Hey everyone! After learning more about Marx ideology of communism, I began to speculate more about our capitalist society. It is commonly believed that capitalism is the type of mindset that would encourage people to work hard in order to escalate their place in society. In other words, the more you work the more you can achieve. However I find many fallacies with this mentality, because in many cases people are not compensated in proportion to the work they put in. For example, there are people who are overworked for mere minimum wage. A common illustration of this are the waiters/waitresses that get paid a minimum of $2.25 an hour. Many would argue that tips compensate their low salaries, but the reality is that often times they go home with no more than 20 dollars after long hours of work. And yes, I acknowledge that there are days when they receive good tips and what not but this does not change the injustice of this system. I think this system was designed to benefit no other than the rich (bourgeoisie) in expense of the working class' hard labor.
Moreover, this system will only create a larger gap between the rich and the poor because the intentions of this system is for the working class to remain in its place. If we think about it, if people really had the chance to escalate a place in society than there would be no poverty. Yet, the reality is that the paycheck people receive for alienated labor is only enough to help them survive under decent conditions; but not enough to surpass those conditions. With all this injustice going on maybe we should reconsider capitalism and maybe give communism a try; after all every system is bound to fail when it becomes infested with corruption. It is only a matter of time before another revolution plagues the nation.
I think a common misconception people have when discussing capitalism is that success equals money. When in reality, all that a large amount of money equals, in Marx’s terms, is the bourgeoisie class. Maybe it’s not just when discussing capitalism that people generally make that association, it very well may be the thought that comes to mind when everyone thinks of what success looks like. I don’t think, and I think many will agree with me, that being successful doesn’t mean having a lot of money or a large income. Being successful is “in the eye of the beholder.”
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the discussion in class about “managing debt.” Dr. J was talking about the huge amount of debt most of us will have after finishing college and we’ll spend a large portion of our life managing that debt. If a piece of paper telling the world that you went to college is all that you seek to get out of college, college isn’t for you. It’s basically a waste of money for those people. For those of us who genuinely want to be here, want to learn and don’t necessarily care much about the piece of paper that happens as a result, college is the place for us. The thousands of dollars spent in the meantime could then be seen as an investment instead of a debt. Yeah, the degree is nice, but I can sincerely say that I would still go to school even if I didn’t get a degree out of it. Just because someone goes to college doesn’t mean they will be successful just as having money doesn’t equal success.
I don't think communism would be a good idea because there would be less motivation to improve and advance. If we live in a society where everyone is equal, there would be less incentive to work hard and be successful. I think that most people would just do the bare minimum and take simple/easy jobs. If you the salary of a waiter is the same as a doctor, then why would one go through all the work and education required to be a doctor? Sure, there will be a small group of people who have the passion and dedication to be doctors, but there won't be enough of these people to improve and advance society.
ReplyDeleteCapitalism may have a lower and higher group, but this is the usually the main reason that pushes people to seek higher education. With the government system in the United States, even if you are in the lower group and have no money, you still have the opportunity to advance into the higher group. There are different loans/programs that gives you the opportunity to advance yourself. Still, even if you don't have education, you can still take risks, such as starting your own business industry.
If I have to choose between capitalism and communism, I would go with capitalism because I get more opportunities to advance and be more successful.