Karl Marx is the best theorist to answer the question, ‘Is Inequality I nevitable?’ This is because he wrote expansively about his disdain towards capitalism with a strong argument against the economic system regarding the concept of the inevitability of inequality. He indicated that capitalism generates conditions that promote inequality between the rich and the poor. Together with Friedrich Engels, Marx wrote a political booklet, “The Communist Manifesto” in 1848. They clarified how capitalism led to two classes of individuals in society; the proletarians made up of the working class, while the bourgeois entailed the holders of the means of production. Therefore, this paper shows how Karl Marx could have answered the question ‘Is inequality I nevitable?’, his use of the conflict theory, and how Marx sees societal changes.
Karl Marx’s Answer to the Question ‘Is inequality I nevitable?’
Marx could have started by saying that s ocial class inequality is intensely rooted in society. Nonetheless, his answer to the inevitability of inequality would be that the vice could be avoided by evading capitalism. To bring clarity, Marx could have explained his urge to have the society transition to socialism and eventually communism. According to Bystrova and Gottschalk (2015), capitalism is an economic system where individuals own trade, businesses, and shops privately. On the other hand, socialism is considered to have cooperative enterprises, common ownership, together with state ownership. Finally, Bystrova and Gottschalk (2015) indicate that communism entails the mutual ownership of the means of production and lacks social classes. As Omer and Jabeen (2016) document, Marx could have indicated that under capitalism, rulers remained on the same positions due to economic dominance over the proletariat who faced restricted social mobility. Moreover, Marx could have given the fact that despite capitalism having enhanced people’s rights and democracy by allowing them to own and operate businesses and encourage open competition and a free market, it steered conflict in society. The classes created were the alleged causes of the conflict due to the struggle of conflicting interests and the biased distribution of profit.
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Karl Marx’s Use of Conflict Theory to Answer the Inevitability of Inequality
Marx could have used the conflict theory to respond to the inevitability of inequality because he had realized that society was constantly in conflict due to the competition for inadequate resources. The conflict theory holds that social order is upheld through domination and power instead of consensus and conformity. Hence, Marx could have said that inequality would continue to be inevitable because those in possession of wealth and power strived to retain it by all means ending up subduing the poor and powerless. Additionally, Marx could have rejoined by saying that the uneven distribution evident in the conflict theory was sustained through philosophical coercion where the bourgeois would compel the proletariat to accept the prevailing conditions. Subsequently, the bourgeois would come up with laws and traditions to back their dominance and prevent others from joining their statuses. Hence, Marx would suggest that massive education should be rolled out to have capitalism wiped out and implement socialism and eventually communism.
Karl Marx’s View of Societal Changes to Eradicate Inequality
Since Marx considered the capitalist system as the main cause of financial crime, he would suggest various changes in society to ensure stability and continuity. Marx would suggest the elimination of the two unequal classes of capitalist and wageworker in society. Bystrova and Gottschalk (2015) hold that any time economic resources compare to power, then conflict and rivalry between groups transpire for scarce resources like education, housing, and employment opportunities. For change to occur, Marx suggested that the dominant groups should lower the threat of other groups using social control and criminal reprimand. Subsequently, capitalism would be destroyed and society would adopt socialism and eventually communism.
Conclusion
Karl Marx indicated that s ocial class inequality was high in society. Even so, to answer to the inevitability of inequality, he indicated that the vice would be avoided by eluding capitalism. Hence, Marx suggested his urge to have the society move to socialism and eventually communism. To substantiate this, he used the conflict theory to bring out the impact. Hence, Marx suggested the elimination of the two unequal classes of capitalist and wageworker in society. For change to occur, the dominant group was supposed to lower the threat of the other group through social control and criminal reprimand.
References
Bystrova, E., & Gottschalk, P. (2015). Social Conflict Theory and White-collar Criminals: Why Does the Ruling Class Punish their Own? Pakistan Journal of Criminology , 7 (1), 1-15. Retrieved from https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/298089/GottschalkBystrova_2015_PJC.pdf?sequence
Omer, S., & Jabeen, S. (2016). Exploring Karl Marx Conflict Theory in Education: Are Pakistani Private Schools Maintaining Status Quo? Bulletin of Education and Research , 38 (2), 195-202. Retrieved from http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/ier/PDF-FILES/13_38_2_16.pdf
