ: Have you ever been aware of your subconscious' effect upon you? If so, how?

Link: In another class, we will actually be reading the Communist Manifesto. For those in that class, or other people that would just be interested in reading Marx, here is the Amazon link for the free version of that text. (http://www.amazon.com/The-Communist-Manifesto-ebook/dp/B000JQUHLC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1362521254&sr=8-3&keywords=karl+marx)