Music/Society Modern Wrld (W4)

Basic Introduction to Marxism

Modern industrial society is divided into 2 groups of people (basically)

Proletariat – working class

Bourgeoise – capitalist class (owners of ‘means of production’ – factories, machines, etc.)

Commodity – a thing that we buy

Labor Theory of Value (LTV) – the (exchange) value (~price) of a commodity equals the labor power that it takes to produce it. So, the price of a commodity should be equal to the work put into it and the pay to workers for its production; there should be no profit (surplus value). Marx argued that profit came from the exploitation of workers; he concluded that all labor is exploited in a profit-based capitalist system. In short, capitalists exploit the working class for profit.

Communist Manifesto – published in 1848 – Includes…

His famous phrase: “Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” – inspired labor unionization; Inspired communist revolutions in USSR, China, South America, Cuba…

Das Kapital (1867) (book, 3 volumes) - exploration of how capitalism works (exploits labor; empowers elites; creates class inequalities, which leads to violence)

“Religion is the opiate of the masses” – Marx argued that organized religion distracts workers from their oppression, dulls their senses so they would not rise up against their capitalist oppressors